Can’t wait until next September for more DILLIGAF?
Well you’re in luck, because over the course of the summer, I will be uploading the entire DILLIGAF archives to this site. Comics dating from 2007 to now. That’s a lot of DILLIGAF, all for you, all for free. Enjoy.
Why this won’t be in the paper:
1) It’s not that funny.
2) It’s about something no one cares about.
Previous Discarded Dilligafs:
Discarded Dilligaf #1
Discarded Dilligaf #2
Discarded Dilligaf #3
Why I made this comic:
I felt that the INTRICATE BACKSTORY of comic strip characters needed to be told.
Why it won’t be appearing in the Torch:
Because it’s not very funny.
Today is Study Day, meaning No Classes for Anybody. Most of my illustration-major peers are taking the day to paint until their wrists fall off. Me, I’m drawing comics and playing Dragon Age. Such is life.
My favorite thing about Study Day is that it is a Wednesday, which means I will actually be at home in front of my computer at the very minute that a new Zero Punctuation video is released. Yes I am a very special breed of loser. Someday they will build a nature preserve for specimens like me.
At any rate, if you’ve never heard of or watched Zero Punctuation, you should. It’s basically a guy reviewing video games while speaking very quickly and adding little animations to it. It’s quite funny. The link is below.
How are you spending your Study Day?
Still playing Dragon Age. Still awesome.
One thing I like about this game is that it’s a fantasy distopia. Not a post-apocalyptic science fiction setting, nor is it sunshine, unicorns, everyone-recycles-and-we-have-no-more-theft fantasy (I’m looking at you, Dinotopia). Bad things are going down in Ferelden, including but not limited to racism (against the up-until-recently-enslaved elves), mutiny, betrayal, assassination (of key political figures, no less), and dead puppies (PUPPIES! NO!).
Another thing that makes Dragon Age totally awesome is the character interaction. You get several NPCs that you can drag around to help you out in a fight, and unlike most RPGs, they’re all interesting. (I’m looking at YOU, Tales of Symphonia. Seriously, all of the problems in that game could have been solved if they’d just let Colette DIE.) My personal favorites are Alistair, the paladin with a personality; Morrigan, your typical Hot Topic cashier; Zevran, the bisexual elf who seems to think having sex is like saying hello, but he did grow up in a whorehouse so I can’t really blame him; and your dog, whom you can name yourself. (I named mine Samson, after my real dog, who was a totally awesome German Shepherd but is now tragically deceased. He lives on in virtual reality, yay!) Depending on your actions, the characters in your party like you more or less. Morrigan, for example, disapproves practically whenever you solve a problem without murdering a bunch of dudes. Not a big fan of humanity, that Morrigan.
Today’s particular adventure involved not playing Dragon Age at all. I got home from class to find that the X-Box was no longer in our living room. Stunned and disheartened, I wondered what I had done to anger the roommate who owned the X-Box and played Super Mario Galaxy instead until my other roommate came home. She, too, wanted to play Dragon Age, and called me stupid for not doing so myself until I pointed out that the X-Box was nowhere to be found. We theorized that the roommate who owned the X-Box had taken it into her room, which was locked. Bemoaning our fate, and suffering Dragon Age withdrawal symptoms, we considered texting her until we remembered that she had lost her phone a week earlier. Then we had a twenty-minute discussion about just how pissed she would be if we broke down her door, and whether or not it would ultimately be worth it.
She did, eventually, wake up and open her door and give us back the X-Box. They are playing it now, whereas I am writing this blog entry while I should be doing my homework. Good times.
Games you’ve probably heard of, part 6
Games you’ve never heard of, part 5
Games you’ve never heard of, part 4
Games you’ve never heard of, part 3
Games you’ve never heard of, part 2
Games you’ve never heard of, part 1
See what I did there?
Odds are that any of you with any interest in videogames whatsoever have heard of Dragon Age: Origins by this point. Well, I was playing Super Mario Galaxy, minding my own business, when my roommate puts me in a headlock and forces me to play DA:O. And now I must tell you about it.
It is excellent.
…
Okay fine I’ll go into more detail. The controls work, the characters are well-rounded, the story is interesting… basically it’s everything I’d hoped that every other game I’ve played would be.
Except for one little thing: I can’t see anything.
Now, I’m not sure if it’s just the TV I’m playing on or what, but a LOT of this game is text, and I’m having a really hard time reading it. Nines and fives are interchangable, names are all squished together, and figuring out what the heck I’m supposed to do for my quests involves a solid ten minutes of squinting and readjusting my glasses. I even tried sitting directly in front of the screen, all of a foot away from it. No dice.
So yeah, if I could read the text, this game would be perfect.
Games you’ve never heard of, part 5
Games you’ve never heard of, part 4
Games you’ve never heard of, part 3
Games you’ve never heard of, part 2
Games you’ve never heard of, part 1
I’m going to go ahead and assume that you’ve all heard of Tetris. But have you ever played high-definition Tetris?
I tried to today. It took me 28 minutes and 45 seconds to complete a single line.
Right now I’ve got the game running in another tab to see how long it takes me to lose. Results will be posted as soon as I get a Game Over.
If you’d like to try playing it yourself, the link is here: http://www.ngworks.net/game/swf/tetoris.swf
Previous Games You’ve Never Heard Of:
http://www.umasstorch.com/blog/2009/11/13/games-youve-never-heard-of-part-4/
http://www.umasstorch.com/blog/2009/10/07/games-youve-never-heard-of-part-three/
http://www.umasstorch.com/blog/2009/09/29/games-youve-never-heard-of-part-two/
http://www.umasstorch.com/blog/2009/09/26/games-youve-never-heard-of/
I hate phones. I hate not being able to see the person I’m talking to. It’s very difficult for me to speak to someone without being able to read their body language and facial expression. Communication through text works fine (hence my sending of 285 texts a month from my cell phone), but unless it’s with a trusted friend or relative, hearing a voice but not seeing a face just freaks me out. In recent years it’s gotten better, but there’s still a lot of discomfort between me and phones.
So until today, I made all of my appointments with Health Services in person. This annoyed the crap out of them. I didn’t really get why. I wasn’t walking in expecting to be seen right away; I was walking in to make an appointment, with every intention of returning at a later time to talk to a health care professional.
When I lived in Roberts and Pine Dale, walking over to the Health Services building was convenient. Now that I live in the Dell… not so much.
So today, since my brand-new ear infection is becoming intolerable, I decided to make another Health Services appointment. And I decided to do it by phone.
It took me fifteen minutes to work up the courage to call, and another five to decide whether to use the land line or my cell phone. I finally decided on my cell phone and dialed 508 999 8982. After approximately five million rings, it rolled over to voicemail and a pleasant voice offered me several other numbers I could dial if I needed to be seen immediately.
Voicemail is just as terrifying as a phone call, perhaps even moreso. So I decided to try the other number to see if I could get a real person on the line. I dialed 508 999 6641 and waited. Again, five million rings before voicemail, where an angry voice informed me to LEAVE A MESSAGE AFTER THE TONE. And then there was a tone. And then I nearly pooped myself in fear.
So, yeah, I didn’t leave any messages. Sorry, Health Services. Maybe if I could make my appointment with an actual human being over the phone, I wouldn’t be stopping by your office later today to make one in person. Toodles.