Blog: Games of March 2019

I was pretty steadily busy in March and still holding out on getting to invested in playing anything while I had work to do. I didn't play anything particularly of note, although I probably did get deeper into Xenonauts than I'd planned. I also very briefly started trying to play a version of Simon's Cat branded Snood on the phone, but that has the standard addictive gameplay and pay-to-keep-playing model so I ditched that pretty quickly.

My top five games (by play time) for March were:

1. Breath of Fire II - I'm struggling to get through this a bit. Some of this game is really well done and some of it isn't. The translation is obviously awful, and it has a very SNES RPG habit of sending you to do something ... somewhere, so I've had to resort to a guide (well, several guides) to find a decent way to play. On the other hand, something does keep me playing and I enjoy the overall feel of the game.
   
   
   
   via GIPHY


2. Xenonauts - I got listening to a Podcast where they were talking about XCOM (the real one from '94). So I figured I'd fire up Xenonauts until I got frustrated and quit. So far that hasn't happened and I've been enjoying Xenonauts quite a bit.
   
   

   

   Nothing to worry about.

   
   


3. Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival - As (pretty much) always.
   
   

   

   Brother and Sister

   
   


4. Pokémon Go  - Also as (pretty much) always.
   
   

   

   I take it back. I'm slightly worried.

   
   


5. Mario Kart 8 - I needed something more tactile to play and this was really up my alley.
   
   
   
   via GIPHY

Here's my total play time chart for March:

And here's a chart of how much I've played over the month:

Project 1 & Project 11: Write More

With my PhD winding down, I've been thinking about how I want to organize my time for the next while. I'll write about my thoughts in general in a bit, but at this point I think where ever I go I want to improve my communication, especially in writing.

via GIPHY

So to address that I'm (re)setting up to projects for myself, both to write more.

Project 1 is my already existing project for the blog, but I would like to increase my blog-as-blog output to at least 4000 words a month. I'm still working out exactly how I want to use those 4000 words, but the idea is to think about, write, edit and revise some non-fiction writing each month.

Project 11 is my already existing project to write a fantasy novel. At the moment I think I would like to try to put 4000 words a month there too. The core concept has been floating around in my head forever, and it seems like time to at least produce a trunk novel out of it. I also reserve the right to divert these words into some other fiction project, possibly some more short stories, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Job one is to actually write stuff consistently.

I'll put out a monthly update at least until August 1, 2019 and we'll see how it goes.

Blog: Games of February 2019

February was a bit rough in terms of mindful gaming. It was also the last month I'll spend fully immersed in my thesis, so I guess I'll take what I can. I stress gamed more than I wanted to and didn't give myself a lot of time to play stuff I really enjoyed in a relaxed way. As such my February post feels a bit more critical than usual.

My top five games (by play time) for February were:

1. Into The Breach - I like this game. As I've said before the puzzle structure of the tactics gameplay makes me feel much smarter than some games where I don't have the time to sit and think stuff through. The more I play the better I get with the different mechanics and that's been a nice feeling.
   
   

   

   Grid.



2. Civilization VI - I dunno. The game is fun, but I always struggle with the one-more-turn problem. I should probably have left this one closed on steam, but it also feels like an easy game to play when I have a few minutes. Something I want to think about going forward is finding some good bite-sized games.
   
   

   

   Coastal.



3. Breath of Fire II - This game is confusing. It's certainly a strong response to the first game in the series, but it's still weaker than most JRPGs of the era. The translation also kinda rips the heart out of the game.
   
   

   

   Would you believe the W stands for Whale?



4. Fire Emblem: Awakening - As I've said here a lot, I'm bad at tactics games. I'm bad at this game. I think I managed in my one play through a awhile ago to grind myself into a state where I couldn't win. I restarted and seemed to be a bit more balanced, but never got myself to a point where I felt happy with how my play through was going. I should probably seek out someone who is actually good at the game on YouTube.
   
   

   

   from GameFAQs user Master_Bass



5. Invisible Inc. - I've really come around on this game and really enjoyed it in February. I like the stealth based tactics, and now that I've embraced them better, I've gotten a lot better. I'm now curious to see, if I lean into the rogue-light elements and let my team get better, how the game will evolve.
   
   

   

   Spy.

Here's my total play time chart for February:

And here's a chart of how much I've played over the month:

Project 18 - Video Game Play Tracker - Update 2 (v0.2.0)

I actually finished up v0.2.0 of my game tracker months ago, but I finally got some free time so I thought I’d write up what I have. I have probably forgotten a lot of the details at this point, but I’ll just soldier on. In this update I finished up adding in aggregation and filtering of play sessions to the display system (and did a little bug fixing). 

Filtering

I wanted to be able to filter play sessions into specific time periods. Right now I start a new spreadsheet every year to keep track of the data in a manageable way, and I start a new set of tabs within each spreadsheet to track data for each month. I wanted to be able to replicate this in an ad hoc way, which would allow me to build a more informative and flexible way to look at the data.

A small view of my tracking spreadsheet.

Additionally it’s nice to be able to include or exclude games or groups of games from the list. For example, how much time have I spent playing all the games in the Zelda franchise? I have no idea right now but filtering would make that a question I can ask easily.

As such, I added two types of filters for play sessions, one for games and one for dates. The filters work by finding all the play sessions that match and then showing only data from those sessions. 

The game filter works by matching the (whole) name of a game. Multiple games can be added to the filter which then allows multiple games. So far, I don’t have any structure like a series or a genre, so I don’t have filters working for that, but that’s something to work on in the future. The filter provides a list of all play sessions that match the set of game names.

The two basic filters.

The date filtering works by using date windows. Each window has a beginning and an end date and the filter allows through all play sessions that are between the two ends. If either of the two dates is unset then the filter allows all sessions to the beginning or end of time.

It took a little fiddling to make them work, in particular to make an empty filter allow everything (which is backwards to how the filters are designed, but extremely unintuitive to work with).

Aggregation

In my spreadsheet I keep a log of all games played for the year (including the date, the game name and the amount of time played). Then for each month I break out one pivot table that includes the total amount of time each game has been played for the month and a second table that breaks out the games played for each day so that I can produce the stacked bar-chart of the games. I needed the aggregation system to allow me to basically do that in the stand alone system.

January's games played chart. (See a better view in my January 2019 post).

Aggregation was interesting because I wanted to make it as abstract as possible, but still needed to make it concrete enough to work in the command-line interface. I think I may need to take a second swing at it to make it really work smoothly. 

The way it’s currently constructed aggregators take a set of play sessions (raw or filtered) and extracts a aggregate, which is a map organized by game name, the type of aggregate and the value (as a double). Aggregates can be merged to put together different stats about a set of play sessions. 

The aggregated games in my test file (mostly from early 2018).

As I said the system is a little messy and I think having now let some time pass I could do a better build solution.

Project Update

Compared to the first update, I did a better job of using the git workflow and breaking down my work into smaller chunks and updating regularly. This was helpful in the work I needed to do to finish my thesis project. I also tried to start teaching the workflow to my students this semester and I think generally the “do small things well” mantra has done me (and them?) well.

The current state of the Game Tracker

It’s also been months and months since I finished the actual main work for this update. I did break some tests which ended up taking me a while to fix. Since then I’ve mostly been working on my PhD so I’ve had to backburner the whole thing.

The two big directions I’d like to take the project in next, are to produce a GUI version using JavaFX and to integrate a Google Doc back end storage. The first step I think is going to be the hook up Google sheets and then go on to the JavaFX front end.

My plan, as it stands, is to finish the next update including the Google Sheets connection (and some various fixes / reorganization) by June 1, 2019.

Blog: Books Read in 2019

Eyes!

I'm on Good Reads

Blog: Books Read in 2019

Dry

I'm on Good Reads

Blog: Books Read in 2019

Violenciest!

I'm on Good Reads

Blog: Books Read in 2019

Violenceier!

I'm on Good Reads

Blog: Books Read in 2019

Violence!

I'm on Good Reads

Blog: Books Read in 2019

Ok.

I'm on Good Reads

Blog: Books Read in 2019

Space.

I'm on Good Reads

Blog: Video Games of January 2019

I feel like I did a fairly good job of managing my play time in January.  I'm closing in on finishing my thesis, and so I've been playing in those times when I need to just stop thinking. Fortunately I've found a good set of games to play when I've got the right moment.

My top five games (by play time) for January 2019 were:

1. Breath of Fire II - I have a lot of nostalgia for the Breath of Fire series. The first game definitely has the strongest nostalgia hit, but it also has a lot of problems. I'm less nostalgic for the second, but it is better designed than the first. Even if it's a bit slow and grindy, it's been a nice way to unwind.
   
   

   

   Great! That'll do in place of a plot!



2. Pokémon Go - Have nice weather, will stop for a couple of minutes to catch monsters.
   
   

   

   The Guardian Bidoof protects us.



3. Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival - Into year two, still enjoying. The game lets you add new elements to your town, and we've very conservatively added just a little bit at a time, which has helped keep things fresh. The other fresh aspect is that the game is a little different each month.
   
   

   

   Happy New Year, Isabelle!



4. Invisible Inc. - I went back to Invisible Inc after getting super frustrated trying to play it a while ago. I've really enjoyed it on this revisit, but playing it the way it wants to be played stealthy and risky really works. It also helps to lean into the rogue like (lite?) elements and accept that easy play through might not be perfect.
   
   

   

   Are you ready operator?



5. Into The Breach - I've been working in pomedoros a lot during January and it works out that a map of Into The Breach can be finished in the break between work periods.
   
   

   

   He's a laugh riot at parties.

Here's my total play time chart for January:

And here's a chart of how much I've played over the month:

Blog: Books Read in 2019

Fly.

I'm on Good Reads

Blog: Books Read in 2019

Nerds. Nerds.

I'm on Good Reads

Blog: Video Games of December 2018

I was super busy for the bulk of December, but I enjoyed what I played and I feel set up to take 2019 on in style.


My top five games (by play time) for December were:

1. Civilization VI - Two months in a row at number one. I guess the game is ok. I think accepting that I'm just not a hard Civ player has really let me love the game as it is.
   
   

   

   Think of the launch filming parties!

   
   


2. Fire Emblem Awakening - I'm not exactly sure why I started playing this, but I did figure it would be something to play during Christmas, especially when I wasn't going to be near my PC or TV. As it turns out I got really hooked and I think this game is quite good.
   
   
   
   via GIPHY
   
   I get bogged down playing Fire Emblem because I won't ever let anyone die, so there are a lot of levels where I'll play for an hour and then reset because I messed something up. Being able to play without losing my fighters each time has been a real relief. That said I'm finding the running a bit hard in the later(?) levels of the game, but it's been a blast.


3. Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival - A whole year, we still love it and we're still playing.
   
   

   

   Two very dapper players.



4. Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - We're not talking about it.
   
   

   

   Yes, yes this is a very old picture. But hey, Link likes that rubber suit.



5. Pokémon Go - I felt a bit like this Christmas wasn't nearly as interesting as years past, but as always fun to play.
   
   

   

   Daaaw, it's cute and pretending to be rare!

Here's my total play time chart for December:

And here's a chart of how much I've played over the month:

Blog: Books Read in 2019

Bob. Bob. Bob.

Good Reads

Blog: 2018 in Games

Well three times means I mean it, I guess. I’ve now managed to track every game I’ve played (more or less) over the last three years. I’m enjoying the tracking, and I think, generally I’ve been a little more mindful when playing. I’m looking forward to 2019 when my thesis is finished, and I can open up what I’m playing.

This post is a wrap up of 2018, including a look at what I’ve played, what I’ve enjoyed and some thoughts about games I had this year.

Top Games by Time Played

In total I’ve played 42 different games in 2018 and played for a total of 568 hours. The game I played the least was Dragon Fly! on my phone. Mini Metro was in the middle of my pack at just above 3 hours and for the second year running, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was my most played game at 87 hours.

By play time, my top 10 games of 2018 were:

• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - 87
• Paper Mario: Color Splash - 55
• Civilization VI - 53
• Stardew Valley - 50
• Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival - 49
• Pokémon Go - 47
• Europa Universalis 4 - 32
• Final Fantasy XII - 27
• Into The Breach - 25
• Mario Golf: World Tour - 20

I'm interested that compared to last year I definitely played more games. Although that might be that I got stuck in Breath of the Wild. So I played elsewhere a little more than I might have. On the other hand it’s interesting that I’ve still played more than 80 hours bringing me to 302 hours played total (with only the last 40 being me vs the stupid master sword challenge lizalfos). I love that game deeply, and even though at this point there are bits that ring a little hollower than I’d love, it’s still an incredible game.

A lot of the other playing hasn’t been as intentional I’d hoped. I played Color Splash and FFXII mostly as games to relax at the end of the day, but I do know what I’m playing and they’re not quite what I’d hoped for. Also every time I play a Final Fantasy game it drops in my esteem, FFXII is hella slow and my attempt to lean into that has not been as successful as I hoped (he said 27 hours later).

Civ VI and EU 4 were also not as intentional as I hoped, mostly played when my brain wasn’t interested in doing much else (even when there was much else to do) . In 2019, I want to get a handle on that and enjoy them significantly more. I stopped playing Stardew, because I didn’t want to play it the way I was playing Civ and EU 4, and hopefully Mindfullness 2019 (™) will push me back that way as well (although it also deserves a slow drip so you don’t push too hard into the virtual part of the world).

Amiibo Fest is great and part of my weekend ritual. PoGo is also a staple and even a motivation to … actually go outside (results less effective while cold). 

Top Games by My Rating

This year my favourite games were (in alphabetical order):

• Earthbound
• Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• Stardew Valley
• Tetris
• Sunless Sea

As always I don’t look back at my scores from previous years, so this is a subjective view from late 2018. Looking back now I notice that Pikmin 3 dropped a little, but I’m also just mostly hoping that we get a new one. Bastion and Rakuen also weren’t included, but that’s because I didn’t play them this year. Tetris is a new addition, but, seriously, Tetris is good (I’m going to have to try to hunt down Tetris Effect in 2019).

Thoughts

I play games for a lot of reasons. I like to play games for the experience, for the art, for the escape and for the fun. 2018 was not the best year for me in general. I was very stressed and think I really didn’t do a great job of getting myself to the places I wanted to be, in a lot of different ways.

A lot of the games I played were much more for the escape than for anything else. That’s okay, but I’d rather be able to play for a lot of different reasons, rather than just that my brain is too tired to do much else. I liked all of the games in my top 10, to be clear, but a lot of them are good without being outstanding.

I didn’t buy games in 2018, and [as I already mentioned], I didn’t even play a lot of games released in 2018. I have to say that, while I feel like there are a lot of very good games, there aren’t a huge number of games that I really want to go back and play from this year. Celeste sticks in my mind, as do Dragon Quest XI and Octopath Traveler (and Tetris Effect I suppose).

I hope that in 2019 I’m able to play more and play for more reasons. There are a lot of games I’m looking forward to catching up on and I’m also excited to catch up on the Switch (and maybe the PS4) and to dive into a ton of really great games … or maybe I’ll just play the new Animal Crossing all year.

New Year’s Resolutions 2019

I guess this is a thing I do now. So, here are a few things I thought about working on in 2019:

via GIPHY

General Resolutions

1. Be Slower - I don’t know that I would describe myself as hastey (especially because that’s not a word anybody uses), but I’ve found myself several times over the last year reacting in a way that wasn’t that helpful and that could have been avoided if I’d just slowed down. That way I can get more information, or I can react in a way that actually makes sense based on how I’d really like to react.
   
   Similarly, I think this extends my monotasking goal of last year. I want to slow down and do a thing until the thing is done (or done enough) and not keep jumping to something else every time I don’t want to do the thing.
   
   So the goal for 2019 is to go slower, think more deeply and keep in mind that whatever it is will still be there when I get to it.
2. Finish Things - In addition to going slower, I need to get stuff done. For a long time I was really bad at even starting things (and I’m still not *very* good at it), but I’m also really bad at finishing things.
   
   For 2019 I’d like to get better at finishing things in two ways. One if a job can be finished, I want to finish it as quickly as I can. For another, as an aspect of being slower, if a job can’t be finished I want to focus my energy on moving it forward so it can get done.
3. Be Comfortable - I think this is a bit of an aspect of being slower as well. I’ve found, in this last year especially that I allow myself to get very stressed, and so instead of being slow, I freeze. Instead of that this year, I want to relax in my own skin. So that even if things aren’t the way I want, I can keep moving.

Specific Resolutions

1. Finish The Thesis - Goddamnit.
2. Make Something Everyday - Partly freezing from stress, partly freezing from not wanting to distract myself from the thesis, but I haven't made nearly as much as I want to in 2018. In 2019 I want set myself a don’t break the chain challenge of making something cool and/or creative every day. It should be a tiny thing, but it should be a little bit of creative practice.
3. Finish A Project Each Month - As a concrete instance of finishing stuff, I want to give myself a goal of finishing a project every month.
4. Enjoy Good Stuff - Read more books, watch more movies, watch more tv, play more games, seem more art, listen to more music, look at more trees (and mountains and stuff). I want to push myself when I’m making a decision about my time, to lean towards enjoying something good.
5. See More Things - As with 2018, I have a lot of flexibility and I really ought to be putting it to good use. So I want to try at least once a week to do something unusual, so that I get to see more things.

And with that I hope we all have a wonderful 2019 in which we all get ourselves to the places we want to be.

via GIPHY

Blog: Games of 2018

This year I’ve played 2 games that were released in 2018. Into the Breach and Graveyard Keeper. I usually divide these posts into categories, but instead I’ll say I thought Into the Breach was good and Graveyard Keeper was okay.

For the record, my low number of 2018 games played is not a comment on the state of games in 2018, but a comment on the state of me in 2018. I will wrap up my thesis in 2019 and I’m hoping to be able to play a more of 2019’s games when they come out and to catch up on all the cool things I’ve missed in 2018.

The Okay

Graveyard Keeper

Graveyard Keeper is okay. I think it has good mechanics, but I just don’t like the world building or the style. Some of that is the bit where it leans into the gross and disturbing. (I’m okay with cutting people’s brains out, but less so with burning witches).

I also found outside of that it’s a little bland. I think that’s to do with the structure of the quests (each can only really be accomplished on one day a week, so if you miss it then you have to wait another week to move the plot ahead). If you’re just in it for the woodworking then this game is great, if you want a little more, then I’m not sure it has it. At least for me.

I did play a little bit recently when I turn it on to get the screenshot for this post. It looks like it has some more stuff added to it which should be fun.

The Good

Into the Breach

Into the Breach is good. As a puzzle strategy game it takes a lot of the guesswork and RNG out of playing and replaces it with your own damned decisions. I like how the missions are structured and how each one lasts just the right amount of time. The style is nice but the “meta-narrative” of the roguelike aspects (Into the Breach is made by Subset Games, who’s other claim to fame is FTL: Faster than Light) is a little light.

The game is always fun to play and there’s enough challenge to keep playing. I especially enjoyed that it lets you adjust the difficulty level without punishment which makes it fun to play however ambitious you’re feeling.

Blog: Books Read in 2018

Squirrels!

Good Reads

Looking Back at 2018 New Year’s Resolutions

Doing a resolutions post was a new thing for me, and I think the exercise was generally a good idea. I thought I’d take a moment to look back at my resolutions for this year.

via GIPHY

General Goals

1. Monotask - Mixed results on this one. It’s something I’m going to have to keep working on. I find especially as I get tired and overwhelmed by the stuff that needs to be done that it’s easy to lose focus and so I do more stuff, less well. I keep a pocket moleskin and write out my todos each day and as often as not I tend to fill a whole page with stuff that needs doing. Ideally I think i’d do fewer things but focus on them to get them done. (Also I’m editing two posts right now, so clearly Monotasking hasn’t quite taken yet.) 
2. Hold Fewer Opinions - I … think I succeeded? This feels like a thing that I’m going to work on for the rest of my life. 
3. Act more - Again I feel like this is a bit of a lifetime project. Generally I don’t think I did as well as I did at holding fewer opinions, but I have been trying to break stuff down into smaller pieces so that it’s easier to get them done. 

Specific Goals

1. Finish my Thesis - Goddamint. I am closer though. 
2. Be More Engaged on Twitter - This didn’t really take. I still stand by my feelings last year, that the only way to actually improve Twitter is be be good on Twitter (or whichever social network). I found it hard to engage partly due to stress about all the other stuff I hadn’t got done and I think a bit because the community I want isn’t really there any more. 
3. Read More - I did that. 
4. Make More Stuff - I didn’t do that. 
5. See More Stuff - Another mixed result. I certainly didn’t take advantage of my flexibility as much as I’d hoped, but I did do a little. I also feel like I’ve managed to organize myself so that in the future I will be able to see more stuff.

My 2018 wasn't great, I wanted my thesis done, but teaching got in the way (sort of) and I got in my own way. That being said, I'm pretty close to being done, and, more importantly, I think I'm getting more comfortable being a person who has things to do.

via GIPHY

I have no idea who this cat is, but lets dance anyway.

Blog: Games of November 2018

I'm not super happy with how I spent my play time this month, especially because I found myself playing more out of frustration / burnout than relaxation or fun.

My top five games (by play time) for November were:

1. Civilization VI - Well, this is the game I play when I'm avoiding getting the stuff that needs to get done, done. I'm feeling behind on practically everything, and, embarrassingly, it's been much easier to pick this up "for a minute" rather than work. The problem is, that minute often expands out to be a lot more than a minute.  So my goal for December is to, a) relax, b) focus, c) get stuff done, and d) feel good when I do play.
   
   

   

   It has been created. Next Turn!

   
   On the not of the actual game, side I actually feel like I'm finally figuring the game out a little. I even caved and picked up the Rise and Fall Expansion. I'm not sure I'm actually getting good, but I have learned. Further I've accepted that not every game is going to be a game I enjoy playing until the end and it's okay to go back to the early game part where I was having fun. I also really the aesthetic of the game, the same thing I thought the first time I played is that it still calls back the things I loved from Civ I and II.
   


2. Ogre Battle 64 - While I'm accepting things, I'm accepting that I can love this game for the feeling it gives me even when a huge portion of it makes no sense.
   
   

   

   Happy Place.

   
   


3. Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - I still haven't beaten the Master Sword challenge. I have been trying to pick up some better techniques and skills and I feel like, except for the part I can't do, I'm getting good.
   
   

   

   Little Silver Jerks. 

   
   


4. Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival - As part of a routine of relaxing this game just keeps giving. It also has an incredibly slow reward system - costumes for the amiibo characters - which might just keep us playing for another year. Animal Crossing for life!
   
   

   

   Animal Crossing is mostly Animal Capitalism.

   
   


5. Pokémon Go - Between being behind and it being colder out, I've been playing a little bit less the last month.
   
   

   

   We're slow and that's ok.

   
   

Here's my total play time chart for November:

And here's a chart of how much I've played over the month:

Blog: Books Read in 2018

Endings

Good Reads

Project 17: The Revenge of #NaFYoFuThMo - Update

Well, that was a bit of a bust. National Finish Your (by which I mean my) Fucking Thesis Month, only netted me about 3000 words. Suffice to say I haven’t actually finished my thesis. I wasn’t exactly planning to, but still I’d have like to have had more progress.

via GIPHY

I knew I had some other stuff to do that would hang up the writing, but still had high hopes of magically getting ahead. I’ve rewritten why and how several times now, but at the end of the day, the thing I need to put here is I can get to the end if I just keep stepping forward.

Beyond that, #nafyofuthmo is fun to say (say it out loud if you haven’t NAFF-yo-FUTH-mo). It’s also time I finished this thesis. I am going to wrap up the writing by end of January and to keep myself entertained, so I’m going to keep #nafyoing until I get done. I'm going to shoot for a daily(ish) update on twitter. Sometimes that will be new words, and sometimes it will be the other work and sometimes I'll have to do some other stuff, but I'll try to keep myself positive and on track.

I've got everybody and the stuff together. 3-2-1 Let's Jam.

via GIPHY

Blog: Books Read in 2018

Direction

Good Reads

Blog: Books Read in 2018

Story

Good Reads