April 11th?

Has it really been since April 11th since I posted on this blog.

ZOIKS!

What have I been up to? Believe it or not, not a bit of NWN2 since the end of the Halloween mod. I suppose I've posted here or when someone rates a mod, but not anything of weight.

I have been playing games on and off. I really got hooked on Medieval Total War I and II, amazing highly addictive stuff. I've also been playing a bit of Thief 3 and an old Indiana Jones PC game from 2003.

In general less time playing games and more time reading and hanging with my kids.

David Arneson, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons game, dies at 61

MINNEAPOLIS — David Arneson, one of the masterminds who created the original version of the award-winning fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, died Tuesday in St. Paul following a two-year battle with cancer. He was 61.

Arneson teamed up with co-creator Gary Gygax in 1974 to create Dungeons & Dragons, which remains one of the best-known and best-selling role-playing games of all time. An estimated 20 million people have played the game in which players create characters who embark on imaginary adventures within a fantasy setting. Characters solve dilemmas, engage in battles and gather treasure and knowledge, and in the process they earn points to become increasingly powerful over a series of sessions.

The game became wildly popular with wargamers at its debut and soon after became a favorite of high school and college students.

As a University of Minnesota history student in the late 1960s, Arneson developed an interest in naval war games and re-creating battles complete with miniature armies and fleets. He had begun to design Blackmoor, a role-playing game of his own that involved medieval miniatures exploring the dungeons of a castle inhabited by monsters, when he attended GenCon in 1969, said Wizards of the Coast, the subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. which produces the game. That is where he met Gygax and, along with Jeff Perren, they collaborated to create a game of sailing-ship battles called Don't Give Up the Ship.

They swapped ideas and came up with the script that eventually led to Dungeons & Dragons.

New workplace accomodations in economic downtimes

Old Games

I've picked up some old games and am having a very good time with them.

I've been playing Thief Deadly Shadows (aka Thief 3). I loved the first one and the 3rd does not disappoint.

I picked up Medieval Total War Gold. Dated graphics, but a fabulous game. The latest total war looks incredible, but I didn't want to spend the money and wasn't sure if my computer would cut the mustard.

Finally I picked up Indiana Jones and the Emporor's Tomb. This is a nod to my kids who love Indiana Jones. I'm not a huge fan of the lego games that are out now. They are fine, but I get bored pretty quick. Hopefully this will be a treat for me and my kids.

I've spend the rest of my time reading, SQL 2008, Asp.net 3.5, AJAX, Social Networking Asp.net 3.5 and AJAX, Web 2.0 Portals with ASP.net 3.5 and AJAX. Windows server 2008. IIS 7.0. Lots and lots of reading for work.

Age of Empires III

Looks like Age of Empires III is back as the game of choice, that an some off line gaming. I've managed a few games of Risk with my eldest son. Not much D&D or NWN action, but I poke javascript:void(0)around NWVault, can't quite seem to stop.

Still Here

I'm still here.

Not much gaming lately. Picked up Spider Man friend or foe and played with kids. They love it.

Vacation is almost over

Well my long Christmas vacation at home is nearly over and Tuesday I'll be back at work. I feel refreshed and kind of miss my work, but it doesn't compare to a week with my kids. It's my favorite week of the year.

I've been playing a lot of Half Life, I finished HL2, HL2-Ep1 and am nearly done with HL2-Ep2. My young kids are watching me play Portal, which is PG.