Book Advertising

I just used a good service called AskDavid to promote my book Frost. It’s free, and if you need to promote a book then I would suggest using it.

http://askdavid.com/free-book-promotion

I published my book!

That’s right! Frost is available as a print or eBook and you can buy it off of Amazon! This was a big accomplishment for me, so I am very proud of it.

Print book- http://www.amazon.com/Frost-Dominic-Ricci/dp/1477559221

EBook- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009BUCD0K

Thanks!

Dominic

I’m streaming SC2

I’ve started streaming starcraft on a mostly daily basis. I have this thing where I do 20 pushups if I lose, on camera. Watch me when I’m on, and you can find out when I stream by following me on twitter @fireskull66325.

Thanks!

http://www.justin.tv/fireskull66325

Halo 4 Gameinformer Issue Details

Gameinformer recently had a huge spread on the upcoming new installment in the Halo franchise by 343 Industries, Halo 4. They covered both single player and multiplayer, touching on some very interesting points while still keeping the most essential details, such as who the new type of enemy is, to themselves.

Single Player

So at the end of Halo 3 we saw Master Chief drifting toward a glimmering planet of some kind. Halo 4 starts after four years have passed with Master Chief in cryo sleep. Halo 4 is the first in the “Reclaimer Saga” of Halo games. Halo 4 will be focusing on a completely new and unique enemy. The Covenant will be making a return, but they will not be the main enemy.

Master Chief is initially woken up by Cortana because a Covenant force is boarding the ship. The armor type of these Covenant soldiers is not what the Chief is used to, so it could be that these are rogue aliens and not members of the Covenant that humanity had made truce with those four years before at the height of the Flood crisis. Master Chief and Cortana end up deciding that they have to make it to the planet below. The planet below them is actually surrounded by a Forerunner sphere, a layer of Forerunner technology that serves to protect the planet from anything, including the Halos.

Halo 4 will have much better graphics than Halo: Reach due to a better upgraded engine, new lighting and shader techniques, and full 720p HD picture.

Some things that 343 has said they are focusing on this time around: Halo 4 and the whole Forerunner Saga is about exploring the ancient Forerunners. While the player is fighting against this brand new enemy they will also be uncovering secrets about the ancient race that caged up the Flood and created the Halos. The developers also said that the new enemy features a playstyle that is between the Flood and the Covenant, but unique from either. 343 Industries is focusing on Master Chief’s humanity this time around, delving into him more as a person and less as a soldier. Cortana’s impending rampancy is also important to them, though it is unclear whether the information gained from her exposure to the Halos has helped her or made it worse.

Additional details: Most of the game will take place on the Forerunner planet located inside the sphere, which is named Requiem. The UI has been changed, and many familiar old weapons will be returning such as the sniper rifle, shotgun, assault rifle, battle rifle, dmr, plasma pistol, and rocket launcher, among others.

Multiplayer

Multiplayer now has its own name, and it is “Infinity”. Infinity is the name of a massive training ship the UNSC developed for the training of its Spartan IVs, the next generation in the spartan program that does not require genetic traits to succeed. The Infinity is a huge ship that can simulate any known environments for the purposes of training the Spartan IVs that are its responsibility. That is the premise for the entire multiplayer, and 343 also said that it was going to tie into the single player campaign as well.

Halo 4 is introducing a new Spartan points system where you gain points for various activities in the game, and then use those to change your character’s appearance and loadout. That is another big thing that is changing; there are now game-changing customizations that can be made to a player’s character before a game, allowing some an advantage over others. These loadouts include starting weapon customization. This is a first for the series, and it will be interesting to see how this progresses in the future. Also, sprint is back as a default armor ability that everyone gets, armor lock is gone, jetpack is still in, and there is an ability that gives X-ray vision.

Spartan Ops

There is a new feature called Spartan Ops in Halo 4 that seems to be taking the place of Firefight, which will not be returning in this installment into the series. Spartan Ops is a series of co-operative missions with cinematic support that is updated on a regular basis. These missions will tie into the single player campaign, providing additional enjoyment and story content well past release. Oh, and this is all free. So, you will be getting additional content not available at launch throughout the months after it comes out, for free. Sounds pretty good to me. Gameinformer is promising more information in the coming months, so stay tuned to their site for additional details.

Thanks for reading

- Dominic

 

 

Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm April Dev Update Details

Dustin Browder recently posted a developer update on Blizzard’s Heart of the Swarm Multiplayer progress. After the wave of information at Blizzcon about Heart of the Swarm there has been very little information released, so this update is a nice progress report of where the development team is going with the previously announced units and features for the expansion. Below is a quick summarization of what was announced, and below that are my impressions on the changes.

Terran

• They have scrapped the shredder, an aoe unit that was meant for map control, due to it not being used for its intended purpose in games.
• The warhound, a new unit similar to the goliath, is not being scrapped yet but they are discussing it.
• They are throwing around many different ideas for factory units, as they feel that it doesn’t have a wide enough range of units to choose from.
• They are debating bringing back the spider mine from Starcraft I, which was simply a mine that could be placed by vultures, but allowing Terran players to use it as anti-air instead of anti-ground defense.
• They are also experimenting with a very long range missile launcher to shake up tank versus tank battles.

Protoss

• The replicant, a unit that could copy any other unit on the map regardless of race, has been scrapped because it limited opponent unit options in many circumstances, lowering diversity in the game.
• The tempest has had its main focus as a unit changed. Instead of a splash attack anti-air flyer, it is now a long range anti-air and anti-ground siege flyer.
• Blizzard is trying out additional powers for the Protoss nexus, including a mass recall ability, allowing Protoss players to be aggressive and still have the means to escape even if they are using a slow army.

Zerg

• The flying caster and new detector giver unit, the viper, has been made into a pure caster. The overseer will remain as a detector and the viper will now have a cloud attack that reduces units’ vision inside to one. The viper is also getting the interesting trait of being able to gain energy from minerals, locking up the mineral patch it is feeding off of to do so.
• Blizzard is also experimenting with different variants of nydus worms, including a variant that spews large amounts of creep and a variant that can only attack buildings. They plan to expand on this as they continue development.

Everything announced at Blizzcon previously but not mentioned here is presumably still unchanged and in production and testing. As far as the changes go everything seems to be moving in the right direction, although I really do want to see baneling underground movement at hive taken out. Anyone that plays Starcraft II knows why I say that…invisible underground moving land mines, not fun. I am very much looking forward to seeing more nexus abilities, and the nydus worm idea for Zerg seems fun and original, so I’m looking forward to seeing that expanded on too.

Thanks for reading.

- Dominic

I’ve Finally Finished! Rodriguez is done!

I have finished my Mass Effect 3 fanfiction Rodriguez, much to my immense satisfaction. I have put a ton of time and effort into that story, so I truly hope that those who read it enjoy it. You can find it over there to the right -> under “Fanfiction” and “Mass Effect”.

I want to talk a little bit about what is and isn’t canon in my story. In other words; what is actually part of the Mass Effect universe, and what I just made up. The main character is obviously completely made up, as are the characters of General Hendry and Gunnery Chief Burnes. David Anderson is part of the official Mass Effect canon, and the situations that I used him in are realistic for the time period. Dawn of Sol is not an actual Alliance colony, but the Collectors were kidnapping people off of colonies during a time period for the Reapers. The entire ending scenario with the Hammer Operation is accurate, and the only thing that probably conflicts would be the very last scene where Rodriguez- well you know. The weapons mentioned throughout the story are actually weapons in the Mass Effect universe, none were made up by me. Red sand as well as all enemies and their descriptions are accurate as well. Generally speaking all events and circumstances surrounding the city are assumed based on brief remarks, but the general situation of the city is in tune with what canon has it being. The incident in the parking garage, the underground facility, and all other details about the resistance and resistance movement were fabricated up until Operation Hammer.

If I’ve forgotten anything, then it is an oversight and I apologize for it. Naturally all rights belong to Bioware and EA, as this is a fanfiction.

Thanks,

- Dominic

Rodriguez Update

My Mass Effect 3 fanfiction Rodriguez has been updated again, through page seventeen. I am going to just update its page on the right instead of posting it here, as it would take up a lot of space on my front page. I really appreciate feedback, and that includes negative feedback, so I urge anyone at all interested in sci-fi to take a look at it and tell me what you think of my writing. Without helpful advice I can’t get better.

I’ll be continuing to update Rodriguez every day until it is finished, not on this page but on my own document for it on my hard drive. Therefore it should be finished fairly soon, so stay tuned for that if you like the story and want to see how Rodriguez’s story resolves. I will also be keeping up a steady stream of current information, mostly gaming, of course, in the form of articles on the front page. Thanks for visiting my website, and have a good day!

- Dominic