Just finished my Digital Electronics Design test. Yeah! Next week is off!
So what am I going to do during the holidays? More work! Physics, engineering case report and programming assignments are begging for attention, though they can be handed in at the end of semester. Better start now so I can relax early. Of course there are games that need to be finished and Joseph needs to be bugged just for fun.
Programming is my favourite subject so far and also my new interest. I used to loathe it because the lecturer wasn’t adept at teaching us (sometimes being too nerdish isn’t a good thing). But once I get the hang of it by trial and error it’s actually quite interesting. I still marveled at how I wrote 400 lines of code by myself for an assignment, skipping quite a few classes along the way. Producing algorithms and optimizing them are so stressfully addictive.
Right now I’m stuck with C++, an entirely foreign programming language. My assignment this time is to make a Rubik’s Cube game that can solve the puzzle by itself. This is so big a leap from the last programming assignment! That means I’m actually going to device an AI system, literally!
Just completed the file I/O part of the programme. 95% more to be done. Cheers!
Archive for April, 2009
Holidays~ Working holidays…
Monday, April 20th, 2009Sweating over Red Alert 3: Uprising
Monday, April 6th, 2009I needed a good rest after finishing my Professional Skills assignment. So I played my newly acquired RA3: Uprising last weekend.
A game that can loosen my nerves? Not really. If the original RA3 is like climbing a tree, then Uprising can be described as scaling a skyscraper. It’s that HARD. At least you get this…
And this…
And more of this…
To soothe your aching limbs and brain. Another fine example of using sex appeal as marketing tool.
I won’t call it an expansion as it is an entirely new game by itself. It still features the same three factions: Soviet, Allied, and Empire of the Rising Sun. As an added bonus, there’s a mini campaign that chronicles the early days of Yuriko Omega. The story (or stories?) for this game continues from Allied campaign of the original game. I won’t go in the details. Play it, know it.
With the extension of the game comes new units. And Uprising didn’t disappoint (except for the Soviet). You have the weaponless Grinder (Soviet) that eats vehicles for breakfast, the Harbinger Gunship (Allied; like the AC-130 in real life!) that is armed with Proton Collider cannons (you read it right!) and armoured like no other tanks, and the Giga Fortress (Japan; haven’t played it but looks weaker than Harbinger) that can fly and deploy itself as an impenetrable fortress once on the ground. [Shown below in order.]
The campaign for each faction aren’t long. But they make up for it with much higher difficulty. I’m already struggling to survive in normal mode. Imagine surviving the onslaught of brutal enemies! There’s also another gameplay mode called the Commander Challenge where you fight for the Futuretech company, a private military contractor that’s responsible for Allied’s post-war technological advantage.
Graphic wise it’s still the same. The developers put in effort to mimic our world in RA3. Standard fare HD quality cutscene featuring the hot babes’ erm… qualities. Sound effect is top-notch. Nothing to complain about. Unless you complain about the difficulty. Sissy!
Oh yes, almost forgot. There’s no freaking multiplayer here! It isn’t in there probably because of Allied’s overwhelming firepower. Too bad. At least you won’t see someone spamming Harbingers at you.
Overall it’s nice to have a game that really challenges the player. Are you a hardcore Command & Conquer franchise fan? Then this is a definite must-have!