STGCC 2013

Secret War Journal[31 August - 1 September 2013]
This was truly an impromptu event. We did not plan for this outing in the slightest bit.

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Elusyf

It all began with a trip to meet up with Jia Ying, a fellow committee member of Ignite! to discuss a potential business venture. Johnston tagged along to listen and provide feedback.

Before we attended the business idea presentation per se, we did some catching up since we last met up. (Before our graduation?)

A little bit of background for Jia Ying, she is now an undergraduate pursuing Psychology. Chancing upon a opportunity to work part-time while studying, she is sharing to her friends about it.

Frankly, the business model of Elusyf is decent but I was a bit disappointed because I was expecting something else. I went to the venue expecting something of a smaller scale to start with. Unfortunately, I instead encountered a model that I was familiar with (and one that I should embrace with caution at that too).

Thus, reaching to the same decision as Debbie, I tagged along with Johnston to Sands Expo & Convention Center to attend the Singapore Toy, Game & Comic Convention.

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Photos, photos, photos!
Due to the enormous amount pictures we took during the span of 2 days, I will give you the link to the whole album here to prevent me spamming (and lagging your internet browser) you with pictures. Enjoy!
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Aza, Korean Cosplayer
One of the star cosplayers that graced the event was Aza from South Korea. You can click on the below link to her page where her photos are being uploaded in.

LeRoy Lim likes

Miyuko Cosplayer

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Vampy, American Cosplayer
Another cosplayer that graced the event, she is from the United States. The link is as follows: https://www.facebook.com/pages/VAMPY-BIT-ME/370120112710

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One of the notable games that were showcased was Disney's Infinity.

This game, (do not quote me because even until now. I am not very sure what this game is about), seems to be quite similar to Mindcraft. In this game, the player decides the rules and the gameplay. That means you, as the player can do whatever you want. It is like a sandbox game, only weirder. I had a lot of difficulty trying to play this game as I was too used to having a clear objective to achieve in a game. (I think my imagination skills are not as good as before, huh?)

What sets this game apart from the likes of Minecraft is that Disney incorporates the element of collectibles into the game. To be able to use the character, you would first need to own a specific figurine meant for the game.  For example, if you would like to use Mickey Mouse, you need to have the Mickey Mouse figurine. To activate the character in the game, you would need to place the figurine on a detector (which I presume uses NFC technology to identify the figurine). This idea may sound cool to onlookers but it makes this game really costly. Hence, it is unlikely I would ever buy such a game.

You can read Gamespot's review here.

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Looking ahead
After this event, we are setting our sights on AFA SG 2013 on 7-9 November 2013.

I am considering buying a 1 <3 AniSong concert ticket for the first time. If I buy it, it should be on the 8 Nov. Are you going too? :)

Official Website - http://www.animefestival.asia/afa13/

Bang!

Secret War Journal[15 June 2013][Long Post][Picture-Heavy]
Author's Note:

Phew! It has been really long time since I last published a post huh? I am so glad I finally have some time to myself because for the good half of this week, I'm on leave. Hahas!

With us today at The Mind Cafe in Funan Digital IT mall are Darian, Johnston and Qi Xiang. Sadly, the rest of them was not able to make it but oh well, 4 people, just nice for almost every board game.

Mind Cafe @ FUNAN IT MALL

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Today, we are trying this new game called 'Bang!'. To be honest with you, I am not sure if I should label it as a card game or a board game since it has both. Hmm...

I think I would label it as a board game since Settlers of Catan is a board game and it has both. :)

Moving on, the first time I heard from this game was from Adrian (I think?) some years back during my days as a Junior College student. (Ah, I feel old already.) Then, we never really got into playing it because I just never chanced upon it outside. Hahas! Recently, this year during my work retreat at a chalet (will be posting on that), one of my colleague, Melvin also mentioned this board game.

Clearly, that was a sign as come today, lo and behold, this board game caught our eye.
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Bang! is a game that is based on the Wild Wild West. Basically, there are 3 types of characters in this game - Sheriff, Outlaw, Renegade. Sheriff's role is to apprehend both the Outlaws and the Renegades. Inversely, the Outlaw's objective is to work together with other Outlaws to remove the Sheriff from play. Lastly, the Renegade's job is to eradicate everyone in the game to become the last man standing.

In addition to this, there are many classes that each character can be in the game. Each classes has its own special abilities which would be constantly be in effect in the game. Such effects could include discarding 2 cards to heal for 1 hp or increasing the distance from you to other players to make it difficult for them to shoot you. The amount of health you have would be determined by the class you choose.

Trying out Bang!

For the first game, I was the Sheriff. At this point, you must be wondering 'How do you decide who plays as who?' Well, you are not allowed to choose. Thus, at the start of each game, the character cards would be shuffled and randomly assigned to players. Only the Sheriff would place his character card face-up, announcing to everyone who is the Sheriff. (Obviously, the outlaws and the renegades do not play fair.)

My action cards

Moving on, there are many different kinds of action cards that can be played during your turn in Bang! Firstly, there is a 'bang' card where you shoot at someone. Who you can shoot depends on the distance between you and the target as well as the range of your weapon. To summarise, the longer the range of your weapon and the closer you are to your target, the better. The distance between you and the target is determined by the seating arrangement of the players. The distance between me and those beside me is 1 and so on. Unless specified otherwise, each player can only shoot once each turn.

Secondly, there is a counter card called 'miss'. This card can only be played when you are being shot. This card is useful in saving yourself from losing health.

Thirdly, there is a card named 'beer' that heals you for one health.

For other special action cards, feel free to read up on them when you play the boardgame! (I cannot list them all down, there are so many different kinds!)

Johnston has got to stop using Beer! He is almost immortal in this game!

The Sheriff got taken down! Outlaws win!

Second game! Johnston's the Sheriff this time round. Renegade wins.

Things get more interesting when the Sheriff manage to take out the outlaws. Left with the renegade, it is now a deathmatch between the two. The objectives are now very clear cut, be the last man standing to win. That said, it is not that easy for the Sheriff to win in this game.

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After a few rounds of Bang!, we decided to change the game. By popular demand, we chose Munchkin.

Players (from top left, clockwise): Darian, Qi Xiang, Myself, Johnston

Level 3 at the start? That fast?

The thing about playing with veterans is that the game gets heated up quickly. Already, everyone is trying to prevent each other from becoming too powerful in the game.

Who needs levels when you have good equipments?

Most notable was the time when Qi Xiang decided to gamble on his levels to steal some items from us. At the cost of 2 levels, apparently he saw great potential in that item. Was it worth it? Time will tell.

Darian overtook Johnston!

As everyone approaches level 10, the number of action cards being thrown just intensifies. Within a round, Johnston reached level 9, reclaiming the spot as the highest level.

Will Johnston win next turn?

Nope, not going to happen.

Responding to this, Qi Xiang and I eliminated the threat of Johnston winning by making him lose 4 levels during his battle with his monster. Taking advantage of this chaos, Darian gained a level to level 9. Now, he is on track to winning next turn. But, would he?

Reaching end-game setting soon

Unfortunately for Darian, he could not find a monster to fight while the rest of us gained levels during our turns. Despite my initial lack of equipments, I managed to salvage some items to catch up with the rest. Phew, who is going to win? It is anyone's guess now.

Just how many items can Qi Xiang equip?!

With the latest addition of the kneecaps of allure, I am on track to winning! However, notice how well-equipped is Qi Xiang right now.

Out of the blue, Qi Xiang turned level 9 and we had to throw everything we had at him as he was really too well-equipped.

Qi Xiang's equipments the round before

Some of the cards used during the final battle

In the end, we failed in our attempt to prevent Qi Xiang from defeating that army of monsters. I guess good equipments bring you a long way in Munchkin. :)

Darian is not happy to hear that. He was supposed to win (since he was level 9 for so long). Hahas!

Stay silent and strike at the last moment.

Other cards used during the game (which I cannot fit anywhere)

You are not making this easy for me to escape right?

When in danger, run!

One painful hammer, that one.

What's this? Designed by Darian

With that, we moved on to Blokus!

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For those unfamiliar with this game, the objective is to be the last man standing in the game. Somewhat similar to Tetris, you need to place as many pieces on the board game as you can. There is one condition - all your pieces must be connected via the edges of the pieces and they cannot be in contact with each other, i.e. side by side.

The start of the four great continents. Who will conquer this new world?

Blue: Darian Ng (America)
Red: Lim Qi Xiang (Russia)
Yellow: LeRoy Lim (India / Thailand / Ukraine)
Green: Johnston Tang Gin Xiang (Pakistan)

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After playing these games, Johnston went for Violin lessons while we walked around the shop to kill time.

Hmm, where is Johnston?

Why are you taking pictures of us?!

Photo-bomb!

As it turned out, Johnston was already downstairs. Hahas! We had dinner at Pastamania and shortly left for home. :)

What a blast I had today! Wohoo!

See you guys next time! :)

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"Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them." - William Shakespeare

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Credits: Darian (Photos)

Storm of Sand

Secret War Journal[3 November 2012]
Today, I just attended a gathering with my army friends that I had made during my initial enlistment period.

 I think it had been close to 4 months since I last met some of them. I would say that apart from the length of their hair, they hardly changed. Hahas!

Even though not all of us could make it for the gathering, there was still a good number of us who managed to make it. (Cannot blame anyone since it is truly very difficult to get everyone to be present for such a big number of people. I feel your pain, organiser!)

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St. Games

For this cohesion gathering, we came to a video game cafe named St. Games @ the Cathay.

To be frank with you guys, this is my first time coming to this Cafe. My initial thoughts when I first reached the place was that the cafe looked as though it did not have enough space. In the past, you would not had required a lot of space to set up a cafe that allows customers to play video games. You probably just need to get a decent monitor and a couch for them to sit comfortably in.

Now, times had changed. Consoles now possess motion gaming capabilities. Technologies such as Xbox Kinect and Wii means that players need more space for us to move about. Thus, we certainly need more room for console gaming.

In addition, players are no longer satisfied with normal screen size. If I were to pay to play console games outside (rather than playing at home), I would expect the screen size to be much larger to improve my gaming experience. Sadly, I found the screen sizes in the cafe quite average, nothing special. It is not small, I would say it is decent but definitely not a plus point for gamers to come play instead of playing at home with their friends.

Another point to note would be the high charges for the usage of the cafe which one of my friend pointed out that it was not really value-for-money for short periods of gameplay. I cannot disagree on that.

In its defense, I really like their free flow of a great variety of drinks. :)
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Just Dance 4

One of the new games I played there was Just Dance 4! It is a Xbox Kinect game which support 4 players.

Comparing to Dance Central, I would say it supports more players? (I don't know about Dance Central 3 because I had not played that yet, hahas!) That is a plus point for Just Dance 4 because it is a in better footing for party games where 4 of us could play together in a dancing battle.

However, I soon realised thata lot of space is really required for a great gaming experience. For such a game, the room we were in was actually considered relatively small. (Dang, Kinect just have to need so much space!) There were moments when not all of us could be identified in the game as there was insufficient space for all of us  to stand in. Not to mention the hilarious moments when some of us swooped places in the game as they detected erroneously that the original player 2 was player 3 and vice versa. This could be a technical limitation of the Kinect though, not the game I believe.

Just Dance 4 lost in terms of its graphics. It is just too 2D (I believe it was the intention but sometimes I cannot stand it, hahas!) Dance Central's graphics are much pleasing to the eye, I would dare say.

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"Men do not quit playing because they grow old; they grow old because they quit playing." - Oliver Wendell Holmes

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After having fun playing in St. Games, the original plan to have dinner with them. However, I just found out that my grandmother had been admitted to a hospital. As a result, I left early to visit my grandmother.

As far as I know, she is still there but she is doing fine.

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"Age is not a particularly interesting subject. Anyone can get old. All you have to do is live long enough." - Don Marquis

Citadels & Looper

Secret War Journal[20 October 2012]
It is time to celebrate Qi Xiang's Birthday!

Together with Marcus and Meldon, we had a blast at Mindcafe near Dhouby Ghaut.

We played a match of Settlers of Catan. After that, we went on to play a round of Citadels.

Citadels

Apart from Qi Xiang, I think the rest of us never played this game before. (At least I know I never played before)

At first look, the game may look a bit complicated due to the presence of 4 different sets of cards, excluding the instructional cards. Of course, on hindsight, it certainly looks a lot less complicated than Settlers of Catan but hey, I was not comparing this board game to any game when I first saw the contents.

Basically, in this game, your goal is to accumulate as much points at the end of the game. The game ends at the end of the round when a player constructed 8 districts.

The more expensive your districts are, the more points it would contribute. Players who constructed 8 districts at the end of the game would receive bonus points and the first player to construct 8 district would receive the most bonus points. Some districts have special abilities.

Perhaps, the key element of the game is the character cards. Each round, you get to choose a class/character where no one else knows until it is revealed later phase of the round. Each character has a special ability which you can use in that round. Some abilities include destruction of a district, extra gold, make a player lose a turn.

The remaining 2 sets of cards are bonus decks which you can opt to replace the original cards in the district and character decks. In my opinion, some of the cards from the bonus decks are quite imbalanced and breaks the game but that's just me. :P

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The Present
Before we headed off to the cinema, we side-tracked a bit to a nearby games store.

Mind you, this was all planned beforehand.

Qi Xiang had mentioned about this game for quite some time already. Since he does not yet own this game, we decided it would make quite a decent birthday present for him.

Thus, as we entered the store, we started to talk about the latest games available in various consoles. Meanwhile, Marcus went to purchase the game to present it to Qi Xiang.

Qi Xiang looked a bit shocked when he saw the present. He had an expression which said "I can't believe you guys just bought this for me!". Hahas!

Mission accomplished. Time to watch the movie. :P

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Looper

In my opinion, it was an insightful movie. Though I won't call it a great movie but it is indeed thought-provoking. Time travel has been a concept that many had imagined. However, many considerations need to be taken when writing a script based on time travel. It is just so easy to create paradox on the fly when you are writing a story with time travel involved.

Looper is one such movie that leads one to feel that the author did not bother to tie up the loose ends in the movie, leaving the paradox unexplained. Of course, it could also be the intention of the author to leave it to the watcher's imagination. Sometimes, explaining the paradox could kill the action in the movie which I would agree in this case since this movie is seriously lacking some thrilling action. Even though I believe it was not meant to be an action movie, but hey, a little more action would not hurt right?

One aspect I really liked about the movie was how the director managed to portray the motivations of various characters in the movie. Despite the lack of screen time for the older Joe, it is not difficult to know the driving force behind his actions. Similarly for Kid Blue, his motivations are also explained in the movie.

Regarding comic relief, I believe one of the best played scene was the anti-climatic scene, much similar to the anti-climatic scene in Iron Man 2. Another well-played act was the conversation between the two Joes in the restaurant.

Comparing to other time travel pieces, I feel that Steins;Gate is still a better option. It could possibly due to the fact that it is not a movie but has many episodes to slowly build up on the time travel concept which gives Steins;Gate ample time to close the loose ends. Steins;Gate allows the audience to get mind-blown as everything makes sense, where everything fits despite the move into the next time line, preventing major paradoxes.

Finally, Looper is a movie that ensures that one would be talking about it after the movie, allowing intellectual discussions on each other's perceptions/understanding of the movie. Each and everyone has different approach to understanding the movie, allowing this movie to be a great topic to converse about in social gatherings. That is where Looper truly shines, I feel.

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"I must govern the clock, not be governed by it." - Golda Meir