Another Episode of The Observatory (ThOb) is here, meaning that I have more time to waste with y'all, although I would hardly call it wasted.  My boss might, and although he is here with us today, he is in the other room, and since my work is BYoC (bring your own computer), it's all good.  So then, what should we talk about?





So this is waaaay later than normal.  Why I cannot say, although I can guarantee it has nothing to do with the particular month.

I am seriously burned out on CRPGs for now, as cranking my way through over 100 hours of Ultima has taken a serious toll on me.  For example, my April front-page contribution was going to be Warriors of the Eternal Sun for Sega Genesis, and one of the first CRPG titles I ever played (Drakkhen on SNES was my first).  It has a good story, good music, and good combat, feeling like the odd stepson of Ultima VII (for outdoor exploration) and Dungeon Master (for cave and dungeon exploration/combat).  And I couldn't get back into it at all, no matter how long I tried.  And believe me, I tried quite a bit.  So much, in fact, that if I hadn't squirreled a few nuts (articles) away I wouldn't have had a monthly article at all.  Oh well.  I'm just hoping that this CRPG burn-out isn't anything more than semi-permanent, as I still have a lot of games I want to get through.  But for now I think it is time for a genre switch.  The real question is, to which genre do I gravitate?

Now I'm not giving a positive on this, but I was thinking Space Sims.  Yes?  Cool.  Before we continue, I would like to acknowledge that this genre tends to produce massive games, especially if you want to sink your teeth in and get comfy.  For example, I could probably finish the campaign for X3: Reunion in less than twenty hours, but it was within the following three or four hundred hours of messing about that I picked up a small fleet of ships (both trading for money and combat for fun) and the real fun began.  Not sure how we will hand this, but I'm sure we'll figure it out together.  Also, I could totally turn left instead of right and suddenly go on a PC platforming jag, and at some point I want to introduce y'all to my DOS-Windows 98 gaming laptops.  I would also like to do something with soundcards/devices on the PC at some point as well. Then again, there is something pretty awesome happening next month:


NO MAN'S SKY IS COMING OUT JUNE 1st!!!  Ahem.  Here's to hoping that it doesn't disappoint.  The description on GoG's website looks tantalizing, but that kind of stuff has gotten me into trouble before (at least two times, actually), so maybe I should wait?  Pshha.  Who am I kidding?  Actually I'm wondering if No Man's Sky has the chance of being the Skyrim of the Space Sim genre.  All it would take (in my opinion) to break through is it be more accessible/less complicated than the most visible Space Sim out there.  Can you imagine, a simple and intuitive Space Sim game?  I don't know whether to "yay" or "boo" at such thing, though I would still like to see it.  But before then there are other games I have my sights on, such as Rodina and Rebel Galaxy.  Jumpdrive (formally Paragon) also has a big update on the horizon, though I still feel justified waiting just a bit longer before I give the devs my cash.

Well, everyone.  I think that will be it for now.  I still might do another ThOb before the month is out, though who knows, as our yearly "Pain Yourself with Submissions" contest is in full swing.  I may not be quite as handy with the ol' scanner as many of you, but me and my friends, TextEdit, Google, and HTML Cleaner are working overtime for the good of RFGen.  I have no illusions of victory, but I'm having more fun than I've ever had during the contest.  Personally, I can't wait to see the numbers.

Thanks for reading!

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