Reader Submitted: Game Review - Rust

From Nydia Tungsten

I first heard about “Rust” through the “Steam” community looking at what was on sale as I often do, where I saw the trailer for it, I remember thinking “ This reminds me a bit of Minecraft only with better graphics.” Then a few friends of mine start talking about it, so I tell them “IF I ever get it I will stream it.”

 The next thing I know, I am getting offers to join others on their server that they play on and told I “have” to get it because it is so much fun. Then I get an IM from a good friend and one of my Angels (Bix) saying that if I get it he will too and we can die horribly together.

Well I lasted a good 10 sec once I got in before I was Zombie chow, LOL, here is how it went.

When I first started the game it asks for the graphic settings I would like, with my system I can go for “Movie” quality in games, so I set it for that, then play, it will give you 3 types of server choices, I looked and looked for one of my Angels server (Pagan) but couldn’t find it so Bix and I decided to just go with the first empty one we found, so POOF! I am in Rust, and so is Bix, but we have NO idea where the other is, to me THAT is the biggest Draw back to the game for me, is the inability to find your friends you want to play with.

We spend over 4 hours trying to find each other. What doesn’t help is that IF you die you are sent some place TOTALLY random you lose everything even your start up base unless you have a sleeping bag made and put down. Add to the fact we had no firkin clue as to what we were doing, but that went both ways, we had no clue and had fun laughing at each other I will include a link so you can see how I did, when you watch it look closely at how everything looks, I was impressed with it, and believe it or not, this is just the alpha of the game. That is what is so amazing to me, is the fact it is not even in Beta yet.

Later Pagan came on and we were able to hop on the server she is on, and on that server we *could* TP to each other, which to me made it more enjoyable, BUT I did die more often, that chat on the stream was fun and upbeat, at one point Bix was killed ( again) by wolves and he comments on the fact that wolves seemed hungry at that point And Treminari  gave the wise answer “Wolves gotta eat too!”, a fact we all agreed on, but still wished it wasn’t us they tried to feed on.

The Nights are dark and mostly boring, if you’re lucky, in this game you don’t really want exciting nights, because that usually means something is trying to kill you.

So most of the nights I spent trying to craft items and weapons and figure out everything I needed to survive. Like minecraft there are recipe’s you need to gather for, but unlike Minecraft you have a crafting list of things you can make, you just need the items to make them, or even craft the items into the other items you need to make other things such as the ore to make metal and sulfur so you can make guns and ammo.

So here is the question you’re asking “Is it worth it to get?”

My answer is this, IF you like Minecraft there is a good chance you will like this game. But the biggest plus this game has over Minecraft: NO CREEPERS! (I really HATE those buggers)

It is a survival game with a little bit of a first person shooter mixed in, it is a lot of fun but it can be frustrating at times and depending on your play style, there is a server to match, if you like PvP there are servers that you kill each other to your heart’s content, Raid others homes loot, pillage and rob, because if you kill someone, all their goodies are in a back pack on the ground for you to grab, but be warned, they will be trying to do the same to you!

The server I am on is more of a co-op server, no PvP or raiding and you can TP to someone three times between server restarts. It is named “Lost Island” Come say “Hi” but mind the rules the admins are very active there and WIL ban but everyone is very helpful and willing to give you a hand.

I give “RUST” a humble Thumbs up, the price is only $20 USD, so very reasonable and the quality for it just being in alpha makes it well worth it as well.

As promised here is the link of my very first time seeing this game.
http://www.twitch.tv/nydia_tungsten/b/499715319

And here is a bit once I hooked up with my Angel Pagan
http://www.twitch.tv/nydia_tungsten/b/499781638

Good luck and good gaming to you!

Nydia Tungsten

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I dropped in with only basic info on how the game's played from a Youtube (link). It can be frustrating as you'll be getting hungry before long, and it can be a while before you can find a critter to hunt down for meat, and if you can't find any food (or get chased away by predators and zombies from what you find) plus burning more calories from shivering from the cold at night, you'll eventually starve. Building a campfire can help, but look around first before crafting something as anything hostile nearby can spot you and clobber you before you can respond and get away.

My advice is gather a few stones and wood at the start to make a hatchet.You'll be able to gather wood and stones/ore faster, as well as a better weapon for hunting pigs. Once you get a bit of cloth, make a bow and some arrows. You'll be able to take down deer, which run when you get too close, and should be able to take down wolves in two shots - if you have a steady hand. Bears require about four arrows, which means at least twice you'll have to quickly turn and run several seconds then turn around and fire again. Zombies need several hits. One can back away from the slow ones and fire again, but the quicker ones are trickier, and can be relentless in their pursuit. They might stop chasing you after several seconds, or they can keep it up for several minutes. Predators and zombies can also chase you up rocks, and open windows allow them to reach in if you're too close.

Check buildings for any crates that may be inside as they're likely to have useful items. If you're having trouble finding critters to hunt, you might find food, for instance. But if you hear your radiation detector clicking watch out for zombies, and if it's clicking heavily you'll get poisoned after several seconds. If airdrops are a feature on your server, it's fun to run over to see if you can get the goods. They can offer some very handy goodies.

And once you have a good amount of resources and goods, look for a chance to find a place to store some of them before the zombies get you. You do so by building a crate and putting them in. Even if you respawn at a random point, at least you have a chance to find your way to your stuff. Unless someone picks up items from a fallen player in a few minutes, they're gone.

For an alpha release, Rust is pretty good. It could use some improvements, thought. At the very least, it should offer an option for a female appearance, so women players won't feel awkward. Maybe add a few edible (and poisonous) plants. And perhaps changing the critters AI so sometimes the predators go after the pigs and deer.

Besides Youtube videos about Rust, one useful source of information is the Rust wiki (link). Besides more hints, there's a map (link) which will help you get around and meet up with people. 

Bixyl Shuftan

What's New With the Angels in Minecraft

By Bixyl Shuftan

Besides the official Minecraft, there's a modified version known as "Feed the Beast," or FTB for short. Made not by Mojang, the company founded by Minecraft's creator, but by other players, FTB is different from "Vanilla" Minecraft as there's more kinds of minerals to dig and players are able to build more things, and do more things. The catch is FTB can "lag" a bit for players, and crash quite a bit, due to that severs can be quite taxing to the computers they're hosted on.

The "Angels" group in Second Life, friends of Nydia Tungsten, the majority whom reside in the Angel Estates, have a number of creative players. They had a taste of what they could do earlier on a FTB server hosted by Kit Repine. They could build new suits of armor, special boots that would keep you from being hurt in falls, energy guns that could take down hostile mobs, robot miners that could clear out huge sections of rock, "Portal" guns that allowed players to take shortcuts in getting around, being able to access new realms, and more. So when Nydia got a new computer about the time a new updated FTB was available, she created a server for it. She invited players over to "do their worst" with the most elaborate builds, and a number obliged, making huge machines that yours truly can barely figure out how to work, let alone build.

Unfortunately, Nydia's new computer failed. Not wanting to frustrate the Angels, Nydia moved the server to her older computer, but the server was frequently down due to crashes. Finally Kit offered to host Nydia's server on her computer, and it was transferred over.

 Players made huge, fancy, builds, such as a huge palace made by Valkyrie McGil.

There was also a giant "Tardis" constructed by Hojo. Note the big tree next to it, which was hollow, and could be made into a treehouse, which Jasmine did with another.

Yours truly while exploring near Hojo's base around found a tall, thin, natural feature beside a hill. I christened it "The Finger" and made that my base of operations, hollowing it out, and digging down to mine for ores and diamonds. I never did find any of the latter (nor closer pics of my base that I could have sworn I took). Jasmine would help in making a tunnel from it to just outside her hollowed giant tree.

FTB has a number of new mobs, such as wisps which can dart around and zap players. One player, Skylark (wearing a squid hat), came across a wisp spawner. But instead of destroying it, she grabbed it, and decided to cage it. 

Skylark made a place offshore, and putting the spawner down, began to encase it in glass. The spawner soon created new wisps, which took a toll on her. But eventually, she got it caged, and the wisps inside could only dart around harmlessly, unable to zap anyone.

Near Nydia and Brandi Streusel's base, a huge mining pit left by machines. Note the oil geyser behind it.

There were other features, such as "Mystcraft," which allowed players to travel to other worlds. Some could be hazardous, as their own laws of virtual nature could be quite different. One had burning sunlight that damaged players out in the open. We mused we finally knew what it was like to be a zombie.

Unfortunetly, the world would run into trouble that was beyond even Kit's computer and Nydia's skill. An early sign was when one of Skylark's pet squirrel's got loose, and when poked, it exploded and left a huge crater. The joke was it ate uranium from a reactor and turned into a "mini-nuke." But before the joke got old, a nuclear reactor build malfunctioned and blew. The result wasn't a big hole, but the whole minecraft world on the server had its code corrupted beyond repair. We would have to start over.

As it turned out, there was a new version of FTB out, or rather of the "Direwolf" which we used (FTB Launcher 1.3.2 / Minecraft 1.6.4 / Direwolf20 1.0.07). So we'd be getting new things to see, and play with. We were given about 48 hours of "creative mode" to aid in getting about and building what we wanted, then it was back to survival mode.

 

Near where I first appeared was a volcano, which made for a great reference point at night. The island in the sky seen to the upper left turned out to be made out of slime.

And not far from the volcano was a village. I went ahead and made it my base of operations, using creative mode to make a wall around it. Besides looking cool, it had the bennefit of helping keep out most of the mobs ... most. A few still spawn on the inside.

There were new mobs, such as blue mana creepers, and icy "Blizz" creatures that tossed snowballs. In creative mode, one could take on the appearance of mobs that the player clobbered at least one of. In the new FTB, focusing on an object or player up close would give you the name.

Jasmine and Kryxia built their own base some distance south of the volcano village. They would also build a fenced area of horses, donkeys, and other critters, and then a stable.

And to the north, this fenced in forest area with deer, squirrels, sheep, including the new rams, and other critters. I believe it's Skylark's base.

*Addition* It turned out it was Valkyrie's forest.

This new kind of tree's a bit big for cutting down for wood.

Not all wood has to be chopped down. Some trees have fallen and lie on the ground to be chopped up.

And so, the sun rises on a new world for the Angels of Second Life to build on. It's not their first, and most likely not the last. But they'll be making a few memories here when not in Second Life.

Bixyl Shuftan

Minecraft Games

By Bixyl Shuftan

Following the pirate ship battle in mid-September, Nydia wanted to do more group activities with her new server set up for uploaded maps. She found a couple more she liked, and on two different occasions invited residents in the HV Community sim group and her friends in the Angels community to take part.

On the evening of September 22, she uploaded a "Lord of the Rings" map. It was meant to be seen with some additional textures uploaded, so mobs could be seen as attacking orcs, etc. And the "swiss cheese" texture seen on some builds led to a few jokes. But there was quite a bit of detail, especially in the palaces and towns.

Nydia took on the role of a dungeon master for this game, leading the party down the path after leading us to a chest with a little gear, giving us a few rules and reading the introduction. We soon had to go through a dark cave, and when mobs attacked many of us lost sight of one another. Nydia ended up having to port those behind to the group. Our journey went across fields, mountain passes, towns, underground passageways, and more. Every so often, we would come to a chest with a notecard describing the next chapter in the action, such as having to carry a message to a leader.

One of the more thrilling parts of the map was the mine area, complete with a fast-moving minecart ride, which got a few comparisons to the one from "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom." Unfortunetly, if anything went wrong, the character would end up off the cart, and one wrong step off the track and into the darkness. I myself ended up in a cavern under the rail, and had to find my way back, and go down the track until I finally found the cart.

Probably the scene that gave us the most headaches was having to go through a mob-filled town. The action was harrier than Nydia had expected, and she passed us chainmail armor, and then diamond. But we ended up getting split up again, and Minecraft veterans can pretty much guess what happens to players who get repeatedly assaulted by attackers. I was among them, but managed to find a two story house where I could wait for Nydia to port me over. Others weren't as fortunate.

The adventure for me lasted a few hours, and over 25 levels of experience from clobbering mobs.  Before it was finished, players began to drop out as it was getting late in the evening, and we had real-life work or college in the morning. Perhaps Nydia's next map adventure will start on a weekend afternoon.

Nydia's next map was "Race Fo Da Wool." This  would be a competition between two teams: red and blue. Each had an identical obstacle course to search for three colors of wool: blue, lime, and magneta. The base had receptacles for one of each of the wools, with trunks nearby with armor, weapons, food, and torches.

Just in front of the base was a forest area, which had some underground caves one could dig down into. Getting through the forest was a building a few stories tall. But getting through it, or up it, one had to get through a number of mob spawners. Past that was a chasm in which players had a choice: build a bridge across it, or go down and then back up, across a number of mob spawners. Getting past that was a thin bridge over a lava pit, followed by a vertical maze in which one went up and down some steep ladders. One wrong move near the top and one would plummet to their avatar's demise.

If one croaked, one had to take a waterfall down. To keep from drowning, one had to poke out just enough to breath, but not so far as to plummet. Player versus player action was allowed, either arrows or the cannons at one point on the course. But in the games I witnessed, the players concentrated on the mobs and getting through the course. For one player, the vertical maze part was the hardest, "Gaaah! I'm afraid of heights!"

We had choices to make, such as taking the time to destroy mob spawners or take chances and try to speed through. During the day, the mobs couldn't usually get far from the building. But at night, they could sneak through and attack the base. And for a newly respawned player whom was alone while the rest of the team was deep in the obstacle course, the relentless waves of zombies, skeletons and creepers could send them back to the respawn point before they could so much as grab a weapon. Players who respawned at night began to wait until daybreak to go back down.

I took part in two games, both which took well over an hour. In one match, I had found one of the wools, and was on my way back, only to find nightfall  had come, and ended up pushed off the edge by attacking mobs, and therefore loosing the wool that had taken me a while to get. My team lost that match.

Despite the frustration with getting clobbered and having to respawn repeatedly at times, everyone had fun. And the player who was afraid of heights, by the end of the game wasn't so afraid.

In the meantime, progress continues in the new Angels Village, with players spreading out again and making new builds. But this is another story.

Bixyl Shuftan