
By Stephan Bazzocchi
Sometimes writing can be difficult. For example, having to write an article in the present tense so that it will be read in the future, even though it’s actually written in the past. Mix that with how quickly the gaming industry moves, and you have a recipe for disaster.
Well, not exactly disaster. If disaster were a baked good, it would be a 20-year-old Christmas fruitcake. Writing gaming articles in this method is more like a plain doughnut. Always the last one left in the box, and by the time someone actually decides to eat it, it’s splattered with a bit of glaze, leftover chocolate, maybe some powdered sugar, and some Boston creme if you are lucky. Underneath, the doughnut is still dry, and probably a little stale.
Sometimes, you just have to throw that last one out and go get some fresh doughnuts. Crullers, fresh ones. They remind you of everything that little plain doughnut could have been.
For this month, we are not going to eat plain doughnuts; we are going to ingest the honey goodness of some recent developments and some golden Timbits of the past.
Kerbal Space Program
Firstly, Kerbal Space Program (KSP). Shortly after I wrote my inaugural article, the Kerbal crew made some pretty astounding announcements. They were releasing an educational version of the game and they were partnering with NASA for an upcoming update.
For those unfamiliar, KSP is a physics rocket science game: you help these little green guys called Kerbals get a space program going. You build, you launch, you crash. It uses real-world physics, which makes it a great teaching tool.
With NASA, Kerbal made an Asteroid Redirection Mission pack. You get some new parts, you build a ship, and you lasso that pesky little rock flying around. If only it were that easy.
In the past while, other Kerbal updates include a science research update with labs, modules and antenna to conduct a wide array of science in space and in the atmosphere.
In the last seven months, this game has grown a lot. It’s still on Steam, it’s still cheap, and it’s still awesome. Get it.
DayZ
Now onto DayZ. With the current update, they are laying the groundwork for a cooking system. The days of scarfing canned beans will soon be over. That is, if you can find fresh vegetables.
The last time I dove into the Russian landscape of sociopaths and zombies, I began to notice an abundance of spawned green bell peppers and bacon rations. Those propane cook stoves that you can collect will finally have a use.
Don’t be fooled though – sure food is now easier to come by, but the highly aggressive players who will snipe you for your cans of bacon are still there.
To add more difficulty, the zombies are more plentiful. The re-spawn rate on them has been turned up. Fire your weapons around one and a mob of them come running. Stealth is now even more key than it was before.
Goat Simulator
No article is complete without some Goats. I know the Goats-travaganza was a very recent article, but the development team behind that one is on the cusp of releasing Goat Simulator 1.1. It’s nice to have a group that is active in bringing new content.
Soon you will be able to take your little goat on a bike ride around town, through a whole new map, with your goat buddies. Yes, Goat Simulator is apparently getting multiplayer. Let the glitch screenshots pour forth. It should be magical.