Podcast Appearances

I've mentioned before that I enjoy listening to podcasts -- especially game industry and design focused ones. I've even entertained the thought of getting into it myself, though not much became of that for a while. But eventually it led to The Argument Hour with Seth and TC. We've only done two episodes so far, and then my schedule went a little bit awry when my baby was born.

Not too long ago, I hit the podcast circuit to promote TMG's upcoming 10th anniversary, and the accompanying kickstarter for Homesteaders 10th Anniversary Edition and the New Beginnings expansion. And I've been invited on a few other podcasts in the past as well. Here's a list of all of them, mostly so I can find and share them easily. Feel free to have a listen and enjoy them!

On Board Games: The Argument Hour

With Seth and TC

I mentioned that TC and I have done 2 episodes of The Argument Hour:

5/07/18: In the first Argument Hour, TC and I threw down about "the Alpha Player problem," and I explained a distinction I see between 2 types of cooperative games. Afterwards we talked about Kingdomino, how it works, and the types of people who may or may not enjoy it.

6/07/18: In the second Argument Hour, TC and I got into it about different forms of "going back to the well" -- iterating on a design, honing the mechanisms, and standing on the shoulders of giants, vs lazy rehashing, or downright plagiarism. Afterwards we went over The Voyages of Marco Polo.

On 10/5/18 TC and I took a bit of a break when my son Corbin was born, but we just recorded a 3rd episode about the use of mechanics that rely on loss aversion in games, such as loans, and we mentioned a related (?) topic, scoring leftovers at the end of a game. We ran out of time to do a game review, so we skipped it this time. I'm not sure when that one will air, hopefully I'll remember to come back and link it when it does.
(podcast went live 12/3/18)

On 10/17/18 we recorded another episode about cognitive load, spurred by this blog post by Jeff Warrender. We ran long again, and couldn't really decide on a game to review, so we skipped that segment again. Since I haven't really been playing many games lately, we might just reserve the review segment until we actually have something we'd like to talk about.
(podcast went live 2/18/19)

The TMG Podcast

With Lance Myxter

I've actually been on The TMG Podcast several times:

5/26/17: On episode 003 I joined Lance to talk about How I got into game design, about several of my early designs, and about what led to founding TMG

6/30/17: On Episode 007 I joined Lance again to talk about the Origins convention, testing out new games, and my latest creation (that was on Kickstarter at the time), Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done.

10/27/17: On my third sit-down with Lance, we discussed Essen 2017 releases in general, and TMG's offerings: Exodus Fleet, Harvest, and Pioneer Days, with a few detours to discuss some of TMG's older games as well.

4/13/18: I was on the podcast one more time ahead of the kickstarter project for Homesteaders 10th Anniversary Edition, as well as the New Beginnings expansion. We talked about the beginnings of TMG, as well as plans for TMG's 10th anniversary, such as the revival of our launch titles, Homesteaders, and my game Terra Prime, which is coming back as Eminent Domain Origins. I also explained Ultimate Frisbee to Lance, who seemed to confuse it with disc golf :)

10/5/18: I came back on the podcast to talk about game development in general, but specifically about Belfort, as the kickstarter for the Belfort reprint (with the Expansion expansion and a brand new expansion) was ongoing.

10/8/18: Tasty Take #1: Since Halloween is coming up. Lance asked me if I like scary movies, and if so, which is my favorite.

10/10/18: Tasty Take #2: I talked about playing Eminent Domain and Dice Forge on BoardGameArena.com


And speaking of TMG's 10th anniversary...

TMG 10th Anniversary Promotion

I got myself invited onto a handful of podcasts to promote the 10th anniversary of TMG, and the launch of the 10th anniversary edition of Homesteaders. Here are those appearances:

Hooked On Geek

With Greg Dixon and Stephanie 

4/23/18: In episode 17 of Hooked on Geek, I talked to Greg Dixon and Meeple Lady about everything from how I got into gaming and the game industry, to my engineering background and how that relates to game design and development, to the few published games I've been able to play lately (Bunny Kingdom, Santa Maria), to TMG's 10th anniversary.

Who, What, Why

With Mike Bonet

4/22/18: Season 19, episode 1 of the Who, What, Why podcast began with me reminiscing about the biggest disappointment of my game design career thus far, a Three Musketeers themed game called All For One that I worked on with the original designer David Brain, and how that game basically launched my career as a game developer, and shaped the process I use to develop games. We talked a little about my game design blog, some of my design articles (such as the one on game end dynamics), and about the upcoming reboot of Terra Prime as Eminent Domain Origins

The Brawling Brothers

With Josh and Brandon

5/1/18: For a short segment in the middle of episode 72, the Brawling Brothers took a break from talking about The Grimm Forest and IPs in board games to talk to me about TMG and the Homesteaders 10th anniversary edition / expansion kickstarter.

The State of Games

With Chris Kirkman, Darrel Louder, and TC Petty 

5/1/18: This was a long one, and we covered a lot of miscellaneous topics, but the meat of the podcast was about special, deluxe, or limited editions of games. Also, TC explains why everyone should just enjoy Avengers: Infinity War rather than be critical about it.

The Good, the Board, and the Ugly

With Joe Sallen and T.C. 

5/2/18: After Joe reviewed Eminent Domain and Oblivion, I explained some of the background thinking behind both the base game and the new expansion. I also told some of my favorite amusing stories about the game, and I described my Eminent Domain Legacy tournament format.

What I'm Playing Now Podcast

With Joe Leuzzi

5/6/18: Joe interviewed me on some more obscure history, including my thoughts on role playing games, the 30+ hour holiday game marathons I used to host, and the first real game I worked on: All For One, and another of my prototypes: Alter Ego. The topic of Ultimate Frisbee came up, and I explained the challenges I see with trying to capture the feel of a sport in a tabletop game. And of course I promoted Homesteaders, New Beginnings, and Terra Prime / Eminent Domain Origins.

Go Forth and Game

With Tom Gurganus 

5/18/18: I talked with Tom a little bit about the upcoming TMG titles I was working on at the time (Embark, Old West Empresario), as well as the history of Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done (and a little about the expansion I was working on at the time). Then we talked about the difference between game design and game development, and due to lack of specificity in the term "developer," I proposed a new term to replace it: "gamegineer." Next, I explained my philosophy that games ought to stand up to competitive play -- not all games are meant to, but all things being equal, a game is only better if it DOES hold up to competitive play. And finally, I offered some tips for pitching to publishers, and ran down a few of the games I'm working on (Alter Ego, Riders of the Pony Express, Automatown, Deities and Demigods, and the next TMG project I'm working on: Back To Earth)

Views From The Outer Rim

With Clive Lovett 

5/21/18: Views from the Outer Rim is less a gaming podcast and more of a Sci-Fi/Fantasy podcast. I knew Clive from back in my BGDF chat days, and he invited me on to talk about my sci-fi themed games. I ended up talking about a wide variety of things on that podcast!

Older podcast appearances

Breaking Into Board Games

With Gil Hova, Ian Zang, and Tony Miller 

12/30/15: Gil, Ian, and Tony asked me about how I broke into the industry, specifically into game development.

Board Games Insider - Interview

With Ignacy Trzewik 

9/21/16: Ignacy interviewed me for a special interview series, and we talked about the difference between new and novel mechanisms, and refined versions of existing ones. I got my first chance to mention Crusaders at the end, which had only just been green lit at the time.

Board Game Design Lab

With Gabe Barrett 

6/28/17: Gabe asked me some questions about ways to take a game from good to great.

Board Game Design Lab - Bonus Round

With Gabe Barrett 

6/30/17: Gabe and I discussed the value of playing games more than once each, both as a player, and as a designer.

On Board Games

With Isaac Shalev 

9/18/17: Isaac and I discussed a proposed entry into the game designer glossary he's putting together: Fragility in games (and the opposite, which would be "robust"). We discussed some older/classic games such as Puerto Rico, Princes of Florence, Container, and A Few Acres of Snow, as well as more contemporary titles such as Hanabi, Pandemic, Dominion, and others. Isaac prompted me to talk about an instance where I, as a developer, removed a source of fragility from Scoville, and we also talked about what we can do as designers to add or avoid fragility in our games.

Let's Level Up

With Rick 

2/2/14: Rick asked me about my creative process, and what TMG had planned for 2014 (and beyond).

A Dash of Science

With Chris Birkinbine 

9/5/17: Chris had me on his not-game-centered podcast to talk about "the science of game design," creating and developing board games.

Wurfel Reviews interview on YouTube

With Alina

10/20/16: Alina prompted me with interview questions (she did her homework!) about the difference between design and development, kickstarter and what games are suitable for it, and my upcoming games.

Meeple Nation

With Ryan, Brent, and Nathan 

4/27/16: The Meeple Nation guys interviewed Michael, Andy, at SaltCon 2016, which began with me talking about my upcoming games: the plan to revamp Terra Prime as Eminent Domain Origins, and my next non-Eminent Domain related game, Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done.

4/28/15: This SaltCon 2015 interview went into detail about Eminent Domain and the at-the-time upcoming expansion, Exotica.

I, Geek podcast

With Mark and Sten 

11/29/15: At BGGcon 2015, I sat down with Mark and Sten to talk everything gaming... from what gateway game got me into the hobby, to inspirations for games I've designed, to a sneak peak at the games I was developing at the time.

Legends of Tabletop on YouTube

With John Haremza

7/28/17: In the summer of 2017, I was on the Legends of Tabletop to talk about my upcoming game, Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done, which was on kickstarter at the time.

Legends of Tabletop on YouTube

With John Haremza on YouTube

11/01/16: [watch again]

Arizona Public Media

11/29/15: A public radio station interviewed Karen Arnold Ewing and I about Rincon 2016, the game convention I started up in 2012. That was the last year I was the convention chair before handing the reins over to Karen and her husband Tony, who have made the convention bigger and better than I ever did!

Written interviews

Go Forth And Game

With Tom Gurganus 

10/11/17: Tom got me talking about publishing Deluxified games, designing games in general, and specifically about upcoming EmDo content.

Go Forth And Game

With Tom Gurganus 

4/1/14: Tom interviewed Michael and I about 5 years of TMG.

Dice Hate Me / Go Forth And Game

With Tom Gurganus 

12/14/11: Tom, in conjunction with Dice Hate Me Games, interviewed me way back in 2011 about design advice, how different parts of Eminent Domain came to pass, what it was like to be on kickstarter (at the time it was less ubiquitous), and what other games I was working on, both for TMG and my own designs.

Go Play Listen

With Chris Marling 

12/19/16: Chris does a series of Q&A interviews called Designer's Dozen, where he'll ask a designer a dozen questions about designers they admire, the best and worst aspects of designing, tips, and other miscellaneous design related stuff. 

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Meet The Stormbringers Tribe- A TNT Faction

Chief Thunderbringer
   Chief Thunderbringer did not set out to create a tribe. She doesn't need minions. Hell, she doesn't even need backup. But her strength of conviction in favor of a simpler time, her courage, and her intense natural charisma seem to draw people to her like some old world guru. She speaks, and people listen. She walks, and people follow. Maybe they are drawn to her sense of self-reliance, to the independence that comes with freeing oneself from the over-advanced technology that caused all this mess. Or maybe they really believe that massive weapon she carries is magical. Regardless, when the boss charges at the enemy like a raging bull, they follow. (model: Helle Moller, Hell Dorado)

Distant Thunder
   A bit of a weird sort, Clarice took the name Distant Thunder when she met Thunderbringer. She claims it's a reference to some old book, but no one knows what she's talking about, nor do they understand the big monstrosity of a weapon she carries. But they are sure an effective pair. Clarice used to be part of the Venus Outpost, but she saw the same old ways that she feels got us into this mess, so when Thunderbringer came and spoke of a return to the earth, she embraced it. She's still a bit of a city girl at heart. She doesn't much feel inclined to wear leather from kills or hunt with a bow- she still prefers her scavenged machine-made clothes and her high-powered rifle. But she seems to have a great love and loyalty for Thunderbringer and the tribe. Besides, her familiarity with the more urban ways makes her a great Representative for the Tribe, since she speaks both languages. (model: Kali, USX Modern Day Heroes, RAFM)

Nightfire
   This war shaman uses a disturbing sense of versatility in battle to confound and defeat his enemies. Naturally both brutal and cunning, mutation has given him the power to Cloud the Minds of his enemies in such a way that their distance attacks are unlikely to harm him and any allies nearby. For some reason, when he is there, no one can get a solid lock on him or anyone standing near him. Sometimes he uses that to turn the exposed vantage point of an archer into a kind of one way mirror, so the archer can aim out from an open vantage point, but no one can aim in. Sometimes he uses it to cover his approaching charge, only to beat on an enemy mercilessly with his large staff. While other tribals still think it's appropriate to use technology that is at least several hundred years old, Nightfire, a fanatical purist, will not touch anything more modern than the earliest metal working skills can provide. (model: Bones, Reaper Miniatures)

Bone Dancer
   Bone Dancer is the vengeful spirit of the Stormbringers. She sees the apocalypse as humanity's punishment for its crimes against nature, and of all of the tribe, she is, perhaps, the most angry about it. As such, her bitterness, and the natural sense of insanity that comes with living in the Wasteland, have convinced her that she is an agent of death, brought to the world to avenge the cries of the earth upon those who would harm it. She has very little tolerance for anyone who is not a tribal, for she believes all other humans are a blight upon the earth, and she will not rest until nature is avenged. (model: Maia, Another World Miniatures)

Battering Ram Cleave
   A jock and gamer before the apocalypse, Connor's life didn't change much when the world ended, except that now he was actually doing all the stuff he pretended to do in his MMOGs. And now, he can work out all day instead of wasting time at some crummy day job. When the tribe needs him to do chores, he does the heavy lifting. Suits him just fine. Who needs a computer or gaming console when you have the real thing? (model: Bones, Reaper Miniatures)



Stinger of the Rad Wasp
   Stinger wasn't always the mighty warrior she is today. Before the world blew up she was a spoiled, rich, girly-girl, whose idea of a catastrophe was a bad hair day. But sometimes the end of the world changes a girl, and since then she's beefed up and traded in her shopping bags and purse for armor and a spear. She still has that natural, pasty skin tone, though. Not that anyone makes fun of her for it anymore. (Model: Unknown)

Little Rad Rat
   There's a reason you don't see many kids in the wasteland these days. Most of them don't make it. They don't have the speed, endurance, or street smarts, so unless they have a protector strong enough to keep both of them alive, they sadly perish. But Little Rad Rat is a natural street urchin. Thunderbringer saw her making it on her own one day, and was impressed. But Rat is also smart enough to know that being part of a team has its advantages, so when Thunderbringer flashed her a little half smile, she tagged along and eventually came to be accepted as a full-fledged member of the tribe. She has yet to prove her skills on the battlefield, but she never needs rescuing either, and is very handy when getting through small spaces is a necessity. (Model- Reaper Bones)


Fangs
   What else would you call a giant spider? Fortunately, this one is on our side- if you're a Stormbringer. The tribals have this unnerving capacity to attract loyal animals from the wastes. The Stormbringers are no exception. They refer to them as "totems". You you get used to them wandering around the camp- eventually. (Model- Reaper Bones)

Game 321: Star Control II: The Ur-Quan Masters (1992)

Let's not judge this one by its title screen . . .

               

Star Control II: The Ur-Quan Masters

United States

Toys for Bob (developer); Accolade (publisher)

Released in 1992 for DOS, 1994 for the 3DO console; later fan ports to other platforms

Date Started: 23 March 2019

When I started this blog in 2010, I had already played, at least in adolescence--most of the RPGs that everyone else knows. I may not have remembered all of the details, but I at least could remember the basic outlines of The Bard's Tale, Might and Magic, Wizardry, Questron, Pool of Radiance, and all of the Ultimas. There were lots of games I had never played--never even heard of--of course, but those were games that most other people my age had never encountered either. It wasn't until about a year into my blog, with Dungeon Master, that I truly felt I was blogging about a game that I should be ashamed for never having played previously.

For the first time since then, I am in that position again with Star Control II, a game that frequently makes "top X" lists of the best games of all time. My commenters have mentioned it so many times that my usual pre-game search of previous comments turned up too many results to analyze. This one, in other words, is really going to fill a gap.

       

. . . even though the first game had an awesome title screen.

        

There has been some debate about whether Star Control II is an RPG, but at least almost everyone agrees that its predecessor was not. That predecessor went by the grandiose name Star Control: Famous Battles of the Ur-Quan Conflict, Volume IV (1990), in an obvious homage to Star Wars. It's an ambitious undertaking--part simulator, part strategy game, part action game. The player has to manage ships and other resources and plan conquests of battle maps, but in the end the conflict always comes down to a shooting match between two ships using Newtonian physics and relying almost entirely on the player's own dexterity. This combat system goes back to Spacewar! (1962) and would be familiar to anyone who's played Asteroids (1979).

The setup has an Earth united under one government by 2025. In 2612, Earth is contacted by a crystalline race called the Chenjesu and warned that the Ur-Quan Hierarchy, a race of slavers, is taking over the galaxy. (Star Control II retcons this date to 2112.) Earth is soon enlisted into the Alliance of Free Stars and agrees to pool resources in a mutual defense pact. The Alliance includes Earth, the philosophic Chenjesu, the arboreal Yehat, the robotic Mmrnmhrm, the elfin Ariloulaleelay, and a race of all-female nymphomaniacs called the Syreen who fly phallic ships with ribbed shafts.

On the other side are the Ur-Quan, an ancient tentacled species with a strict caste system. They make slaves out of "lesser races" and only communicate with them via frog-like "talking pets." Their allies include Mycons, a fungus species; Ilwraths, a spider-like race that never takes prisoners; and Androsynths, disgruntled clones who fled captivity and experimentation on Earth. Each race (on both sides) has unique ship designs with various strengths and weaknesses, some of which nullify other ships. There's a kind-of rock-paper-scissors element to strategically choosing what ships you want to employ against what enemies.

          

No "bumpy forehead" aliens in this setting.

         

The occasionally-goofy backstory and description of races seems to owe a lot (in tone, if not specifics) to Starflight (1986), on which Star Control author Paul Reiche III had a minor credit. There are probably more references than I'm picking up (being not much of a sci-fi fan) in the ships themselves. "Earthling Cruisers" (at least the front halves) look like they would raise no eyebrows on Star Trek, and both Ilwrath Avengers (in the back) and Vux Intruders (in the front) look like Klingon warbirds. The Ur-Quan dreadnought looks passably like the Battlestar Galactica.

The original Star Control offers the ability to fight player vs. player or set one of the two sides to computer control (at three difficulty levels). In playing, you can simply practice ship vs. ship combat with any two ships, play a "melee" game between fleets of ships, or play a full campaign, which proceeds through a variety of strategic and tactical scenarios involving ships from different species in different predicaments.  The full game gives player the ability to build colonies and fortifications, mine planets, and destroy enemy installations in between ship-to-ship combats.

         

The various campaign scenarios in the original game.

      

The "campaign map" in the original game is an innovative "rotating starfield" that attempts to offer a 3-D environment on a 2-D screen. It takes some getting used to. Until they reach each other for close-quarters combat, ships can only move by progressing through a series of jump points between stars, and it was a long time before I could interpret the starfield properly and understand how to plot a route to the enemy.

         

Strategic gameplay takes place on a rotating starmap meant to simulate a 3-D universe.

             

I have not, in contrast, managed to get any good at ship combat despite several hours of practice. I'm simply not any good at action games. At the same time, I admire the physics and logistics of it. You maintain speed in the last direction you thrust even if you turn. You have limited fuel, so you can't go crazy with thrusting in different directions. You can get hit by asteroids, or fouled in the gravity wells of planets. And you have to be conservative in the deployment of your ships' special abilities, because they use a lot of fuel. Still, no game in which action is the primary determiner of success is going to last long on my play list. For such players, the game and its sequel offer "cyborg" mode, where technically you're the player but the computer fights your battles, but I'd rather lose than stoop to that.

             

One of my lame attempts at space combat.

          

Star Control II opens with a more personal backstory. In the midst of the original Ur-Quan conflicts, the Earth cruiser Tobermoon, skippered by Captain Burton, was damaged in an ambush and managed to make it to a planet orbiting the dwarf star Vela. As they tried to repair the ship, crewmembers found a vast, abandoned underground city, populated with advanced technology, built by an extinct race known as the Precursors.

        

The backstory is reasonably well-told with title cards.

      

Burton reported the find when she returned to Earth, and she was ordered to return with a scientific team led by Jules Farnsworth. Shortly after they arrived, they received word from Earth that the Ur-Quan had learned about the Precursor city and were on their way. Burton balked at Earth's orders to abandon and destroy the base with nuclear weapons. Instead, she sent her ship back to Earth under the command of her first officer and remained behind with the scientific team, planning to detonate nuclear weapons should the Ur-Quan ever arrive.

         

        

The team ended up spending 20 years on the planet, which they named Unzervalt, with no contact from Earth. During that time, the scientists discovered that the city had been created to build ships, and eventually they were able to activate the machines, which put together a starship. The machines shut down just as the ship was completed, reporting that there were insufficient raw materials to continue. About this time, Farnsworth admitted that he was a fraud, and all the success he'd experienced getting the machines up and running was due to a young prodigy born on Unzervalt--the player character.

         

They're not kidding about the "skeleton" part.

         

Burton assembled a skeleton crew for the new starship, with the PC manning the computer station, and blasted off. Three days out, they discovered the derelict Tobermoon, damaged and bereft of any (living or dead) crewmembers. Burton took command of the Tobermoon while the PC was promoted to captain of the new ship. Tobermoon was soon attacked and destroyed by an unknown alien craft, leaving the new ship to escape to Earth. Here the game begins.

         

What "plight"? You live on a technologically-advanced Eden where your enemies seem to have forgotten about you.

         

The player can name himself and his ship, and that's it for "character creation." He begins in the middle of the solar system, in a relatively empty ship with 50 crew and 10 fuel. I intuited that I needed to fly towards Earth, so I headed for the inner cluster of planets.  

            

"Character creation."

             

As the screen changed to show Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, a probe zoomed out and attached itself to our ship. It played a recording from an Ur-Quan (with the "talking pet" doing the talking), informing me that approaching Earth was forbidden, as was my status as an "independent" vessel. The probe then zoomed off to inform the Ur-Quan of my "transgressions," leaving me to explore the planetary area at will. I guess the war didn't go so well for the Alliance.

            

Well, we now know how the first game ended, canonically.

        

As I approached Earth, the screen changed to show Earth, the moon, and a space station orbiting Earth. Earth itself seemed to have some kind of red force field around it, so I approached the space station.

As I neared, I was contacted by a "Starbase Commander Hayes of the slave planet Earth." He indicated that his energy cores were almost depleted and asked if we were the "Hierarchy resupply ship." At this point, I had a few dialogue options. One allowed me to lie and say I was the resupply ship. Another had me introduce myself. A third--more reflective of what I was actually thinking--said "'Slave planet?!' 'Hierarchy resupply vessel?!' What is going on here?'" The commander said he'd answer my questions if we'd bring back some radioactive elements to re-power the station. He suggested that we look on Mercury.

        

I like dialogue options, but so far they've broken down into: 1) the straight, obvious option; 2) the kind-of dumb lie; and 3) the emotional option that still basically recapitulates #1.

          

I flew off the Earth screen and back to the main solar system screen. At some point during this process, I had to delete the version of the game that I'd downloaded and get a new one. None of the controls worked right on the first one I tried. I particularly couldn't seem to escape out of sub-menus, which was supposed to happen with the SPACE bar. The second version I downloaded had controls that worked right plus someone had removed the copy protection (which has you identifying planets by coordinates). The controls overall are okay. They're much like Starflight, where you arrow through commands and then hit ENTER to select one. I'd rather be able to just hit a keyboard option for each menu command, but there aren't so many commands that it bothers me. Flying the ship is easy enough with the numberpad: 4 and 6 to turn, 8 to thrust, 5 to fire, ENTER to use a special weapon. There's a utility you can use to remap the combat commands, but using it seems to run the risk of breaking the main interface, which I guess is what happened with the first version I downloaded.

            

Running around Mercury and picking up minerals. The large-scale rover window (lower right) is quite small.

           

When orbiting a planet, you get a set of options much like Starflight. You can scan it for minerals, energy, or lifeforms, and then send down a rover (with its own weapons and fuel supply) to pick things up. Minerals are color-coded by type, and at first I was a little annoyed because I can't distinguish a lot of the colors. But it turns out that the explorable area of planets is quite small, and you can easily zoom around and pick up all minerals in just a few minutes. In that, it's quite a bit less satisfying than Starflight, where the planets were enormous and you'd never explore or strip them all, and you got excited with every little collection of mineral symbols. 

The rover doesn't hold much, but returning to the ship and then landing again is an easy process, so before long my hold was full of not just uranium and other "radioactives," but iron, nickel, and other metals. In mining them, the rover was periodically damaged by gouts of flame from the volatile planet, but it gets repaired when you return to the main ship.

        

Returning to base with a near-full cargo manifest.

         

We returned to the starbase and transferred the needed elements. With the station's life support, communications, and sensors working again, the captain was able to scan my vessel, and he expressed shock at its configuration. Rather than give him the story right away, I chose dialogue options that interrogated him first.

              

This seems to be everybody's reaction.

          

Commander Hayes explained that the Ur-Quan had defeated the Alliance 20 years ago. They offered humanity a choice between active serve as "battle thralls" or imprisonment on their own planet. Humanity chose the second option, so the Hierarchy put a force field around the planet, trapping the human race on a single world and preventing assistance from reaching them. But they also put a station in orbit so their own ships could find rest and resupply if they happened to pass through the system. The station is maintained by humans conscripted from the planet for several years at a time.

          

Humanity's fate didn't seem so bad until he got to this part.

          

When he was done, I (having no other choice, really) gave him our background and history and asked for his help. Pointing out that starting a rebellion and failing would result in "gruesome retribution," he asked me to prove my efficacy by at least destroying the Ur-Quan installation on the moon, warning me that I would have to defeat numerous warships.

We left the station and sailed over to the moon. An energy scan showed one blaze of power, so I sent the rover down to it. The report from the rover crew said that the alien base was abandoned and broadcasting some kind of mayday signal, "but great care has been taken to make it appear active." My crew shut the place down and looted it for parts.

           

My crew files a "report from the surface."

         

Lifeform scans showed all kinds of dots roaming around the moon, most looking like little tanks. I don't know if I was supposed to do this or not, but I ran around in the rover blasting them away in case they were enemies. I also gathered up all the minerals that I could.

I returned to the starbase, and the commander accepted my report. Just then, an Ilwrath Avenger, having found the probe, entered the system. The arachnid commander threatened us. There were some dialogue options with him, all of which I'm sure resulted in the same outcome: ship-to-ship combat.

           

They're not just "spider-like"; they actually spin webs on their bridges.

        

This part was much like the original game, although with the ship icons larger and against a smaller backdrop. I (predictably) lost the battle the first two times that I tried, but won the third time. In my defense, the game's backstory specifically said that I had minimal weapons. It was also a bit lumbering--slow to turn, slow to thrust.

         

The alien ship destroys me in our first encounter.

       

When I returned to starbase after the battle, Commander Hayes said he would join my rebellion, and the starbase would be my home base. He asked what we would call our movement, and there were some amusing options.

           

The last option tempted me, but I was boring and went with the first one.

           

Through a long series of dialogues, I learned that as I brought back minerals and salvage, the base could convert them into "resource units" (RU) which I could then use to build my crew, purchase upgrades for the Prydwen (improved thrusters, more crew pods, more storage bays, more fuel), get refueled, and build a fleet of starships. I can even build alien ships if I can find alien allies to pilot them.

         

My own starbase. Why can't I name it?

         

Hayes had a lot more dialogue options related to history and alien species, but I'll save those for later. It appears that the introduction is over and I now have a large, open universe to explore, where I'm sure I'll do a lot of mining, fighting, and diplomacy. In this sense, Star Control II feels like more of a sequel to Starflight than the original Star Control.

            

One part of a nine-page starmap that came with the game. I'm tempted to print it out and assemble it on the wall in front of my desk. I suppose it depends on how long the game lasts.

         

I appreciate how the game eased me into its various mechanics. I'm enjoying it so far, and I really look forward to plotting my next moves. I suspect I'll be conservative and mine the rest of the resources in the solar system and buy some modest ship upgrades before heading out into the greater universe.

Time so far: 2 hours

Top 10 Games Of 2018

Compared to last year, 2018 was one hell of a year for games. Sony hit it out of the park while Nintendo continued their Switch streak with a number of steady releases. Microsoft did some good too, though I only experienced them on the PC. All and all, it's been a good one so let's take a look at what new games I actually got around to play and which one holds my highest esteem...

Read more »

ouo.io - Make short links and earn the biggest money

Shrink and Share

Signup for an account in just 2 minutes. Once you've completed your registration just start creating short URLs and sharing the links with your family and friends.

You'll be paid for any views outside of your account.

Save you time and effort

ouo.io have a simple and convenient user interface, and a variety of utilities.

We also provides full mobile supports, you can even shorten the URL and view the stats on a mobile device.

Singup FREE

15 Highest Paying URL Shortener to Earn Money Online 2018

1. Wi.cr: Wi.cr is also one of the 30 highest paying URL sites.You can earn through shortening links.When someone will click on your link.You will be paid.They offer $7 for 1000 views.Minimum payout is $5.
   You can earn through its referral program.When someone will open the account through your link you will get 10% commission.Payment option is PayPal.
   
   • Payout for 1000 views-$7
   • Minimum payout-$5
   • Referral commission-10%
   • Payout method-Paypal
   • Payout time-daily
   
   
2. Shorte.st: Shorte.st is another very popular and most trusted URL Shortening Company. Shorte.st comes as a user-friendly URL Shortener Service with many creative options for making money by monetizing the links you share. Shorte.st provides you an opportunity to earn from $5 to $15 per 1000 views for promoting their shortened links.
   For WordPress Bloggers, Shorte.st brings its WordPress Plugin which will help you greatly to boost your earnings. Shorte.st has a low minimum payout of $5.
   The payment is credited automatically on the 10th of each month. The payment methods include PayPal, Payoneer, and WebMoney. It also presents a referral earning opportunity wherein you can earn 20% commission on referrals for a lifetime.
   
3. Linkshrink: Linkshrink URL Shortener Service provides you an opportunity to monetize links that you go on the Internet. Linkshrink comes as one of the most trusted URL Shortener Service. It provides an advanced reporting system so that you can easily track the performance of your shortened links. You can use Linkshrink to shorten your long URL. With Linkshrink, you can earn anywhere from $3 to $10 per 1000 views.
   Linkshrink provides lots of customization options. For example, you can change URL or have some custom message other than the usual "Skip this Ad" message for increasing your link clicks and views on the ad. Linkshrink also offers a flat $25 commission on your referrals. The minimum payout with Linkshrink is $5. It pays you through PayPal, Payza, or Bitcoin.
   
4. Linkbucks: Linkbucks is another best and one of the most popular sites for shortening URLs and earning money. It boasts of high Google Page Rank as well as very high Alexa rankings. Linkbucks is paying $0.5 to $7 per 1000 views, and it depends on country to country.
   The minimum payout is $10, and payment method is PayPal. It also provides the opportunity of referral earnings wherein you can earn 20% commission for a lifetime. Linkbucks runs advertising programs as well.
   
   • The payout for 1000 views-$3-9
   • Minimum payout-$10
   • Referral commission-20%
   • Payment options-PayPal,Payza,and Payoneer
   • Payment-on the daily basis
   
   
5. Short.am: Short.am provides a big opportunity for earning money by shortening links. It is a rapidly growing URL Shortening Service. You simply need to sign up and start shrinking links. You can share the shortened links across the web, on your webpage, Twitter, Facebook, and more. Short.am provides detailed statistics and easy-to-use API.
   It even provides add-ons and plugins so that you can monetize your WordPress site. The minimum payout is $5 before you will be paid. It pays users via PayPal or Payoneer. It has the best market payout rates, offering unparalleled revenue. Short.am also run a referral program wherein you can earn 20% extra commission for life.
   
6. CPMlink: CPMlink is one of the most legit URL shortener sites.You can sign up for free.It works like other shortener sites.You just have to shorten your link and paste that link into the internet.When someone will click on your link.
   You will get some amount of that click.It pays around $5 for every 1000 views.They offer 10% commission as the referral program.You can withdraw your amount when it reaches $5.The payment is then sent to your PayPal, Payza or Skrill account daily after requesting it.
   
   • The payout for 1000 views-$5
   • Minimum payout-$5
   • Referral commission-10%
   • Payment methods-Paypal, Payza, and Skrill
   • Payment time-daily
   
   
7. Clk.sh: Clk.sh is a newly launched trusted link shortener network, it is a sister site of shrinkearn.com. I like ClkSh because it accepts multiple views from same visitors. If any one searching for Top and best url shortener service then i recommend this url shortener to our users. Clk.sh accepts advertisers and publishers from all over the world. It offers an opportunity to all its publishers to earn money and advertisers will get their targeted audience for cheapest rate. While writing ClkSh was offering up to $8 per 1000 visits and its minimum cpm rate is $1.4. Like Shrinkearn, Shorte.st url shorteners Clk.sh also offers some best features to all its users, including Good customer support, multiple views counting, decent cpm rates, good referral rate, multiple tools, quick payments etc. ClkSh offers 30% referral commission to its publishers. It uses 6 payment methods to all its users.
   • Payout for 1000 Views: Upto $8
   • Minimum Withdrawal: $5
   • Referral Commission: 30%
   • Payment Methods: PayPal, Payza, Skrill etc.
   • Payment Time: Daily
   
   
8. LINK.TL: LINK.TL is one of the best and highest URL shortener website.It pays up to $16 for every 1000 views.You just have to sign up for free.You can earn by shortening your long URL into short and you can paste that URL into your website, blogs or social media networking sites, like facebook, twitter, and google plus etc.
   One of the best thing about this site is its referral system.They offer 10% referral commission.You can withdraw your amount when it reaches $5.
   
   • Payout for 1000 views-$16
   • Minimum payout-$5
   • Referral commission-10%
   • Payout methods-Paypal, Payza, and Skrill
   • Payment time-daily basis
   
   
9. Link4.me: Link4.me is another trusted and fast growing site.You can earn by creating an account for free.You have to shorten your long URL into the short one.Then you can paste it into websites, blog, and social networking sites.You can earn $9 for 1000 views.they offer 20% referral commission for the lifetime.
   When your earning will reach $5 then you can claim your earning.Paypal is the only method through which you can withdraw your earnings.
   
   • Payout for 1000 views-$9
   • Minimum payout-$5
   • Referral commission-20%
   • Payment method-Paypal
   
   
10. ADmy.link: ADmy.link is also one of the best URL sites.It is a trusted site.You can earn simply by registering for an account.It's fast and free!then you can Find URLs you would like to monetize and shorten your links.You just have to Share your shortened links and drive traffic to your content.
    Then Earn money by sharing in the advertising revenues for each real visit to your links!You can earn $5 for 1000 views.Minimum payout is $5.You can earn extra money by their referral system.They offer 15% as a referral program.
    
    • Payout for 1000-$5
    • Minimum payout-$5
    • Referral commission-15%
    • Payment method-PayPal
    • Payment time-start of every month.
    
    
11. Adf.ly: Adf.ly is the oldest and one of the most trusted URL Shortener Service for making money by shrinking your links. Adf.ly provides you an opportunity to earn up to $5 per 1000 views. However, the earnings depend upon the demographics of users who go on to click the shortened link by Adf.ly.
    It offers a very comprehensive reporting system for tracking the performance of your each shortened URL. The minimum payout is kept low, and it is $5. It pays on 10th of every month. You can receive your earnings via PayPal, Payza, or AlertPay. Adf.ly also runs a referral program wherein you can earn a flat 20% commission for each referral for a lifetime.
    
12. Shink.me: Shink.me is one of the old URL shortener sites.It is a legit site.You just have open an account free.You can earn from this like other URL shortener companies.It offers the good CPM rate for all countries traffic.
    You can earn $4.65 for every 1000 views.The minimum payout rate is $5.ther offer 10% referral commission.PayPal and Payza are payment methods of shink.me.
    
    • The payout for 1000 views-$4.65
    • Minimum payout-$5
    • Referral commission-10%
    • Payout methods-Payza and Paypal
    • Payment time-Biweekly
    
    
13. BLV.ME: BLV.ME is one of the most trusted URL shortener sites.It pays high CPM rate.You can earn $10 for every 1000 views.One worst thing about blv.me is its referral system.
    They only offer 5% referral commission which is very much low.You can withdraw your amount when it reaches $10.You can claim your amount through Payza, Bank Transfer or Skrill.
    
    • The payout for 1000 views-$10
    • Minimum payout-$10
    • Referral commission-5%
    • Payout options-Payza, Skrill, and bank transfer
    • Payment time-at the end of the month
    
    
14. Ouo.io: Ouo.io is one of the fastest growing URL Shortener Service. Its pretty domain name is helpful in generating more clicks than other URL Shortener Services, and so you get a good opportunity for earning more money out of your shortened link. Ouo.io comes with several advanced features as well as customization options.
    With Ouo.io you can earn up to $8 per 1000 views. It also counts multiple views from same IP or person. With Ouo.io is becomes easy to earn money using its URL Shortener Service. The minimum payout is $5. Your earnings are automatically credited to your PayPal or Payoneer account on 1st or 15th of the month.
    
    • Payout for every 1000 views-$5
    • Minimum payout-$5
    • Referral commission-20%
    • Payout time-1st and 15th date of the month
    • Payout options-PayPal and Payza
    
    
15. Petty Link: Shorten URLs and earn money with Petty Link which is one of the best URL Shortening for earning money online.
    Getting started is easy. You need to create an account, shorten your link, and start earning money. Petty is one of the best ways to earn extra money.
    You get to make money from home when managing and protecting your link. Using the Petty Link tool, you can create short links. What's best, you get paid. It's a completely free tool.
    You have to create an account, create a link, and post it. For every visit, you earn money. The payout is as much as $12 per 1000 views. Plus, you can get 21% Referral Bonus.
    It has the Petty Link Referral Program. Refer friends and receive 21% of their earnings for life.
    Its featured Administration Panel allows you to control all of the features with a click of a button. It offers detailed stats. You get to know your audience.
    It has a low minimum payout. You need to earn only $5.00 before you are paid. Payment method is PayPal. Moreover, Petty offers the highest rates.
    Plus, it has a dedicated support team to help you out in case you have any questions or issues.
    

Top 15 Websites to Learn How to Hack Like a Pro

1. SecTools.Org: List of 75 security tools based on a 2003 vote by hackers.
2. KitPloit: Leading source of Security Tools, Hacking Tools, CyberSecurity and Network Security.
3. The Hacker News: The Hacker News — most trusted and widely-acknowledged online cyber security news magazine with in-depth technical coverage for cybersecurity.
4. Hacked Gadgets: A resource for DIY project documentation as well as general gadget and technology news.
5. DEFCON: Information about the largest annual hacker convention in the US, including past speeches, video, archives, and updates on the next upcoming show as well as links and other details.
6. SecurityFocus: Provides security information to all members of the security community, from end users, security hobbyists and network administrators to security consultants, IT Managers, CIOs and CSOs.
7. Exploit DB: An archive of exploits and vulnerable software by Offensive Security. The site collects exploits from submissions and mailing lists and concentrates them in a single database.
8. Hakin9: E-magazine offering in-depth looks at both attack and defense techniques and concentrates on difficult technical issues.
9. HackRead: HackRead is a News Platform that centers on InfoSec, Cyber Crime, Privacy, Surveillance, and Hacking News with full-scale reviews on Social Media Platforms.
10. NFOHump: Offers up-to-date .NFO files and reviews on the latest pirate software releases.
11. Packet Storm: Information Security Services, News, Files, Tools, Exploits, Advisories and Whitepapers.
12. Metasploit: Find security issues, verify vulnerability mitigations & manage security assessments with Metasploit. Get the worlds best penetration testing software now.
13. Offensive Security Training: Developers of Kali Linux and Exploit DB, and the creators of the Metasploit Unleashed and Penetration Testing with Kali Linux course.
14. Phrack Magazine: Digital hacking magazine.
15. Black Hat: The Black Hat Briefings have become the biggest and the most important security conference series in the world by sticking to our core value: serving the information security community by delivering timely, actionable security information in a friendly, vendor-neutral environment.

Ethical hacking : Top 11 best websites to learn hacking

• Hakin9: E-magazine offering in-depth looks at both attack and defense techniques and concentrates on difficult technical issues.
• HackRead: HackRead is a News Platform that centers on InfoSec, Cyber Crime, Privacy, Surveillance, and Hacking News with full-scale reviews on Social Media Platforms.
• Packet Storm: Information Security Services, News, Files, Tools, Exploits, Advisories and Whitepapers.
• Phrack Magazine: Digital hacking magazine.
• NFOHump: Offers up-to-date .NFO files and reviews on the latest pirate software releases.
• The Hacker News: The Hacker News — most trusted and widely-acknowledged online cyber security news magazine with in-depth technical coverage for cybersecurity.
• SecTools.Org: List of 75 security tools based on a 2003 vote by hackers.
• KitPloit: Leading source of Security Tools, Hacking Tools, CyberSecurity and Network Security.
• Hacked Gadgets: A resource for DIY project documentation as well as general gadget and technology news.
• Exploit DB: An archive of exploits and vulnerable software by Offensive Security. The site collects exploits from submissions and mailing lists and concentrates them in a single database.
• Metasploit: Find security issues, verify vulnerability mitigations & manage security assessments with Metasploit. Get the worlds best penetration testing software now.

NEXT OF KIN CLAIMS

Dear Sir,

I am Mr. Mohammed Habibu; I work with a reputable financial institution in
Kenya as an Account Officer in the Treasury/Credit Control Unit. I was
mandated to look for a Customer who died some years back in Westgate
shopping mall attack by Al-Shabaab terror attack, on 23rd September 2013
to enable his family claim his inheritance funds.

After these several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to track his last
name over the Internet, to locate any member of his family hence I
contacted you, I have contacted you to assist in repatriating the assets
and Capital valued at £12,540,000.00 Million pounds (Twelve Million, Five
Hundred and Forty Thousand Pounds Only) left behind by my client before
they get confiscated or declared unserviceable by the share holders of
this Financial Institution, so that they can share his funds as dividends
amongst themselves.

The Bank has issued me a notice to provide the next of kin or have the
account confiscated within the next fourteen official working days,
because as at the time of his demise I was his accounting officer, but
have since been promoted to the position of Treasury/Credit Control Unit,
ever since I have been unsuccessful in locating the relatives for some
time now, I seek your consent to present you as the next of kin to the
deceased so that the proceeds of his account can be paid to you, it does
not matter if you are direct or indirect relative. Therefore, on receipt
of your positive response, we shall then discuss modalities for transfer.

As soon as I receive an acknowledgment of your acceptance, I will furnish
you with the necessary modalities of the transaction. I assure you that
this transaction is 100% risk free, and as soon as we succeed in getting
this funds to your account, The money will be shared on a 50, 50
basis............... I guarantee that this will be executed under a
legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law.

I am waiting to hear from you soon.

Best regards,

Mr. Mohammed Habibu.

hi

 

Hello, how are you?
It's my pleasure meeting you.
my name is Sandra, I saw your profile today at FB and I find it interesting to contact you and to know little more about you,
I will be very happy if you can reply me through this my email address, (sandrafrank55@hotmail.com) , so that we will move further for knowing each other more.
I will be waiting for your reply soon.
Miss Sandra.

Check out my photos on Facebook

facebook Hi , Ella Nkosana is inviting you to join Facebook. Ella Nkosana please contact me with my email at ellankosana22@hotmail.com May 26, 2015 Once you join, you'll be able to see updates, photos and more from Ella and all your other friends... and share your own! Join Facebook This message was sent to nefertitivam.vampiros@blogger.com. If you don't want to receive these emails from Facebook in the future or have your email address used for friend suggestions, please unsubscribe. Facebook, Inc., Attention: Department 415, PO Box 10005, Palo Alto, CA 94303

hola les escribo despues de largo tiempo y a los supuestos vampiros sigan escribiendome

este es mi pagina de face https://www.facebook.com/nefertitivam/about chicos ahora recibo advertencias de supuestos vampiros no se si son reales lo que este blogger es para q hablemos de sus anécdotas sobre cosas sobre naturales y copartir aficiones como series espero q me escriban y me cuentes sus experiencias y esos supuestos vampiros espero q me sigan escribiendo y haber si me explican si son vampiros como es su existencia y cual es su verdad espero con ansias sus experiencias.

hola les escribo despues de largo tiempo y a los supuestos vampiros sigan escribiendome

chicos ahora recibo advertencias de supuestos vampiros no se si son reales lo que este blogger es para q hablemos de sus anécdotas sobre cosas sobre naturales y copartir aficiones como series espero q me escriban y me cuentes sus experiencias y esos supuestos vampiros espero q me sigan escribiendo y haber si me explican si son vampiros como es su existencia y cual es su verdad espero con ansias sus experiencias