Archive for January, 2007

Adventure in frustration

Saturday, January 6th, 2007

Well, there’s part of my life I’ll never get back.

I’ve been playing Runaway 2 pretty much all day (my reward for getting another column done), and after a few hours I was stuck. Of course, that’s nothing to complain about. You want to be stuck sometimes. It means whoever wrote the game has created a really tricky puzzle, and while it’s frustrating at the time, it feels great when you finally solve it (and stop cursing the author’s name under your breath).

So, having gone through all the ‘logical’ options (logical in terms of the game at least), I tried solving it the hard way — using every object with every other object (and every character) in the game. Still no luck, and so I searched for a walkthrough so I could move on.

And what was the solution I couldn’t figure out? Well, I won’t reveal the exact answer (I wouldn’t deprive anyone else of the chance to beat their head against the desk), but I ended up having to use a particular object not with a character or another object, but with an exit. Not only that, it was an exit I (or rather the character) couldn’t get to during the game.

I’ve been stumped by obscure puzzles before (if you’ve played The Longest Journey, remember the key in the subway?), but at least they made sense after the event. This one was completely out of left field.

(My only consolation is the guy who wrote the walkthrough didn’t think it made sense, either.)

And the title goes to…

Friday, January 5th, 2007

Having spent most of the day (and half the night) writing this week’s column, I didn’t want to spend the usual hour or two coming up with the title.

But the working title, “Happy New Fear”, just didn’t seem right.

Fortunately Lynda was still awake, and immediately came up with “Talkin’ bout a resolution”.

Just one more reason why I married her.

Talkin’ bout a resolution

Friday, January 5th, 2007

It’s the start of a brand new year, and it’s time to celebrate in the traditional manner by regretting what you did on New Years Eve.

If you’re lucky it was something harmless, such as running down the street naked or sleeping with a complete stranger. Sure you’ll have to do some explaining, and possibly book a flight out of the country, but after a few days it will all be forgotten — at least until the footage goes up on YouTube. (Let’s hope it’s just you running down the street naked.)

(more…)