Evening Reading: RTS Madness!

by Brian Leahy, Feb 25, 2010 5:00pm PST

Every once and a while, there seems to be a rush of games in a particular genre. Right now, the RTS is hot news, mister. Blizzard launched the beta for StarCraft II, EA's Command & Conquer 4 is also in beta, Supreme Commander 2 hits next week, and the first Dawn of War II expansion pack, Chaos Rising, drops the week after. It's the season for real-time strategy.

All of these titles have different gameplay systems and offer unique experiences. RTS gamers tend to get extremely focused on one game at a time, much like FPS players. It's a sad trend that makes a small genre even smaller. I wish the teams behind the non-Blizzard game all the luck in the world. It's still just in beta, right? How about a Game of the Evening?

Savage: The Battle for Newerth - "Savage was one of the rare attempts at RTS/FPS fusion. The incredible thing is that the gameplay worked, it was stable, it was fast and fun. More incredible is it somehow managed to be not as popular as it deserved to be. The FPS portion included multiple classes while the RTS commander gave orders, built units, and assigned buildings to be built. Each team supported up to 128 players." (LoioshDwaggie)

Daily required reading, Video Games 101:

Alpha Protocol gets a release date, again.

Plants vs. Zombies sold a bunch on the iPhone.

Final Fantasy I & II are released on the iPhone.

New Battlefield: Bad Company 2 videos make me happy.

Finally, I've spent way too much time today putting random phrases into TranslationParty, which translates from English to Japanese to English to Japanese and so on. Tip: StarCraft-related sentences are particularly amusing. Or this.

Oh, and the last ever (probably not) Day of Defeat: Source Shackbattle is tonight. So go play it with Shackers one last time!

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By: Snuffles- x Show Full Post

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Books Thread

Shack, as per your recommendations i've read The Dark Tower series, The Stand,
and World War Z.

They were all very good, but i don't know what to start on next. So, please suggest some
cracking good books and i'll pick the most popular ones up tommorow at the bookstore.

Cheers.

Feb 25, 2010 5:20pm PST

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Books Thread Shack, as per your recommendations i've read The Dark Tower series, The Stand, and World... : Snuffles-
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 106 replies.
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  Cryptonomicon. Microserfs. The Name of the Wind. : Deathlove
  - Right on. I'm halfway through The Name of the Wind and I already think it's basically of the best written... : Duffman8369
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  if you like warhammer at all, the Horus heresy, Isenhorn, Ravenor : theWhite
  - and http://www.amazon.com/dp/1844163423/ !!! Packed with awesome short stories. : roushimsx
  - I wholeheartedly agree with this. The Horus Heresy series is fantastic, and a good way to get into WH40K ... : thetangent
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  The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao : Modica Sol Solis
  - This one was better than I expected. : MacemanInTW
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  Keep them coming! Post your favourites. : Snuffles-
  - Consider Phelbas, night angel trilogy, all the vince flynn books, Hyperion series : deadfish
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  A Song Of Ice And Fire is the greatest book series ever written and I will fight anyone late 19th century : vile
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    That new sun book made no sense. I hear the second book didn't make any sense either. I gave up on it. Pl... : tsuba
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      I just finished Shadow of the Torturer, as per the suggestion of Beaginator and I have to say it is one o... : mlev
      
      I just read Shadow on the recommendation of the shack and I completely agree mlev. This is a book that o... : trove
      
      I agree. I am currently re-reading it (haven't touched it in years) and am definitely noticing that you h... : the_burd
    - Reading the Book of the New Sun now. It's great and sort of beguiling. It's both fast and slow and fits a... : Albemuth
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    I am waiting for that fat piece of shit to write the last book before I get into ASOIAF. At least steven ... : boring gegtik
    - You;ll be waiting another decade. And so will the rest of us. : StolenNosferatu
    - We all need to admit we'd do the exact same thing if we were in his shoes. : phate81
    - hahaha fucking A, man. : Ride-My-Rocket
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      I barely remember what ASOIAF is about anymore. : kelerian
      
      I will have to reread the series when the next one is due out. Had to do that for WoT (except I read the ... : Old_Fart
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    I think "A Song of Ice and Fire" has sort of spiraled out of his control - when he has to resort to writi... : taronish
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      Malazan is written without every view point in every book. It's also pretty unparalleled in scope so it's... : Psigun
      
      I haven't read that yet, but I don't forgive the Martin stuff, since I think half of the view points are ... : taronish
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  The Dresden Files - Jim Butcher. Fast reading, highly entertaining, bubble gum fiction Jeff Shaara - ou... : guitarsandbikes
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    new dresden paperback in a couple weeks! : Psigun
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      Hardback. : ConfusedUs
      
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      Paperback. Turn Coat release date in paperback is March 3rd. Changes hardcover is due April 6th. : Psigun
      
      I thought you were talking about Changes! I didn't realize Turn Coat wasn't out in paperback yet. Damn... : ConfusedUs
  - I will second this rec... They are easy reads and not very deep but very entertaining. I am on book 7 ri... : ju$tmon3y
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  Swan Song - Robert McCammon http://www.amazon.com/Swan-Song-Robert-McCammon/dp/1439156735/ : dognose
  - I second this....its basically a better Stand : james_austintx
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  Terror by Dan Simmons. : tsuba
  - I loved this book. : tinfoilhatter
  - excellent book. : deadfish
  - Signed : briandubau
  - People that liked this book. Did you like Drood? That will be my next long book. I got it second hand. Ho... : tsuba
  - I picked this up on a whim and was extremely glad I did. Simmons writes horror just as well as he does Sc... : phate81
- i'm reading The Road right now and it's pretty awesome. : valael
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  Anything by Tim Powers Anubis Gate On Stranger Tides Last Call Earthquake Weather Expiration Date : tinfoilhatter
  - Declare was awesome. : Albemuth
- http://www.amazon.com/Crown-Conspiracy-Michael-J-Sullivan/dp/0980003431 I've suggested this a few times.... : GoldfishInAJarOfPickles
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  Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson : kallanta
  - ^required reading : smax
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    You know, I may need to turn in my Shack card, but I didn't find this to be amazing. I didn't like how th... : Arctic Fox
    - #1527
      
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      By: Clay x Show Full Post
      
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      While I loved cryptonomicon, snow crash didn't really blow my mind. Neither did neuromancer.
      
      Feb 25, 2010 8:25pm PST
      
      While I loved cryptonomicon, snow crash didn't really blow my mind. Neither did neuromancer. : Clay
- The Odd Thomas stuff by Koontz is fun. : rmjackson
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  Dune : mactu
  - ^^ This : soapland
  - I've really enjoyed all of 6 the Frank Herbert Dune series, even though God Emporer was a bit long in the : pharom
- It looks like you enjoy books with a darker, fantasy bent. Which is good because I love those too. Mis : ConfusedUs
- Ender's Game : kallanta
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  Almost anything by Stephen Baxter. Check out The Timeships, Ring, and Vacuum Diagrams to start. : thetangent
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    Oh, and in a similar vein, check out Arthur C. Clarke as well. Especially the Rama series and of course t... : thetangent
    - ... also Against the Fall of Night (and/or The City and the Stars) and Beyond the Fall of Night. : dumb.
  - fuck, Sony... $17.46 for the ebook Flood by Stephen Baxter... : proclone1
- The Artificial Kid - Sometimes I think I'm the only person on earth who's read this amazing book! : dumb.
- I've just started to get into The Culture series by Ian. M Banks. I've read the first three so far, and w... : TheQuad
- Repeating the Cryptonomicon suggestion. Possibly my favorite book ever. : Clay
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  House of Leaves. : Shivawn
  - yeah I loved this : alnya
- Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield : grabbie
- Shogun : retardhumper
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  Altered Carbon. Armor. Aztec. : CrustaR
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    Altered Carbon Fuck yes. Takeshi Kovacs is a badass. : ArcKnight
    - Barnes and Noble sells a B&N printing of Three Muskteers, Man in the Iron Mask, and Count of Monte Cristo... : Juno
    - I've picked Altered Carbon up many times and keep putting it back on the shelf at the bookstore. One day ... : Old_Fart
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  The Count of Monte Cristo : mechanicalgrape
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    I think this will be my next book. : Clay
    - Ending is nothing like what i expected. : StolenNosferatu
    - Make sure it's the unabridged version. : mechanicalgrape
  - The Body Count of Monte Cristo : Wadmaasi
  - This is a great book. : thetangent
  - Barnes and Noble sells a B&N printing of Three Muskteers, Man in the Iron Mask, and Count of Monte Cristo... : Juno
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  Wheel of Time Series by Robert Jordan : greh kleh
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    * And that brandon guy : mlev
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      The newest one is one of my top 3 favorite books in the series. Very Nearly #1. : greh kleh
      
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      Brandon Sanderson really carried the ball on this one. : greh kleh
      
      His Mistborn books have been really fantastic. I avoided them for the longest time because the descripti... : DianeOfTheMoon
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  Old Man's War series : ColoradoCNC
  - ohshi I missed this, sup fellow good taste in books buddy? : Xevo
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  I've lost interest in Under the Dome by Stephen King. It was too plodding and slow for me. I might try ... : Matt Burris
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    Yeah I only finished Under The Dome because.. I try my best not to quit on books. Check out One Second A... : proclone1
    - Nice, I like the premise. Will purchase it on the Kindle next time I'm on it. Thanks! : Matt Burris
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  Hyperion Series : WhatIsThisFor
  - The City and the Stars : WhatIsThisFor
  - Ilium and Olympos are good too : Old_Fart
- Circus of the Air : Megara9
- Old Man's War by John Scalzi. : Xevo
- David Gerrod's War Against the Chtorr series http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_Against_the_Chtorr : watcherxp
- Although not in the same sort realm, I've been reading a lot of books on the U-Boat war and battes of the... : bombay
- Catch-22 : Sailor of Fortune
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  Malazan Book of the Fallen! : brickmatt
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    I like the series, but goddamn he gets preachy in the later books. Almost on a level with Terry Goodkind. : ArcKnight
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      You think? I don't think so. : brickmatt
      
      I agree with you. Doesn't seem preachy to me. : Old_Fart
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  Fire Upon The Deep A Deepness In The Sky Both by Vernor Vinge : dfay
  - I'll second this recommendation : Old_Fart
- The Sirens of Titan : Wikus Van De Merwe
- I, Robot by Asimov The Deep Blue Good-bye by John D. McDonald : lacker
- Guaranteed not to be recommended by others: Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold Spirit Gate by Kat... : woddemandred
- The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss Very good antasy book, supposed first of a series and I'm getti... : Old_Fart
- http://www.mediahistory.umn.edu/images/DicknJane.jpeg : abrasion
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  Pillars of the Earth by Kenneth Follett, tis Epic Epic Epic! : Thund3rball
  - Second'd. Great book. There is a followup to this book as well. : Wedge

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