One of the most anticipated games, Half-Life ...

October 24, 2004 by Adam in Adam's Games

One of the most anticipated games, Half-Life 2 is going to be released soon. It's also one of the rare big games that's being distributed electronically as well as on CDs. It's a massive download, over a gigabyte easily, and encrypted as well. I'm downloading it at the moment and once it's "released", I can pay my money and get it unlocked to play it.

It's an interesting way to do things and hopefully one that happens more often in the future. All the waste of cardboard boxes and CDs seems a bit silly when all you want to do is get it on your computer anyway. Interesting times.

Myst 4 seems fun so far, though the puzzles a...

October 15, 2004 by Adam in Adam's Games

Myst 4 seems fun so far, though the puzzles are mind numbingly hard. Sam's been getting in on the action, doing the simpler puzzles and enjoying the general ambiance. The areas are so pretty and the music so pleasant that it's easy to forget how much your brain has to think just to get to the next area. There's a few things that annoy me - hunting through a dark screen for a lever to pull, for example. Still, it's classic Myst and fun for the whole family.

I fiddled around with Sims 2 a bit

October 14, 2004 by Adam in Adam's Games

I fiddled around with Sims 2 a bit. Putting our Simoleans to good use, I added on to the house and dumped all the baby stuff in there for use for the next kid. I changed the hairdo of one of the twins as it was simply too hard to keep them apart. The birthday party went fairly well. After all the guests had left, Jamie was busy cleaning the toilet after the rest of her family went to sleep. At least she was thinking the party went well.

We'll see how long I stick with the Sim Millers. Raising children, even virtual ones, seems like a lot of hard work.

I couldn't help myself

October 12, 2004 by Adam in Adam's Games

I couldn't help myself. I ordered Myst: Revelations, which should be arriving in a few days. I hear the puzzles are mind bogglingly hard, but the atmosphere and music are stunning. I've been wanting a game that Sam can play on his own for awhile, perhaps with a few hints from his dad.

As it is, he'll either play FPS games or build houses in Sims 2.

We survived the toddler ages with the twins

October 11, 2004 by Adam in Adam's Games

The Sim twins are driving me nuts

October 09, 2004 by Adam in Adam's Games

The Sim twins are driving me nuts. I had hired multiple nannies to help out, but they were less than useless, not bathing the kids and wetting themselves (the nannies, not the kids). I dismissed them and took a lot of vacation time to spend some quality time with the children. It's doing better. I taught Emma to talk and Tess to walk (or the other way around - I can't keep them apart). Hopefully we'll get potty training for the both of them. They also grow up fast. I think it's something like three or four Sim days before they're a kid. Crazy.

Now it's time to spend some quality time this morning with my real family. I better right click on Emma and select "Teach Emma to Talk" or something. Oh, and check Sam's hunger levels while I'm at it.

I just have to add how ironic I find it that ...

October 06, 2004 by Jamie in Adam's Games

I just have to add how ironic I find it that Adam takes so much time from his day in the real world to manipulate Pseudo people based on his actual family. Have my anxiety and control issues pulled him over the walls of mental health into my own emotional prison? Oh well, At least we are together!

The Sim Millers are doing well

October 06, 2004 by Adam in Adam's Games

The Sim Millers are doing well. Tess and Emma turned into toddlers overnight. How quickly these children grow older. I also figured out that the trick to surviving twins is to have a nanny over full time. There was an odd game bug sort of thing that involved babies and nannies protruding from Sim Adam. Amusing, though weird.

Now the two critters are wanting constant attention, otherwise they splash around in the toilet. Soon the Sim days ahead will involve potty training, teaching kids how to talk, and getting them walking. If only real children had point and click interfaces.

As an aside, Sam asked Jamie the other day "When you wanted to have a baby, did you play in bed with dad?" He was present when I right-clicked on Sim Jamie and chose "Try For Baby". It was pretty tame, mostly the two characters moved around under the covers. I remember the story my dad told about how his parents bought him mice to teach about the birds and the bees. Now we have computer games. Strangely I don't recall a large green diamond above my head with fireworks shooting out of it when Sam was conceived.

Sim Adam and Sim Jamie finally decided to tak...

October 04, 2004 by Adam in Adam's Games

Sim Adam and Sim Jamie finally decided to take the plunge and give parenthood a try. Since Jamie has reached the Mad Scientist peak of her career, she got lucky and managed to bring the dead to life (flowers anyway). It brought in a huge monetary bonus which clinched having children. We had moved into a new big house in preparation, so with real-Sam's prompting, we had kids.

It didn't start out very well. Sim Jamie threw up a lot. After a few days, though, she was happily painting portraits and enjoying the sunshine with her big belly. She also ended up eating and sleeping more than usual until we heard the exciting news . . . she was having twin girls. Soon enough the two babies magically appeared out of thin air and reality set in.

The first thing was to call a nanny, as two babies are ten times as much trouble as one. Most of the time was spent sticking the babies on the floor whenever anything needed to be done. So far, I've named one Emma and the other Tess. Hopefully the Sim Miller household will survive.