Funthrough! Tomb Raider Part Two!

Ha! Today I panic and argue with Lara in the Coastal Forest! 

Like I would have a clue really? About survival after a shipwreck or even being left on my own in the woods for a night. I should take some pointers from Ingo since he's had some training on the matter so I decided to Interview him:

Me: Okay so Ms Croft and I have washed up ashore on an island off the coast of Japan somewhere so that should give you a clue as to the environment, humidity etc. She's scruffy, wet, cold, been clocked in the head, tied up, fell about 50ft and landed on a bone shard which dug into her side, she's bleeding and exhausted. Me? I'm like her imaginary friend... So what should we do?

Ingo: Prioritise. I think even the most hardcore military trained survival nutcase would be more than a little shaken up by the experience and clarity of thought is a lifesaver. Concussion is in itself dangerous, but combined with the abdominal trauma just staying conscious would be a near superhuman feat. One, stop the bleeding. Ideally there I wouldn't be pulling a shard of anything back out of my torso. Looking at where it is, could be kidney, liver, punctured large intestine. Anything. Jamming my hands over the entry wound around the shard and whimpering to myself would probably be my main plan for the next half hour at least. I could assume from that half hour that I hadn't bled to death, and provided I hadn't also slipped into a coma from the head trauma it would be time to extract myself out of the hole I was in. Fans of 'Rambo' will reflect on the wince-inducing self surgery Stallone performs on screen, and while the reality would probably involve allot more swearing and crying, you really would have to make do with something similar.
      Controlling infection would also come to mind, and given the dire circumstances I think I would be trying to heat up some of the scrap metal that seems to be everywhere and cortorise AROUND the shard for the time being, probably while screaming and soiling myself. Then? stagger upwards hoping I'd done enough to continue living for the next hour or so, and distract myself by keeping a check on my breathing, internal bleeding being something that would make itself known now, best case being abdominal swelling and painful bruising, worst case either a punctured bowel leading to a septic wound and death, or bleeding into my upper abdomen/chest cavity and compressing my lungs. All happy thoughts. Assuming Lara is very lucky (and seriously mentally and physically tough) she could look forward to a very slow painful ascent through the caves. Out of the cave and on a tropical/temperate island, I would probably be both elated and worried. Tropical islands make for less harsh survival territory, providing water-shelter-heat-food needs (in that order) relatively easily. However, there's always something else, and in this case the humid climate would make it very very hard for me to keep my wound clean. I would stagger towards the beach and keep my eyes open for where water sources empties into the sea, this sort of outfall being ideal to find drinking water. Salty seawater would be great to irrigate and clean my injuries too, (winces) sore though. At this point, due to the concussion, it would be a real battle to stay awake. I'm inclined to say I would put a cold wet rag on my head wound, out of optimism that it would control the swelling, and pass out in the recovery position, hoping for the best.         

Me: One of the other characters told her to move towards his location but she hasn't got a clue where she is let alone how to navigate to him. Is this sound advice? What should people do in this situation?

Ingo: Madness. You're already in a bad way, adding 'lost and away from your little base camp' is suicidal. I remember a story about a pilot who was shot down, and by staying in the same quarter mile hiding from enemy patrols, an SAR (search and rescue) team was able to find him within a couple of days. If he'd wandered off he would probably have been impossible to find, and died of exposure before anything else. Unless you have a couple of landmarks that can be seen from miles away, you can use triangulation. for example, Lara is on the coast, so there's a reference point, and she can see a clifftop with a big broken tree on it that she estimates is four football fields away, and in the other direction she can see a trashed plane or something, and that's five football fields away, so marking those points and noting how far from her they are she could direct the other party to her (coastlines are pretty permanent so they would have a hard time walking past her location and out to sea) using this method to head inland... I'd be wary. we're still injured pretty badly. 

Me: Supplies are nil and Lara wants to go Deer hunting. How should you go about doing this?

Ingo: Seriously? eat some fruit if there's any you can identify as safe, drink any water you can make potable, make a sharp stick and go get some fish. I have no idea how you could just up and make an accurate bow capable of delivering enough poundage to kill a deer. If venison was my one and only option? I'd make snares, a lot of snares. While eating fish. probably use a lot of cabling from the wrecks as cordage. Even then though, snares are hard to use with any reliability  you have to put out a large number to get a little return. Dressing (butchering) a deer is tough too, if i was injured already it would be very difficult. I'd have to kill the deer, bleed it (black pudding anyone?), slit it open, scoop out the guts like I was Han Solo so it didn't spoil the meat, then have to move the carcass to where my camp was. Definately a daunting task if you're not 100%

Me: Lara finds a bow, and in the game takes a small bit of venison, leaving most of the carcass behind. 

Ingo: In that case yes, Deer can be on the menu, cover yourself in mud and moss to hide your people scent and go stalking. This would still be physically demanding and I would be worried about having enough water and energy to go on. As for taking a small amount of meat and moving on? no, no way, an a-frame litter could be made out of dead fall and lashed together with intestine. A carcass is definitely too good a thing to waste any of, and preserving the meat can be a simple as cutting it into small strips and using your a frame to hang it over a fire. Tasty jerky. Boiling seawater down to get the salt would be a good way to go too. As always though, if you can't find or make potable water don't eat, your body uses up a lot of water digesting food and its always better to err on the side of being hydrated over being fed in the short term.       

Ingo raises some very interesting points about hydration, the dangers of concussion and Lara being in need of serious medical attention. In short, she should be dead. Survival immersion can become tedious and desperate and then you remember it's just a game but is accuracy about this type of stuff important? Considering Video Games are blamed for violent crimes and anti-social behaviour can you claim to be realistic when it is riddled with bad advice?

So I decided to look it up and see what other helpful tips you should remember if you ever find yourself stranded. I found this list from gcaptain.com:

1. Shelter yourself. Exposure can kill faster than thirst or hunger.

2. Do not drink urine. Or sea water. Or bird blood

3. Do not eat jellyfish. Or fish that have spikes. Or fish that have parrot like beaks. OR that puff up like balloons.

4. Turtles are an easy catch and make for excellent meals. Their blood is a good, nutritious, salt-free drink; their flesh is tasty and filling; their fat has many uses; and the castaway will find turtle eggs a real treat. Mind the beak and the claws.

5. If a castaway is injured, beware of well-meaning but ill-founded medical treatment. Ignorance is the worst doctor, while rest and sleep are the best nurses.

6. Put your feet up at least 5 minutes every hour

7. Do not go swimming. It wastes energy. Besides, a survival craft may drift faster than you can swim. Not to mention the danger of sea life. If you are hot, wet your clothes instead.

8. As long as no excessive water is lost through perspiration, the body can survive up to 14 days without water. If you are thirsty, suck a button.

9. Beware of far-off clouds that look like mountains. Look for green. Ultimately, a foot is the only good judge of land.

10. Don’t let your morale flag. Be daunted but not defeated. Remember: the spirit, above all else, counts. If you have the will to live, you will. Good luck

Now the site says they're from the novel Life of Pi by Yan Martel some seem to be very sensible but others don't feel that legit to me. I agree with ignorance not being the best medical practice since you all know how much I favoured Dr Ignorance but I'm sure as hell you shouldn't just go to sleep if your really badly injured and if you're by yourself too! Treat your wounds first and try to prevent infection. Also do not fall asleep if you have a concussion! With that in mind, number 5 is a perfect example of well meaning but ill-founded medical advice. This is just an example from another fictional source so again I ask the question if you're going to publish content on survival shouldn't you make sure it's accurate?

Following that Ingo suggested use your common sense, Prioritise and try not to panic!

Also check out this guy, he knows his shit! Ranger Rick

                           Clicky Funthrough! Tomb Raider part 2 Clicky

Funthrough! Tomb Raider 2013

A Funthrough?

Yes! It's not as comprehensive as a walkthrough but not quite a runthrough as I'd rather have fun with a game I'm playing than take it dreadfully seriously so it's a FUNTHROUGH!

I finally managed to get my video capture and editing stuff working and with some gusto and many coffees later I have the first video up on YouTube:

clicky Nalabox Channel: Tomb Raider part 1  clicky

I had to play the intro over and over again just to get stuff to work and stupid ass me forgetting to record sound and somehow ended up making a 25GB file! Jeebus!

Please feel free to comment and let me know how I'm doing. I know I suck cake arse but I can only get better with practice :)

I do have other projects in the pipeline too.

Nalabox Loves: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

"Dovahkiin"

Dragonborn. A title that commands respect and emanates power beyond any mortal imagining.

Skyrim is the next chapter in the history of Tamriel which has spanned across four previous main story games, extra content, spin off's and eventually as of 2013 an Massively Multiplayer Online Game; The Elder Scrolls Online. That's nearly 18 years of development and fantastic storytelling. Thank you Bethesda :) 

Your humble beginnings are unknown in the prologue to the game. All you do know is your being carted off to the Helgen outpost as Imperial Soldiers have captured Ulfric Stormcloak, the rebel leader, so it's a beheading for him and unfortunately you too for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Not going well for you so far huh? It gets even worse. As Ulfric comes closer to meeting the edge of the executioners axe a giant mythical beast of scale and fire, once thought to be destroyed many centuries ago, swoops down and attacks the people of Helgen: allowing Ulfric and yourself to escape. Once finally out of the now burning Helgen you are free to roam the wild snowy landscape that is Skyrim.

Bethesda are very experienced at making games where the player can become whom ever he/she likes and choose which ever path it takes to get there and this game is no exception. There are main story quests to follow in which you discover you are Dragonborn and learning powerful Tha'ums which is the language of the Dragons by absorbing their souls, their knowledge. 

A bag of bones

You can also decide to join either the Imperial Soldiers fighting for the Empire or the natives of Skyrim the rebellious Stormcloaks who are fighting against the Empire and the right to worship Talos as a God, even though he was a normal dude, but an hero to all of Skyrim. This upsets the Thalmor Elves, who from previous instalments of the Elder Scrolls are the bad guys. I haven't chosen a side yet as I see the benefit to being able to walk into every town and not get attacked by one faction or the other. Also, I find the religious war excuse, as just exactly that. I'm sure the story is more complicated than that considering Ulfric Stormcloak killed the High King of Skyrim and I'm guessing the Empire didn't like that. 

This game also distracts you from the main story with a great many side quests. Oh wow so many times I promised myself I'd just quickly run back to my house in Whiterun, sell my stuff and oooh what's this symbol on the map? A cave? okay it'll only take 10 mins. Oh there's a guy inside and poof there goes an hour. It is incredibly engaging. I must have completed over 50 sidequests plus many miscellaneous quests on top of that but only actually done about 20% of the main story. But that's the great thing about it, that's what this game was made for. For you to do whatever the hell you like!  It has got to the point now where I'm actually slightly displaced from the story and enjoying myself more getting to know the people and secret organisations within Skyrim.

I remember from playing Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion there were guilds and factions you could join to earn extra monies and perks. Like reduced bounty, with the Thieves Guild, when you got caught in a house you may or may not have had permission to be in. Skyrim is no different, however has greatly improved the development and value of being a member of these guilds and factions. You can follow main plot quests specifically for your chosen trade that not only rewards you with perks, unique gear and special life changing abilities but also gives you a connection with the characters involved due to brilliant intricate storytelling. I've had more fun with the Thieves Guild and Companions quest lines than I have the main story so far. 

I was always one head in front of him!

The combat system allows the player to engage with foes from a distance using ranged weapons and magic or with the use of one-handed or two handed weapons and for those who just like to give the beasties a right ol' whollop the best weapon of all: Your fists. Bosh!

The Dragon Shouts learned from Dragon Word Walls or certain NPC's are a form of supporting magic as they can have area effect as well as long range capabilities and can be used for non-combat too. Such as the Become Ethereal you can walk through solid objects, like doors, and have a peek or avoid detection if your somewhere you shouldn't be. The most used one is probably Unrelenting Force as it can be very effective for knocking Dragons out of the sky, but have your weapons ready, once they get up boy are they pissed.

What's great about which ever weapon you choose, you are not limited to that particular style. Yes most of your skill points will be in two-handed but sometimes the situation calls for a less messy approach shall we say? Like an inconvenient arrow to the knee? You don't need to be a prolific archer to down a guard from 100 yards away. Unlike some games where once you've chosen to be a Rogue that's it. All you can use is daggers and crossbows.

I have to say I'm not a magic user per se, I'm in the "two-handed battleaxe" category so I can't really comment on the magic system. But from what I have had to use (quest related) I've found it really easy to get a grasp of (hur hur) and in that classic Elder Scrolls way; the more you use something the better it becomes so if throwing a fiery ball (or balls; duel wield baby!) of doom is your thing then go for it! Me? I like to cleave stuff in half and chop heads. For the HORDE!!! wait...wrong game. 

As you know I love Fallout 3 and the transition from playing that combat system and in that environment to this one wasn't that difficult. I like that they play kind of similar you just hand in your lasers and steampunk attire for Skyforge Steel and Dragon Scale Armour. Yes, you don't need the VAT system here for easy targeting but the combat isn't that difficult to handle to need something like that. I LIKE that Bethesda have made an entirely different game to Fallout and not been lazy about using the same engine and their own stuff to make it awesome and truly unique gaming experience, unlike BioWare: the menus and gameplay for Mass Effect 2 was EXACTLY the same for Dragon Age 2. Lazy.

Frost the Fearless

Firstly, I apologise for the quality of the picture. I don't have everything set up to take stills or record from my Xbox to the laptop so when stuff randonly happens, which is frequently in Skyrim I've noticed; I grab my mobile phone to take pics with. Secondly, my horse is awesome!

I've hired and fired many of the companions you can get to accompany you throughout Skyrim. Some don't cost gold but will make sure you travel to the arse end of no where to get something for them before they'll even think about putting their coats on let alone take an arrow to the..wait already made that joke. But by damn Frost the Fearless Steed has never let me down. Thus far he's the best companion I've had on account that He doesn't run away, glitch, make my presence known, die instantly, doesn't have the IQ of a fart and best of all he was completely FREE. He may or may not have been illegally acquired but since he was technically stolen by someone else doesn't show up as Stolen when he came into my possession. Crime free. Plus he kills Dragons. He's actually better than me too :)
 You know I've read about the possible glitches regarding him running away or just not spawning when you fast travel but he's the only travel companion that hasn't glitched on me in one way or another. He just doesn't die either. Maybe that in itself is a glitch but it's a damn good one for a change! 

I've stuck with Jenessa the Dunmer Mercenary for most of the game, she's not the best I hear but she's the better from the ones I've come across so far. Some puzzles in the ruins you can blunder into require you to have a companion to stand on pressure plates while you pull a lever etc. However, I have found some will just walk  over the very apparent traps and set them off when you have gone to a great deal of care (and time) to avoid. (Lydia; IQ of a fart). The AI of your followers could be greatly improved or a least the instructions you can give them apart from Attack, Stay, Bugger off, and "here carry my stuff!". It would also be helpful if they stayed a certain distance from you at all times especially when sneaking. Many times Aranea the Priestess of Azura didn't even bother going into sneak mode and often didn't actually follow me at all. It is good in some way when a companion is morally objective and often comment on the wrongness of an act you are about to commit it's all very good for the immersion but is it an AI fail or glitch when they simply "push" you into a group of mobs when you are BOTH supposed to be in sneak mode? Harsh, very harsh. I mostly avoided stealthy missions for this reason, my followers would often rush in or Frost would appear out of no where and kill everything anyway.

Which one are you again?

So I decided to get hitched and reap the rewards and joys of matrimony. Mostly the rewards. A homecooked meal and 200 gold a day? Where do I sign up? Best thing is my handsome beardy man is a Training Vendor, which means I can buy skills then get my monies back from trading inventories with my spouse! Another great thing is that you can go Skyrim weeks without seeing them and they don't throw a hissy fit, unlike the many wenches in the Fable games.

Just Google "Skyrim Landscapes" and you'll find some of the best in game screenshots of the world you traverse on your adventures. I have dubbed the landscape "a treat on the senses" as it is truly amazing. a lot of hard work has gone in the the look and feel of the environment and when your spending many many hours of your life in a fantasy world you want it to look real damn good. And real. Which it does spectacularly, from snow capped mountains, stormy seas and even the scale of the cities are amazing. Bethesda never fails to impress when it comes to environment design. The only thing they could have kept on par is the enclosed spaces to match the overwhelming feeling of "awe" for their outside spaces. Objects or characters trying to interact with their environment in a small cave or house just repeated the same glitches often found in Oblivion and spaces often looked unfinished and blocky, not to mention a whole area of the map with nothing in it.

GLITCHES! Bugs, objects colliding at incredible speeds, cows falling out of the sky, broken spawns...the list goes on for the many glitches found throughout the game and it's a shame they feel like the same known glitches experienced in Oblivion and I'd imagine it's predecessors too. It spoils your fun and sometimes you just have to say "come on guys didn't you fix this from last time?" too much effort and time spent on making this game look good they forgot about making it FUNCTION? I'd understand if there were new bugs but not the same ones overlooked? 

Overall, it looks amazing, wild and the freedom very much appeals to me. Character interactions could be improved, hell their AI could be improved greatly and more options to tell your followers what to do. Maybe go as far as mixing some RTS style commands for combat? The game is distracting, like I mentioned earlier, to the point where it really does defer from the main story line. Maybe it's my innate curiosity and gaming style but I ended up getting really lost sometimes and "lost" from the story too. Doing all those other quests and challenges meant no real progression and it got to the point where I had clocked over 100 hours of game time and no sense of achievement. Also when I did follow the story I found it led you to large open areas with nothing in them, which from the start made me feel like i was testing an unfinished game.

In the end i can say I very much liked this game but I did not LOVE it, primarily because I never finished the game due to my brother wanting his copy back. I don't think I'll be rushing back in to it either.