Archive 28.5.2014 - 20.1.2015

Waggle Dance. Wow, so much fun for more. We played again as two players, it really works well. However, it's still quite difficult to assess the tactical potential of the queen cards. And somehow I also need to pay more attention to my own strategy so that I can win sometimes.

Here's what I found worth reading this week, collected and uncommented:

Sentinels of the Multiverse. This time, Legacy, Wraith, Ra and Tempest faced off against Baron Blade and although he really gave it his all, he didn't stand a chance. Insula Primalis was particularly annoying this time, but the superheroes were not impressed by either thieving Pterodactyls or lava flows. Epic!

Waggle Dance. Today's first game with Juliana, and it really worked well - definitely a good gateway, but also interesting strategies. The exchange actions, for example, were my saviors, even though I initially rated them as rather weak. And the victory scoring - great. Efficiency is so much cooler than just victory points in a field. Both of us had 5 honey (here the leader would have won), both 9 bees (here the lower one would have been the winner), but Juliana had more nectar and was thus the winner. Very friendly, visually beautiful and elegant worker placement game system.

Shadows of Brimstone: City of the Ancients. Distributed in this country by Heidelberger and the German versions of the two base boxes have already been threatened. Weird West at its ameritrashiest.

The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game. Twice, Aragorn, Celeborn, and Beravor attempted to find the secret of Celebrimbor from the Orc troops of Bolg, but both times they failed, despite support from the Ents. On the second attempt, they already had the mold, but were then overrun by the Orcs.

After attacks in Paris: Premier Cameron wants to ban effective encryption. And so begins the madness of attacks on civil rights with flimsy pseudo-arguments and ineffective - but certainly very convenient for the intelligence services - requirements. Who gets left behind? The citizen, who just wants to live. The citizen, who is still in the majority, who does not question the liberal democratic basic order, as extremist fringe groups like terrorists and politicians do.

Waggle Dance. Just a test flight of the busy bees to get a feel for it, but I like the game! Pretty colorful and a simple, catchy worker placement with enough tactical options. Definitely a good decision to join the Kickstarter. Nice gateway game that even advanced players can have fun with.

What is this all about? | Space Empires 4X - a board game by Jim Krohn. Another program to automate the alien players in Space Empires 4X. This time in Java.

Space Empires: 4X - Alien Players Tool. Bookmarked for later - simulates the Alien Player in Space Empires 4X when playing solo and not wanting to face the Doomsday Machine.

Gears of War: The Board Game. On the day of his arrival at his new post, Markus Fenix made a truly pitiful figure - Dom would laugh at him. But it was only flesh wounds, quickly patched up by the medic and right back in, that damned hole must be plugged. And this time it worked. The grenade launcher that the Boomer lost, which suddenly appeared in front of his Lancer - where do these big guys always hide? - and which he couldn't grab, did bother him a bit.

Here's what I found worth reading this week, collected and uncommented:

Forbidden Desert. Navigator and water carrier had no major problems finding their way out of the desert, despite the storm picking up and the scorching sun. The game is really nice, relaxing, and fluid to play, even for the first game - although I had of course read the instructions and watched the game on Tabletop. Can definitely become a regular guest with us, and offers space for 2-5.

The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game. Aragorn and Frodo visited Celeborn and helped him get a captured Orc through Fangorn. The Huorns were a nuisance but could be kept under control and the group made it through with a few scratches. The deck isn't running really smoothly yet, I still need to optimize, even though it achieved its goal here.

xslt workbench. Please don't ask why I need something like this. The pain is already great enough.

sharplispers/cormanlisp. Haven't lisped in a long time. Corman Lisp - one of the coolest implementations of Common Lisp on Windows at the time - is now open source and on GitHub. However, it probably still needs a lot of work before it runs smoothly on modern Windows versions. But the first step has been taken with the source release.

Recently on the Internet

Nahaufnahme von weißen Jasminblüten und grünen Blättern. Braune Schilfhalme am Ufer eines ruhigen Sees im Herbst Moderne Bürogebäude mit geometrischer Glas- und Stahlfassade Dichte Baumgruppe mit goldenen Blättern am Ufer eines Sees. Reiterdenkmal auf hohem Sockel vor einem Gebäude mit Kuppel. Person geht eine rote Treppe in einem prunkvollen Saal hinauf. Rote Straßenbahn fährt bei Abenddämmerung auf Kopfsteinpflasterstraße. Blauer, gedruckter Würfel auf Holzboden. Weißer 3D-Drucker neben Laptop und Ledersessel. Zweig eines Kirschblütenbaums mit weißen Blüten vor blauem Himmel. Gelbes Filament wird von einem 3D-Drucker zu einem Objekt geformt. Gelbes Plastikteil wird von einem 3D-Drucker gefertigt. Gelbes 3D-gedrucktes Objekt auf Druckbett einer Maschine. Mann auf Fahrrad mit überladenem Korb voller Weihnachtsdekorationen und Plüschtiere. Schönes Schiff mit deutscher Flagge an einem Kai in Hamburg. Musikgruppe spielt auf einem Marktstand mit Lautsprechern und Trommeln. Zwei Personen sitzen auf einer schwimmenden gelben Couch auf einem See. Person paddelt auf einem Stand-Up-Paddleboard zwischen Booten und einem Gebäude. Gruppe von Personen in einem Schlauchboot auf einem Fluss vor Industriegebäuden. Personen auf Paddleboards und Schlauchboot auf einem Kanal Reihe von Terrakotten-Soldaten in einer Ausstellungshalle. Mehrere Terrakotta-Kriegerfiguren in einem dunklen Museum. Verschiedene Terrakotten-Soldaten und Pferde in einer Ausstellung. Reihe von Terrakotten-Soldaten und Pferde in einer Ausstellungshalle. Reihe von Terrakotten-Soldaten in einer unterirdischen Grabanlage. Regenpfütze auf Asphalt, Bäume und Gebäude im Spiegelbild. Überschwemmte Straße mit Fahrzeugen und Gebäude im Hintergrund.

I have uploaded new pictures to Google+ and/or Flickr. Here they are - unsorted and uncommented. And yes, there is some really old stuff in there.

Galaxy Defenders - blocked for later, so around May 2015 - with the Windows program you can create your own missions. And with the tracker you can keep track of the current status in a campaign, so you know how it ended the next time.

We spent the New Year's change in 2014 on Gran Canaria and of course produced a lot of vacation photos again.

Sentinels of the Multiverse. Baron Blade destroyed Legacy, Ra and Fanatic on Insula Primalis. I guess I need to get better.

Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer. And another time killer on the plane. Offline against the AI.

San Juan. On the return flight from Gran Canaria, this was the perfect relaxation in the plane, even if only against the simple AIs.

Here's what I found worth reading this week, collected and uncommented:

Here's what I found worth reading this week, collected and uncommented:

Here's what I found worth reading this week, collected and uncommented:

Here's what I found worth reading this week, collected and uncommented:

Here's what I found worth reading this week, collected and uncommented:

What I considered worth reading during the week and did not want to link separately, collected here and uncommented.

What I considered worth reading during the week and did not want to link separately, collected here and uncommented.

magefree/mage. Keep an eye on it - client and server in Java and cross-platform, AI integrated in the server and rule control with the cards (though not all cards, so potentially a problem with EDH). Oh, it's about Magic the Gathering.

Here's what I found worth reading this week, collected and uncommented:

A Brief History of Wiz-War - Interesting history of the inspiration for Magic: The Gathering. The game itself is also very interesting, albeit somewhat random. It's really good, solid Ameritrash. And wild spell-slinging and wild brawling. It's a lot of fun, but it is quite text-heavy due to the cards. The design is really very similar to M:TG, the cards simply convey their effects through text that you have to understand and execute (and not, for example, like in classic Eurogames through symbols and clear rules).

Here's what I considered worth reading during the week and didn't want to link separately, collected and uncommented.

Alderac Entertainment Group • View topic - Thunderstone Variant - Cutthroats & Sellswords. Fascinating game variant - fan-created and brings Thunderstone more into an interactive RPG direction. Always amazing what fans come up with as their own rule sets for games.

Deckmaster: A MTG Variant Format by Jim Bowie. Interesting Magic variant that turns the cards into a deckbuilder similar to Star Realms, but still allows the use of the very interesting Magic card pool. Build your own Deckbuilder. I could have thought of that myself, given my preference for deckbuilders and Magic.

Those who have wondered why it has been so quiet here in the blog (quieter than usual anyway), here is the answer: Roadtrip through Slovenia. Vacation. With lots of photos. Simply click on the changing images to go to the respective album, click on a picture there and a comfortable slideshow will start.

What I considered worth reading over the course of the week and did not want to link separately, collected here and uncommented.

Corvey Castle

Schloss mit Türmen vor einer grünen Wiese unter bewölktem Himmel. Braune Eisenbahnbrücke über einen Fluss mit Bäumen im Vordergrund. Rostfarbene Eisenbahnbrücke über üppiges Grasland unter bewölktem Himmel. Baumreihe entlang eines Flusses mit Wiesen und Hügel im Hintergrund. Eine Frau geht durch ein dichtes Feld mit üppigem Raps. Frau geht durch ein Feld mit Blick auf eine Stadtansicht. Brauner Dom mit zwei Türmen und Fahnen vor bewachsenem Rasen. Grauer Stein mit Inschrift inmitten von bunten Blumen. Detailaufnahme einer aufwendig verzierten Barockorgel in einer Kirche. Innenansicht einer Kirche mit Altar, Deckenmalereien und Besuchern. Holzregale mit Büchern in einem hellen Raum mit Holzboden. Altes Schriftstück mit Wappen und Text, ausgestellt in Vitrine. Freskenmalerei zeigt eine Szene mit königlichem Hofstaat und Figuren. Frau betrachtet historische Weltkugel in Glaskasten vor Bücherregalen Holzregale mit Büchern, roter Teppich und Durchgang zu weiterem Raum. Zimmer mit antiken Bücherregalen, einem Flügel und einer Deckenleuchte. Mehrere runde Deckenfresken mit biblischen Szenen und Engeln. Holzbett mit Vorhängen, Nachttisch und Spiegel im Raum Zimmer mit antiken Möbeln, Teetisch und Gemälden an der Wand. Runder Tisch mit Geschirr, Sessel und Porträtgemälde an der Wand. Antike Möbel in einem Raum mit Tapeten im Jugendstil. Langer Gang mit Wandtäfeln, Hirschgeweihen und Besuchern. Silberne Büste eines Mannes mit Federkiel und Buch. Silberne Reliquienfigur eines Heiligen mit Feder und Heiligenschein. Festungstor mit Gebäude und Person im Hintergrund Zwei historische Pforten mit Statuen vor einer Burg.

Small trip today to Höxter to Corvey Castle and the Weser. Along the way, stumbled upon the grave of Hoffmann von Fallersleben.

Here's what I found worth reading this week, collected and uncommented:

Here's what I found worth reading this week, collected and uncommented:

Here's what I found worth reading this week, collected and uncommented:

End-to-End: Google will mit Javascript verschlĂĽsseln - Golem.de. You can think what you want about Google, but there are still technicians with brains there who sometimes build something cool. Of course, we'll have to see how well the whole thing is implemented, but if someone like Google offers PGP integration for Gmail, that could finally be the impetus for the topic to gain further traction. The biggest problem with PGP and similar things is still the availability of communication partners who can actually do something with the corresponding technology.

Getting started in legacy- Legacy on a Budget - Legacy Type 1.5. Bookmarked because Legacy might become interesting someday. Affinity is particularly appealing to me.

Micro Python - Python for microcontrollers. Oh man, so many boards to try out, so little time. Sounds really nice, a Python implementation specifically designed for embedded systems with AOT compilation and such low hardware requirements is quite an exciting thing.

High Fidelity. The interesting part: 3D world with distributed network, low latency as a goal and voxel-based models and physics simulation. Good: Phillip Rosedale on board, who has already built a quite well-functioning 3D world with Second Life. Bad: Phillip Rosedale on board, who has already messed up the spread of a well-functioning 3D world with Second Life. Hmm. I think this is a case for "let's see".

JetDrive™ 500/520/720-Welcome to the Transcend Website. Well noted - my Air could probably use some more storage. And replacing the SSD doesn't seem that difficult,

Warhammer Diskwars Deutsch. Set aside for now. Because, because I want it. Simply because the idea is fun - a miniature game, but with significantly less setup effort and no miniatures to assemble and paint (which would completely fall by the wayside for me anyway).

Here are some interesting reads from this week that I didn't want to link to separately, collected and uncommented:

EU-Chefposten: Parliament wants Juncker, Cameron does not | tagesschau.de. Why do the EU states still let themselves be fooled by the island kingdom? Are we the EU or are we just an appendix of the British? Juncker is certainly not my dream candidate, but if the heads of government let themselves be fooled by the British again and propose another candidate, they might as well skip the next elections.

Generalbundesanwalt: Kein Ermittlungsverfahren in Deutschland zur NSA-Ăśberwachung - Golem.de. Doesn't this come dangerously close to obstruction of justice?