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The Universim

My Recent Media Absorption

By Amazon, Books & Authors, Games, Music & RadioNo Comments

They say that sharing is caring. So today I wanted to share with you my recent media absorption, which includes a book, three albums, two TV programmes and a game.

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View on Amazon.co.uk
The Last Days of Magic by Mark Tompkins
The Last Days of Magic mixes mythology, magic and fantasy wonderfully. Ireland is the last stronghold of magical beings. But it is under threat. From King Richard in England and the Vatican.

The Vatican is determined to wipe out all creatures and men with magic. All creatures and men with magic came from fallen angels mating with humans. The Vatican believes that this is against God’s will.

There’s a wide range of compelling characters, a gripping plot and it is an easy and enjoyable read. It is the perfect example of a great fantasy novel.

Percentage Complete: 95% I will write a review of this book when I’ve finished reading it.

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Jake Shears by Jake Shears
The flamboyantly fabulous and drop-dead-gorgeous Jake Shears is back! Doing what he does best (apart from that ahem) – singing.

His self-titled album Jake Shears is packed with original and brilliant songs. I love Shears’ eccentricity and his unique view of life which he expresses in his music.

On Jake Shears there’s catchy tunes that stick in your head such as Good Friends and Sad Song Backwards to songs about sex such as S.O.B (sex on the brain) and Clothes Off. An album that I would highly recommend.

I have found my funeral song on Jake Shears. The exceptional ballet track Palace in the Sky. It gets you right here points to chest.

Percentage Complete: 100% I still have Jake Shears’ autobiography Boys Keep Swinging – A Memoir to read.

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DH00280-the-1975-album-cover DH00280 by The 1975
I love the upbeat, quirky and sometimes melodramatic music of The 1975.

Matt Healy’s (the lead singer) voice is hypnotic and high. DH00280 is a twenty-four track album of the band playing live at The 02 in London at the end of 2016.

I would love to see this band live. But in the meantime, at least I can play this album on repeat whenever I want.

I’m lucky that it’s a digital version and not a tape, otherwise I’d have probably wore it out by now.

Percentage Complete: 100% (Repeatedly.)

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M/F by Matt Fishel
Fishel’s music reflects the gay community and the Singer Songwriters’ experience of it.

All gay men will be able to identify with the lyrics. The music is pop-rock and Fishel’s voice is memorising. My favourite songs on this album include His ‘n’ His, Bored of Straight Boys, and The Gorgeous Ones.

I first heard about Fishel when he released his debut album Not Thinking Straight. This album was addictive and played constantly on repeat. Songs that have stayed with me from that album are: Radio-Friendly Pop Song, Behind Closed Doors, Alastair and the Football Song.

However I was less impressed with his second album Cover Boy. The only track I enjoyed on this album was a barely passable cover of Finally. Cover Boy was thankfully a shorter album than Not Thinking Straight.

M / F demonstrates Fishel’s return to the music of his that I yearn for and most relate to. A fantastic album and one that I would recommend.

Percentage Complete: 100% (On Repeat.)

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The Pyramid Code

The Pyramid Code is a five part documentary examining how advanced the Ancient Egyptians were. Interviewing experts, using visual diagrams and models, along with analysis of available evidence to present the case that the Ancient Egyptians were probably more advanced scientifically, architecturally and spiritually than we are today.

A truly fascinating and informative documentary. It’ll make you question what you’ve previously been told and accepted as fact about the ancient Egyptians.

Percentage Complete: 75%

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View on Amazon.co.uk
In The Flesh
I recently discovered In The Flesh on the BBC iPlayer. It’s set after a zombie uprising in Britain. The authorities have found a treatment that reverts zombies back to fully cognitive functioning people. They refer to them as individuals affected by Partially Deceased Syndrome (PDS).

The story is set around the Walker family. Kieren Walker is a young man who is released from a Detention Centre back to the care of his family and in his zombie-hating community. He has his parents and Jem, his younger sister who is a member of the Human Volunteer Force (HVF). The HVF rose up to eliminate the zombies after the outbreak. This unique angle is very interesting for a zombie genre TV series.

I’m only a few episodes in. But I’ll say this: it’s a very deep and dark drama series.

Kieren has side effects to the medication including flashbacks to things he did as a zombie – including the killing and eating of people. Plus Kieren wasn’t alive at the time of the outbreak. He rose from his grave. So why did Kieren with seemingly all of his life ahead of him end up dead and buried so young?

Although it’s brilliant series, I will admit that I have had to take some breaks during watching due to the level of darkness. I’ve actually found it a bit traumatic to watch at times. I guess it’s good that it makes me feel something, even if it’s something that makes me feel uncomfortable.

Percentage Complete: 33%

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theme-hospital-game-cover Theme Hospital
I bought the original Theme Hospital for under a fiver, for something to play why I wait for the release of the reinvented Theme Hospital called Two Point Hospital.

I’m enjoying it and managed to complete half of the game with only getting the game over screen a few times.

Percentage Complete: 50%

Looking ahead there’s loads of media to look forward to. First I’ve got a shelf of books waiting to be read. In addition to that I’ve got:

  • A big update for The Universim towards the end of August
  • The release of Two Point Hospital towards the end of August.
  • A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships album by The 1975 in October.
  • Dr Who returns to the TV in the Autumn.
  • A possible album from former McFly band member Danny Jones. A couple of weeks ago Danny Jones released an awesome single called Is This Still Love,

What media are you absorbing and enjoying? Leave a comment below and let me know.

Blog soon,

Antony

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Games: Prison Architect, The Universim, Sid Meier’s Starships & Civilization 6

By Games, TechnologyNo Comments

I’m a really casual gamer. I play all my games on my Mac and don’t own a console. At the moment I’m super excited about the games out, in development or coming out soon. So I’m going to write about my top four favourite games which are: Prison Architect, The Universim, Sid Meier’s Starships and Civilisation 6.

1. Prison Architect

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Prison Architect has Very Positive ratings on Steam.

In Prison Architect you build, manage and maintain a prison. The player manages every aspect of the prison including: the staff, the prisoners, the routine, the rehabilitation programmes, etc.

It originally started out as an Indie game by Introversion Software. I backed it on Steam as a pre-alpha and later had my brothers name put in the game. The great thing about this was each month, I got/get a free update with new content, bug fixes and improvements.

Since then it has has launched as version 1, being available on both PC and Mac. It has loads of positive reviews on Steam, tens of thousands of players and has just launched or about to launch on consoles. The creators have also recently won BAFTA for the game.

It’s a great game that I played over 128 hours on various prisons. Totally absorbing and addictive. I would highly recommend you go get it and play it. Below are screenshots of a prison that I’ve been building and managing for well over a year:

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My Prison (1), I’ve been playing this prison for well over a year and for hundreds of hours.

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My Prison (2), I’ve been playing this prison for well over a year and for hundreds of hours.

Here’s a trailer video for Prison Architect:

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Essential Info
About: A game where the player builds, manages and maintains a prison.
Platform: PC/Mac, Linux, XBOX & PS4.
UK Price: £19.99
Status: Version 1 released on PC/Mac a few months ago. XBOX version 1 released shortly after. PS4 version 1 release date is 28th June 2016.

2. The Universim

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The Universim – The Planet Management God-game. Image from The Universim Press Pack, Copyright © The Universim, 2016.

The Universim is a god-game and planet management game by indie game developer Crytivo Games. It has previously received Kickstarter backing and is currently in pre-alpha. I backed it on their website, buying the DIMETRODON EDITION, which cost me $60 (US Dollars). The great thing is that they have different packages for all price ranges.

This game is visually beautiful. From the trees to the weather, to the animals, nuggets and buildings. The artwork is stunning. The game has little people, called nuggets, which the player is god over.

The Universim is in the pre-alpha stage, meaning that it is still in development. Each month a patch is released (on 15th of each month), as well as patch notes and other updates. Other updates focus on the future game development including ideas, concepts and plans. The developers are currently getting the core game mechanics right, so at the moment there isn’t much to play. If you’re looking for a finished game, as the creator and designers say, wait to purchase until sometime in the future.

If you love backing games and giving feedback on bugs and ideas to shape the game, pre-order it today. Providing that you choose a package that has pre-alpha access, you’ll be able to download the current version and play it straight away. The game has a really cool launcher built in that checks the server for updates every time the program is opened. Giving feedback and reading the feedback of others is easy on their forums.

Here are some screenshots from The Universim and a trailer video:

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The Universim – close up of ‘nuggets’ which are like people. Image from The Universim Press Pack, Copyright © The Universim, 2016.

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The Universim – the weather thunder and lightening. Image from The Universim Press Pack, Copyright © The Universim, 2016.

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The Universim – A close up of the beautiful trees. Image from The Universim Press Pack, Copyright © The Universim, 2016.

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Essential Info
About: A god-game and planet management game with little people (nuggets). Features to come include: god powers, research, more buildings, nuggets moving through the ages from Stone Age to Modern Age, etc.
Platform: PC/Mac/Linux
Price: From $25-$250 (US Dollars)
Status: In the early stages of development. Pre-alpha.

3. Sid Meier’s Starships

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Sid Meier’s Starships Gameplay Screenshot – Welcome Screen.

Okay, so this game has been out for a while, but I love it. It’s a sci-fi game where you build a fleet of ships, undertake missions and conquer the galaxy. It received mixed reviews. I like this game and keep hoping that they’ll go back an release an expansion pack with more features. It’s a good game, that could be made brilliant by adding some of these features from my Wish List:

  • Bigger maps and bigger fleet (or more than one fleet of space ships).
  • More customisation of fleet.
  • Meaningful diplomacy.
  • More missions.
  • Longer game play.

Here’s some game play screenshots and a trailer video:

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Sid Meier’s Starships Gameplay Screenshot – Galaxy Map.

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Sid Meier’s Starships Gameplay Screenshot – Your Bridge.

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Sid Meier’s Starships Gameplay Screenshot – Battle Start.

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Sid Meier’s Starships Gameplay Screenshot – About to Attack.

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Sid Meier’s Starships Gameplay Screenshot – Attack in Action.

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Essential Info
About: A sci-fi game where you build a fleet of ships, undertake missions and conquer the galaxy.
Platform: PC/Mac/iOS.
Price: About £10.
Status: Has been released for sometime.

4. Civilization 6

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Civilization 6 Screenshot (1)

I have played the Civilization series since I was a teenager. I own every release of Civilization from Civilzation 2 all the way up to Civilization V with the Gods & Kings expansion pack. One of my favourite releases was Civilization: Call to Power because it had a future technologies meaning that you could have sea and space cities. I pre-ordered Civilization: Beyond Earth and it could have been so good, but it just wasn’t. It was completely disappointing.

Civilization 6 has been long awaited by fans. But other than these three game play screenshots, the trailer video and the game description all below, there isn’t loads of information Civilization 6 which releases on Friday 21st October 2016.

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Civilization 6 Screenshot (2)

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Civilization 6 Screenshot (3)

GAME DESCRIPTION
PLATFORM: PC
RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 21, 2016
FEATURES

EXPANSIVE EMPIRES: See the marvels of your empire spread across the map like never before. Each city spans multiple tiles so you can custom build your cities to take full advantage of the local terrain.

ACTIVE RESEARCH: Unlock boosts that speed your civilization’s progress through history. To advance more quickly, use your units to actively explore, develop your environment, and discover new cultures.

DYNAMIC DIPLOMACY: Interactions with other civilizations change over the course of the game, from primitive first interactions where conflict is a fact of life, to late game alliances and negotiations.

COMBINED ARMS: Expanding on the “one unit per tile” design, support units can now be embedded with other units, like anti-tank support with infantry, or a warrior with settlers. Similar units can also be combined to form powerful “Corps” units.

ENHANCED MULTIPLAYER: In addition to traditional multiplayer modes, cooperate and compete with your friends in a wide variety of situations all designed to be easily completed in a single session.

A CIV FOR ALL PLAYERS: Civilization VI provides veteran players new ways to build and tune their civilization for the greatest chance of success. New tutorial systems introduce new players to the underlying concepts so they can easily get started.

From: http://franchise.civilization.com/en/games/civilization-vi/, Last accessed: Sunday 22nd May 16.

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There has already been a huge reaction among fans to the screenshots. Many of them dislike the artwork that they have described as ‘cartoony.’ I doubt at this late stage of the games’ development that the artwork will change. The artwork has grown on me a little. But I’m concerned that it might reflect a dumbing down of the game’s complexity, which is what has made previous versions so addictive to play.

I like the idea of unstacking cities and city districts and think that it will add to game play. I’m not keen on the DLC or the difference in price between the Standard and Deluxe editions of the game. I feel the standard edition is to expensive, never mind the cost of the deluxe edition, so I will most likely wait until a reduction in price and would advise you to do the same.

Essential Info
About: The latest strategy game from the award-winning Civilization series.
Platform: PC (Unsure if it will have Mac compatibility on launch, but no doubt a mac version will follow if not.)
Price: £49.99 standard edition, £69.99 deluxe edition.
Status: Releases on Friday 21st October 2016.

Blog soon,

Antony



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