What I'm Playing: Atomic Zombie Smasher (#41)

Atomic Zombie Smasher is a real-time strategy (RTS) game wherein you are attempting to survive the zombie apocalypse by reaching a certain point threshold before the zombies do. Each turn in the game covers a month which brings with it more zombie outbreaks, new resources, and a randomized parameter to keep things spicy.

The game starts with a single outbreak, depicted by a pink diamond with a number in it over one of various territories on your map. The map below shows a game that's been in progress for a while, evident my the massive amount of zombie outbreaks.

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Grey areas are either contested or haven't been infected yet, black areas are territories that you've already evacuated but didn't cleanse of the zombie scourge, pink areas are overrun by the zombies, and the tan areas are safe zones in which you have completely eradicated the zombies.

The numbers in the pink diamonds, which range from 1 to 4, reflect the severity of the zombie infestation and the difficulty in attempting to evacuate and/or cleanse a specific territory. Once a territory caps out at 4, any further outbreaks there will instead increase the severity in nearby infected territories. You let too many territories cap out and you will quickly fall under an avalanche of ever increasing infestations.

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Once you have selected a territory to deal with in for that particular month the games zooms in to a top down view of the actual town in question, as seen above. As long as the territory is not a level 4 outbreak, there will be civilians in need of rescuing, represented by the little yellow squares. The pink squares are the zombie hordes hoping to eat the yellow squares.

At a minimum, every evacuation attempt will provide you with a helicopter to airlift people off the map. But this isn't a particularly quick process, so as you clear territories and gain points for doing so, the game unlocks more resources for you to use. These can includes such things as artillery, infantry (whose line of sight is depicted by the green cross in the image above), blockades, snipers, and a variety of explosives. And as you use these resources they gain experience, which further expand upon their abilities as the game progresses.

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To successfully complete a level you need to rescue a set minimum amount of survivors. To secure the area from further infestation you have to wipe every zombie off the map in the time allotted. If you haven't done so by the time the sun sets, the town is enveloped in zombies and the only thing you can do is to try and rescue any remaining survivors.

Of course, not all your resources will be available each month so you need to choose wisely which territories you wish deal with in a given month. And as mentioned earlier, the game also throws in a bit of a curve ball by changing the parameters each month. These can includes things such as a slower helicopter, faster ZED (the game's name for the zombies), and a shorter daytime.

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At the end of each mission you get points for how well you did and then it zooms back to the larger map. Here you gain 20 points for every territory you have successfully liberated (tan colored) so far, and the ZED gain points for each territory they still infest, equal to 10 times the threat level (e.g., a level 1 would score 10 points and a level 4 would score 40 points).

The default settings have you each racing to 6000 points, and let me tell, it is NOT easy. I've lost far more games than I've won, but I still keep coming back for more. The individual levels only take a couple of minutes and you can redo them as many times as you like until you get it right, so it's a good game for when you only have 10 minutes to kill.

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The game also comes with a light but amusingly weird storyline depicted via static cut scenes in between months. And there's much more depth to the aspects I've already discussed. If RTS's are your thing, I think this is a nice "lite" version for when you're not in the mood or don't have the time to commit an hour or more.

It's currently selling for $9.99 on Steam, but if you wait for one of their sales I'm sure you'll find it for less.

Final Judgement: BUY IT.


Image Source: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

War & Peace

To start my New Year Resolution to Read 10 Classic Pieces of Literature I figured I'd go big and work my way down, which meant War and Peace was at the top of the list.

I'm about fifty pages into a thirteen hundred page book and I'm beginning to think I've made a horrible mistake. :P

That's not to suggest that the book is bad, but it's not very interesting either, and the sheer quantity of names being thrown my way aren't helping either.



But then a little bird told me there was a musical version and had me listen to the opening number. It was HILARIOUS. And because I am a decent and generous person I am sharing it with you, my friend.



I'm currently going through the soundtrack on Spotify, and while I'm not very far in, this is still my favorite number. It's a shame it only covers a very small portion of the novel, otherwise I'd consider flying out to New York and watching the production as an alternate to reading the book. :D

What I'm Cooking: Good Eats Meatloaf

Ah yes, Alton Brown. I don't know why I didn't watch his show more often when I had access to cable. Entertaining, funny, and educational! Sadly, a quick check on Netflix shows they don't have anything streaming and only have the first season on DVD. And Food Network only has a handful of episodes up for viewing. Thankfully they DO have all the recipes up, so it's not a total loss!

This brings up to this week's recipe, Meatloaf, an apology to my taste buds for the previous disaster of a soup. Let's get started, shall we?

Good Eats Meatloaf

Meatloaf
6	ounces garlic-flavored croutons
½	teaspoon ground black pepper
½	teaspoons cayenne pepper
1	teaspoon chili powder
1	teaspoon dried thyme
½	onion roughly chopped
1	carrot, peeled and broken
3	cloves of garlic
½	red bell pepper
18	ounces ground chuck
18	ounces ground sirloin
1 ½	teaspoons kosher salt
1	egg
Glaze
½	cup ketchup
1	teaspoon ground cumin
	Dash of Worcestershire sauce
	Dash of hot pepper sauce
1	tablespoon honey

MAKING THE DELICIOUS MEAT BRICK:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees.

2. In your food processor combine the croutons (which I only found in 5oz bags), black pepper, cayenne pepper, chili powder, and thyme. Pulse it until the whole things is fine crumbs, and then dump it into a larger bowl.



3. Put the onion, carrot, garlic, and red pepper into the food processor and pulse that until it's finely chopped, but don't go to the point where it's pureed--that'll will prevent the meatloaf from keeping it's shape. Add this in with the bread crumb mixture.



4. Last is the meat. If you've purchased pre-ground meat or had the meat department grind it for you, you can go ahead and toss that in with the crumbs and vegetables now. However, if you're like me (and Alton Brown), you're grinding your meat at home with your food processor because you like being fancy like that. This takes a little more prep time but I think it's much better than prepackaged ground meat.

To keep it from gumming up the processor, you'll need to cube up your meat beforehand and place it on a flat surface in your freezer for about 30-45 minutes. That'll give the meat a bit more structure and allow the blades to pass through cleanly. Just remember to also process it in small batches.

5. Once everything is in one bowl, toss in the kosher salt, add the egg, and then combine thoroughly, but make sure you aren't squeezing the meat.

6. Pack this mixture in tightly to a 10-inch loaf pan (I used a 9-inch and it worked just fine) and then invert the pan onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. A good knock or two should work it loose and you'll have a lovely looking meatloaf like the one below.



7. If you have a temperature probe you can stick it in at an angle and set it for 155 degrees. If not, just stick in the oven for about 45 minutes and you'll be fine.

MAKING THE GLAZE:

1. Combine the ketchup, cumin, sauces, and honey and mix well. Brush the glaze onto the meatloaf after it's been cooking for about 10 minutes.



And, voila! A delicious well-rounded meal is yours!

While I've warmed a bit to the flavor of the glaze, I think I might go a different direction than cumin next time. I would also consider replace the carrot for more onion as the carrots would occasionally overwhelm the other flavors in the meatloaf.

Lastly, if you DO choose to grind your own meat, make sure you give it time to come back to room temperature afterwards. My meatloaf tended to crumble and I suspect that was in part due to the meat being so cold that it didn't bind properly.

Other than that though I would definitely make this again!

Yeah, this is getting shared.

What I'm Playing: Bastion (#42)

Bastion is 2-D action role-playing game using an isometric viewpoint (a mouthful, I know), most notable for its gorgeous hand-painted imagery, and the deep, soft-spoken narrator that accompanies the player throughout the entire game. The game was released back in 2011 by independent developer Supergiant Games.

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The game begins with your character, "the Kid", waking up on a small chunk of rock floating alone in the sky. As you get up and begin to move about the ground rises up before you from the abyss below. It's a beautiful mechanic and pairs wonderfully with the rest of the game's aesthetics.

Very quickly you discover the world has gone to ruin and it's up to you to discover why and how, and see if you can't make things right. Your base of operations is a place called the Bastion, where you meet the narrator, who tells you that you need to seek out a number of crystal shards to get the Bastion up and running again. This is turn will allow everything to be restored to what it once was. Of course, it's not as easy as all that.

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During your hunt for the crystal shards you'll run across a variety of weapons and special abilities that you'll be able to mix and match to best fit the challenges you'll face. And the challenges will be as varied as your arsenal.

The story is quite excellent as well, paired with a beautiful soundtrack. Honestly, everything about this game is a work of art, and it shows the time and effort the creators put into it. While my goal was only to play four hours, I ended up going through the entire game, which last about 15 hours. Of course, I wasn't able to unlock all the weapons and abilities, but the game allows you to replay on a harder mode, keeping all the items and experience you gained in the first play-through.

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Since it's been out for a while, you'll probably find it going on sale every now and then, and when it does I would recommend picking it up. Again, it's an absolutely beautiful game--the artwork, the music, the voice-work, everything.

Final Judgement: BUY IT.


Image Source: 1, 2, 3, 4

I wrote you a letter.

It's eleven pages, hand written on a yellow writing pad. It's filled with hindsight, self-recrimination, apologies, hope for a second chance, and the love that I still hold for you. I don't expect you'll ever see it, but that was never really the point of writing it.

It seems unlikely I'll ever get the chance to say what I want to you in person, or if I did that it would really make any difference. The letter, and this blog post, are really just my attempt at some sort of closure on a wound that refuses to heal.

I think I've managed to mostly behave myself thus far, excluding the occasional self-indulgent poem or two, so I hope you'll forgive this final post on the matter.

I love you.

I miss you.

And I hope someday I'll become the man that you deserve.

Goodbye.

Games, Meat Frames & Automobiles

Yes, the title's a bit of a stretch, but shut up. Trains, Planes & Automobiles was awesome.

Anywho...so yesterday was a super busy but super productive day. It started off with finally buying a new used car, specifically the 2013 Hyundai Elentra you see pictured above this. While the Tuna Boat ('99 Buick Regal) is still functioning, its headlights are broken, it continues to overheat in traffic, and is just generally old and noisy. And so I decided it was time to see how the other half lives and got a car from this millenium.

I'm enjoying it so far, though it is not without it's flaws. The front windshield cuts off much lower than the Buick, leaving me to scrunch down at intersections to see the stoplights. And the steering wheel was shrunk to help make the cabin look bigger, so my habit of driving with a hand at five o'clock now has my fingers crammed in on top of each other. Still, overall it's a vast improvement (MP3 jack! USB port!) and I look forward to my first road trip, possible as soon as this weekend.

After the car purchase was resolved (many hours and miles driven later) I managed to finish off another one of my Steam games, Bastion, AND cook the previously mentioned meatloaf, AND get a night of gaming in with my friends. All were quite good, though I think I want to tinker with the seasoning on the meatloaf. But I'll get into the game and food in later posts.

What I'm Cooking: Disappointment

Technically, it was Farmhouse Vegetable Barley Soup from the November 2011 issue of Cooks' Illustrated, but title is still accurate. This is the second dish I've made which featured leeks as a primary ingredient and my first foray into turnips and both left a bad taste in my mouth (somewhat literally). The recipe isn't terrible but I realized last night that I was having to force myself to eat it, and life is too short to eat unappetizing fare, so it's getting tossed. That said, if you're a fan of said vegetables, here's someone else's review.

Normally I wouldn't even post about it, but it's the opening salvo into my New Year resolution to cook something every two weeks so I wanted to make a note of it.

But as it was a failure in my eyes, I'm going to go ahead and cook something non-Cooks' Illustrated next week, specifically Alton Brown's meatloaf.

It's hard to screw up meatloaf. :D

Well, that was unexpected.

My old boss at the studio called me today out of the blue because one of the lawyers who used to work at the studio with us called him about a position he wants me to interview for at his current company. As curve balls go, it's certainly the most flattering one I can recall having tossed my way. The problem with this is that I'm only eight months into a new job, and I'm incredibly uncomfortable with the idea of jumping ship again so soon, assuming the job was actually offered to me.

I don't recall if I mentioned this before, but I've already come to the conclusion that my current job isn't the one for me. While I enjoy the work and LOVE the people, the constantly fluctuating schedule has turned out to be far more frustrating that I thought it would be. The current plan was to stay with the job through the end of the 2014 season, which ends in October, and then start looking for another job.

Ideally, I'd love to keep working in the Arts, but my previous searches over the years seem to suggest that 9-5s are fairly uncommon. In fact, having looked just now I found another job that sounds fantastic but again requires a lot of evenings and weekends. I suppose that's the price one must usually pay to work in theatre. And if that's not for me, so be it. I love theatre and it's always going to be a part of my life, but maybe my contributions are meant to come from other avenues (e.g., performing or volunteering).

But who knows. It's possible I'm getting way ahead of myself. The first step now is to gather more information and sage advice. Thankfully I'm surrounded by really smart people who also happen to dispense really great advice. :D

Corgi in the snow