Haircut, Finals, and Strategy Games

I just got a haircut. I haven't had one since I got home over Xmas. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of myself before.

Finals are coming up next week. I am only worried about DiscoII. My Popular Literature class will only have a final paper. I have gotten an 80 something on every paper so far and I have no reason to think that will change. In my CS220 class I am either getting a B or an A. CS tests are stupid, but there is nothing to do for it. I either know the material or I don't. My last test I got a high 80, but knew all of the material. I just made some stupid mistakes on the test. My Logic Design group put together our project today. There are eight people in the group, split up into three subgroups who work on three subsystems. After 2 hours of tweaking all three subsystems work together. There are a few minor aesthetics to mess with, but that is not part of my work. I will have to do a little studying for the final, but it is like CS220 where I either understand the stuff or I don't. DiscoII is another story. I have been struggling with the material the last few weeks, which doesn't give me much confidence, especially since finals are weighted more towards recent material. I am not hoping for much in the class, especially because I thought I was going to get an A in Disco I and got a C. I will be happy to be done with it after this quarter.

Among lighter things, I have been playing Ground Control again. It is a wonderful game that really emphases certain strategic and tactical aspects that most other "strategy" games really don't. Besides that, I haven't been playing many computer games. Nothing interests me. I keep waiting for a unique multiplayer strategy or shooter game, but nothing really interests me. I have finally decided that single player shooters bore me. I want to like them, I get excited when I read about them. But after a short period I get bored with them. I have only finished two in all my gaming: Half-Life and Halo. And it is not for a lack of playing good games. Shooters I have started but not finished: Soldier of Fortune, Soldier of Fortune II, Serious Sam Second Encounter, No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in Harm's Way, Halfe-Life 2. I am just much more intruiged by multiplayer games, which do not rely on a story, but instead purely on gameplay.

My roommates have been playing Dawn of War the past week or so. Seeing them play that, and also a little bit of Battle for Middle Earth, makes me realize I have really neglected my RTS roots. There are so many changes and improvements on interface and other things that I have not noticed. The most striking of these is the squad. In both Middle Earth and DoW, infantry are built in "squads," which can be replenished on a squad basis, and for a cost. At least in DoW the squads can be upgraded to have more guys, once they have been built. This allows for armies of more infantry, which are more easily controlled than if they are bought one at a time, like Starcraft. There are other changes, but also a lot remains the same One race in DoW is practically a Protoss clone. They build "supply pylons" which power the buildings around it. There are other new features, like how most of the vehicles have two attacks. One is a primary machine gun, the other is a slower firing cannon, or some other weapon.

And so I feel I should play more strategy games. But which ones? One the one hand, I am so out of tune with the latest strategy games that practically any game would introduce me to the new "standards." But on the other hand I wish for one that stands out. There are many empire games, where the game lasts many decades and millenia. I am more interested in fast paced rts game that can be played in multiplayer. Will I have to wait until I can develop games to see anything interesting? Am I too arrogant by thinking that I can create something better than what is out there?