Geek Of The Week

So, some of the lads in the UK have just bought Forza Motorsport 3 on the XBox 360.
I've had it since it came out, but not really played it, though I did get a steering wheel to play with, which is much more fun... yet I found out... much more difficult to use.
I got absolutely kaned by the pad users, and it should be the opposite!
So this weekend I got some old wood from the shed (Previously used as balance beams at Hayden's Ninjago Training Camp birthday party), and spent a few hours building a frame to hold the steering wheel and pedals.

It's fairly small and light, so I can store it easily in the basement, but it does not collapse. Used nails and screws with angel brackets to make it more sturdy.

One of the main reasons for doing this, was to secure the pedal base. It generally slipped around on the floor, especially when I'm hammering around bends and hitting the brake. to hold it in place I used both feet, and was using my left foot on the brake - which felt right, but is totally alien. Now it's securely in place the left foot can sit idle, whilst the right does what it should, throttle and brake. I placed it to the right hand side also.

As I'm quite large ;), I need to be able to get in and out easily. I didn't want to spend money (yet) and get a real car seat from the scrapyard, with proper runners and adjustable leg lengths, so instead I put hinges on the back of the steering base, to lift it up. No I can get my knees in without any hassle.

Before I had the wheel on a table (it was fine on the PC, the PC desk being at a good height), but on XBox the other table I had to bring in and set up was too high, and it also slipped about during a frantic turn, meaning I spent more time dragging things back into position, than concentrating on the race.

 The whole thing is held securely by weight :). my chair is a rocker gaming chair, and it sits on the boards so that nothing slips out of place.
The great thing is I didn't have to screw in or ruin any of the wheel or pedal base, they are still free to be used and 'sold' elsewhere.

 

And here it is, simple. About 4 hours work and $1.99 spent on nails. The wood only cost about $30 in the first place, so job done.
I've had a test drive and it feel much better now, the wheel at the right position and the pedals not slipping about, so hopefully I can start winning races against the pad users!!
Muhahahahahaha.
It's probably the best racing set up.... in the world!

Xmen Destiny on Nintendo DS

OK, so I went dead on the blog. This year was mental, in terms of everything. From the beginning of th eyear I started work on a new Nintendo DS title: XMen Destiny.

It was a really tough gig. From about Feb to June we were pretty much working late nights everynight and nearly every weekend, both days. with the little time off that we did get it was spent with family, getting drunk or catching up with a bit of gaming or other hobbies.
Not time for blogging whatsoever and nothing to blog about - except, work work work.
Good news is that we finally sold the house int he UK! Hurrah. So we have a bit of sorting out there to pay for the shortfall, but it seems manageable. A Shame, but you've heard all about it, and it's time to move on. We finally have no ties in the UK and can start concentrating on out life here.

Permanent Residency application is well underway, that'll be a relief when it comes through, but the main reason for finally posting again today is the launch of XMen Destiny on the DS.
It's a great game and I worked on the enemies, their 'AI' if you will and the combat. It's not the best in the world, but the DS is limiting and our schedule was so short I had to cheat a lot of things - but that was a good thing, because the game feels like an old skool side scrolling brawler, like Streets Of Rage et al, and I love those games. Combat is simple, but you get a ton of special moves and there's replay because ht path you choose gives you 4 powers. You can play again and choose different missions and get different powers.

I'm working a another new game now which'll be on XBox Live soon. Can't say what it is, but very excited to be a part of it, and again I seem to be doing the enemies, so I'll try to do my best to make them interesting and fun :)