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more modded Morrowind (PC, 2002) today at https://twitch.tv/andreaen.

Will try to do some more of the main quest this session.

continuing my modded Morrowind (PC, 2002) game today at https://twitch.tv/andreaen. Might try to start some Imperial Cult quests.

Some thoughts after finishing Hedon (PC, 2019) and Hedon Bloodrite (PC, 2021):

The first gzdoom-based game I've played and it's awesome. Really ambitious in scope (especially the two hub maps in Bloodrite). Level design was very impressive - both in size and how memorable some areas were. I was rarely lost & generally knew what to do and where to go.

The way the story was told reminded me a lot of storytelling in "imsim" games - notes left laying in the world that the player could read, brief dialog between characters, that kind of thing. And there was a lot of story! By the end it was making me think of old fantasy novel cover art and Heavy Metal magazine (in a good way).

As a shooter it was fast and challenging. Tight gameplay, useful weapons, a large variety of powerups to lean on. Playing on normal "Hedonistic" difficulty I never ran out of resources.

Graphically the game looked very earthy to me (fitting as a lot of it takes place underground). Character and monster sprites were a standout & all looked great. Sound in retrospect was also excellent, I remember a lot of cool atmospheric dungeon ambience, echoing caves and burbling lava pools.

The soundtrack is an inspired combination of guitar-led pieces (mostly by Akhzul) and old Unreal/Deus Ex era tracker mods (mostly by Alexander Brandon). It's a cool juxtaposition and works well for the game.

Loved the game & look forward to playing it again. (And the fact that it was mostly made by one person is really inspiring).

more modded Morrowind (PC, 2002) this morning at https://twitch.tv/andreaen. Will be walking to Necrom for an Akamora Mages Guild quest.

Upgraded from Debian 12 to 13 today. Smooth upgrade for the most part, no trouble with the process.

Then, once using the system, the years of changes between 12 and 13 hit all at once. Some old software I was using has been removed (qtwebkit) and some changes broke software I own (the glibc executable stack change breaks FMOD which breaks a bunch of games). I've had to switch to flatpak versions of a bunch of programs.

It'll be a while before things feel settled again, I think.

#streaming more Hedon (PC, 2019) tonight at https://twitch.tv/andreaen. I'm in the final hub map "Paradise Lost"; might finish the game this session.

Back to Hedon (PC, 2019) tonight at https://twitch.tv/andreaen. Finishing up Besieged and moving on to map16 Port To Hell.

Anyway today's the day I go looking for that label again and whenever I do this I find something weird and cool. Often a one-off track by an artist known for something else. Today I found this:

I remember reading an article about psybreaks sometime in the mid-2000s that listed a bunch of labels. I think it listed the usual - probably 21-3 and Matsuri - but then there was some other one that I think started with an "H" that I can't for the life of me remember the name of. Every few years I go looking for that label & have so far been unable to find it.

Picking up Hedon (PC, 2019) again tonight at https://twitch.tv/andreaen. I'm currently on map13 Besieged.

I'm #streaming more modded Morrowind (PC, 2002) tonight at https://twitch.tv/andreaen. Continuing the Akamora Mages Guild quests.

back to #streaming Hedon (PC, 2019) today at https://twitch.tv/andreaen. Starting part 2 Hedon Bloodrite this session. I've heard Bloodrite is more complicated and much longer than part 1.

Playing a little Morrowind (PC, 2002) today at https://twitch.tv/andreaen. Still exploring the Tamriel Rebult lands, still level 1.

continuing Hedon (PC, 2019) today at https://twitch.tv/andreaen. Will likely finish part 1 Crystal Heart and start part 2 Bloodrite.

I'm starting a game of Hedon (and its integrated sequel Hedon Bloodrite, PC, 2019) today at https://twitch.tv/andreaen.

Been looking forward to playing Hedon for months; here's hoping the puzzles are easy and the combat isn't overwhelming.

I finished Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth (PC, 2005) a few days ago & wanted to write up a few thoughts.

DCotE is a really ambitious game. Technical state aside I think it succeeds at most of what it sets out to do. It's an impressively faithful adaptation of / homage to H.P. Lovecraft in video game form (for all that entails).

Things I liked: moody graphics and immersive sound, some cool model work (bosses, otherworldly creatures, moths flying around light bulbs), the use of screen effects instead of a HUD. An aside, related to graphics: there's some pretty nasty body horror in DCotE, more than I expected.

Things I disliked: obscure adventure game logic that required hitting specific flags in order to advance, the slow movement speed (and lack of a run button!), the lack of some kind of map.

Things that were funny: hearing Lovecraft's strange names and incantations spoken out loud, the use of conventional firearms to defeat madness-inducing horrors from beyond our dimension.

Unfortunately the game is very, very difficult to A. run and B. keep running. Its technical state will prevent most people from playing it, I think. The GOG version worked for me mostly without error (I had one crash) but the internet is full of people reporting wild issues who weren't so lucky.

I think I'd enjoy it more on a second go, now that I know roughly where everything is.

#streaming Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth (PC, 2005) today at https://twitch.tv/andreaen. Will hopefully finish the game this session.