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The 1996 videogame Z, and the Men of War series have a lot in common, and I enjoy both

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 Z stands out. It comes from a time when command and conquer (following on from Dune 2) was busy setting the tone for RTS. Arguably until Ground Control again doing away with base building, and more modern touch points of the Dawn of War game bringing it solidly into the collective consciousness. These comparisons have already been made in the "have you played" series on RPS in "have you played... Z" The above is a simple comparison making exercise, cherry picking examples of popular games, ignoring the melange of RTS ideas at the time and those ideas inherited from the board game or war game worlds. The prevailing narratives about which game first introduced what mechanic lack nuance and are most likely false. Like the histories of many other fields. My own comparison is between Z and Men of War.  I feel that the micro in Z resembles the randomness of Men of War quite closely. Several light tanks can sometimes destroy a medium, or just as well not. Moments of Heroi...
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Cut Us Loose!

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On  a coach back from the city of dreaming spires (and bricking-it final year students) to the middle of London, I sat and slept. I normally bring a book or a paper with me for the journey, but it's only to make me look like I have important business to be getting on with even though I am on travelling intercity in the middle of the morning - I pretend to read. I spent a lot of time starting out of the window, having a 1hr40min existential crisis whilst being away from a good internet connection. A certain building caught my eye as we pulled away from the Notting Hill Gate station and moved towards Marble Arch, the part of the journey close to the end. I only saw it for a few seconds down a wide road leading away off the road the coach travels on, left to the direction of travel. The building looked like it was birthed by a gothic church which had made love to the 1960's. There was a spire, and part of a church wall which joins with an entirely different type of glass and con...
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Itchy toe

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I don't know if you have listened to our introductory podcast but I mentioned that I am waiting for an inspiration or something to happen to me that will be worth writing about as my first post. Writing about my itchy toe may not be an ideal topic to talk about as my first post, but it was the reason why I was up most of the night. What triggered this? I have no clue. My mind was playing tricks on me and it was probably getting a kick out of it! I honestly felt I was experiencing a sever case of inflammation which would ultimately result in a lost of my toe. All I was saying to myself over and over again was: ‘Not my toe…Not my toe… Not my precious big toe’. I tried to man-up by sleeping through the pain that did not work. Therefore, I conjured enough energy to get out my bed, ran straight to the shower, and poured cold water over my itchy toe to numb the sensation. “It worked” I screamed, almost waking up my family. As soon as I got back to my cozy bed and fina...
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