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Watched Pieces Of April (2003) for the first time tonight. A low budget independent thanksgiving comedy / drama starring Katie Holmes, Derek Luke, Patricia Clarkson, and more.

Part of me wants to be a grumpy contrarian about the plot but no I won't give in, it's actually really good. Funny and sad and cathartic. A story of coming to terms with estranged family, of seeking help from strangers, of making the best of your limited time. It got to me. (It's not often I watch movies this wholesome).

The movie was notably filmed on location in New York with early digital hand-held cameras. As a result it looks cheap, real, and very cramped. The effect is cool - it's a bit like watching a home movie except most of the participants are famous character actors (and, y'know, it's professionally directed, edited, has a plot, and so on).

Anyway Pieces Of April was great. If a good thanksgiving movie exists then this is probably it. (It's the best I've seen at least).

I'm #streaming part 3 of my first Arx Fatalis (2002, PC) playthrough tonight over at https://twitch.tv/andreaen.

I believe I'm at the point where our Am Shaegar needs to find two items: Krahoz and Zohark.

needed something to cheer me up and here it is, a new blind test, '90s techno this time. (and with an outrageous panel of guests!)

Continuing Arx Fatalis (2002, PC) today at https://twitch.tv/andreaen.

This session we investigate the death of Falan Orbiplanax. #streaming

SNES Shadowrun randomizer today at https://twitch.tv/andreaen.

Maybe I can complete another one of these in one session? Hard to say. I'm excited to see any new changes to the randomizer since I last played. #streaming

I'm starting a game of Arx Fatalis (2002, PC) this morning over at https://twitch.tv/andreaen.

I've never played Arx Fatalis before & have been looking forward to it. I'm told it has very good goblins. #streaming

Finished Valkyrie Profile today. I had a real hard time learning the game (especially the battle system) but once I did I enjoyed it a lot.

Appreciated the unique (and very sad) story, the beautiful background art and character design and sprite animations, the great music (though some of it does wear on me after a few hours), and the rewarding battle system built on button combos (almost like a fighting game).

There were a couple things I disliked about the game. Things I wish I knew beforehand. First is that it's on a time limit. It's possible to mess up your pace by re-entering dungeons to grind XP. Second is that there are some impossibly well-hidden items in the game. Things that you'd need a hundred hours or a knowledgeable friend or a FAQ to find. I know that isn't unusual in RPGs but for some reason I wasn't expecting it this time. (I started checking a guide when stuck at around 10 hours in).

Anyway. Valkyrie Profile was fun & I'm glad I played it. I think I'd enjoy a second playthrough more and so someday I may do that.

I'm picking up Valkyrie Profile (2000, PSX) again today over at https://twitch.tv/andreaen.

Doing the end of chapter 7 and then chapter 8. Very near the end of the game.

Today I figured out how to compile the Quake 3 gamecode and add debug prints to it. (Turns out it's easy, the gamecode is part of the ioquake3 distribution & the console print function is Com_Printf).

Now I can investigate the specific values being passed around in the player movement functions. (First thing I did was look at what PM_CmdScale is doing).

I am surprisingly excited to watch other people play the new Dragon Age game. Like there's a new season of an old fantasy melodrama that I'd enjoyed years ago but had forgotten about.