Nylige anmeldelser av tatiana

This pack should really be called "Postcards". All the images are the same size and shape, 200x150 pixels, with a background.
The artstyle is relatively realistic, with many colours in each image. So I found the pixel lock option to be particularly useful for this pack.

Overall, this was one of the most enjoyable packs for me and I wholeheartedly recommend it!

The second pack in the Vistas series feels slightly different from the first. It should really be called "postcards". The images are, on average, smaller than in the first pack, and tend to have fewer colours. Many of them are round or oval in shape.

Overall, not a bad pack, although I preferred the first one. However, if you feel that the images in the first pack are a bit big, this one will be perfect for you.

Pluses:
- The vistas are very varied, ranging from landscapes to cityscapes.
- The styles are varied too, from realistic, to fantasy/sci-fi to almost abstract.
- Some images are done in various shades of just a couple colours, while others are bright and colourful.
- Most images have large areas of a single colour, which means it's not too time-consuming to complete them.

Minus:
- Many images are large, even though this is a plus for some.

This game is a rare beast indeed - a turn-based survival game. So when I first came across it, I immediately started looking for playthroughs on YouTube, and found several very good ones by TheNeomare. The more I watched, the more I wanted to get the full game. So when a demo became available, I downloaded it straight away.

The argument in another review that there's "too much guesswork" is utter nonsense! Clicking on a location card takes you to that location and gives you the option to "explore". As you explore, you gather items. Some of the new items you discover unlock a blueprint for a new craftable. Simply drag and click the required materials into the slot and press the "craft" button. It is possible to "explore" even a fully explored location, but doing so will only give you one thing at a time (eg. a tree) and you wouldn't discover anything new.

Some things you can craft are simply interactions between two items. So dragging and dropping a stone onto another stone (or large stone) gives you a sharpened stone; while dragging and clicking the "sharpened stone" on a "husked coconut"splits it into a "coconut" and a "coconut husk". Another interaction between a coconut and a sharpened stone makes a hole in the coconut, allowing you to drink coconut milk from it. After you have done so, you can use the stone to split the coconut. Clicking on a split coconut gives you an option to "extract meat" from it, spliitting it into "coconut meat" and "coconut shell". The former can be eaten raw or cooked; the latter can be used to collect rainwater for drinking. But what about the husk? clicking on it makes it into fibers, which can be used as fuel for the campfire or made into cords for crafting. Palm fronds can also be used for fuel or combined into a palm weave, to be crafted into a hat, a basket or a backpack. And that's just the things you discover in the first 10 minutes of gameplay in the starting area!

To help those of us who are easily intimidated, all the blueprints for complex craftables (those requiring more than 2 items) are listed in the blueprints section, while the diary section gives you a list of recommended goals to pursue, such as "craft a stone axe".

The demo lets you play as the hunter, who starts with out with some blueprints unlocked and several traits that make the game easier; or an "example character" starting out with some additional items, which also make the game easier. The full game has some meta progression - earn suns and moons with each run to unlock new traits, starting location options and starting gear options, to make the game as easy or as hard as you wish. TheNeomare has a video on that as well.

So far I have only managed to last a day in the demo. The stats you need to keep track of range from hunger and encumbrance to back pain and sanity. Thirst in particular seems to be my undoing - coconuts are limited and too much coconut water gives you diarrhea, causing you to lose food and water extra-fast; rain is rare, and needs containers to collect; puddles in locations such as caves and jungles need time to initially discover and the water in them is unsafe - boil it or you will eventually get a fever, which might kill you unless you know how to make medicine from local herbs. But I'm sure I'll figure out this survival thing eventually!

This pack only really has one plus and one minus.
- On the plus side, the variety of sizes and subjects is excellent.
- On the minus side, many of the images have no background and, therefore, are smaller then their dimensions suggest. This could be a plus for some though.

When I bought Castle Flipper, I expected it to be to House Flipper what Sims Medieval was to Sims 3 - a more directed experience, and in a Medieval setting. Turns out, I was Exactly right.

The advantages of CF over HF are few, but important. Castle Flipper seems to be the more atmospheric than the House Flipper base game; the levels are often bigger, and more exploration-focused; the music is more varied and quite pleasant. Finally, CF seems to be more suitable for colourblind players, as there is no need to match paint colours :)

However, Castle Flipper feels like it would require some major "finishing and polishing" to get to the same high standard as House Flipper enjoys in its current state:

- As some of the quests/orders are quite big, the absence of manual saving seems like a strange omission. The game would have been a lot more relaxing if I didn't feel obliged to complete an order in a single sitting, simply because it wouldn't save until completed. You can't go back to an unfinished quest either - restarting is the only option.

- I wish there was a way to turn the day/night cycle off completely. Or have some sort of "belt lantern" at the very least. The only thing you can do while holding a torch is pick up trash, and running around waiting for the sun to rise isn't fun.

- The interface looks small on my high-definition laptop screen. It would have been nice to have several size options.

- On a related note, there are no notifications when you get a talent point, and the talent tree can only be accessed when not on a quest. As a result, I felt like I've missed out on some perks in the beginning.

- Compared to House Flipper, the tools in Castle Flipper seem to lack "weight", especially the axe and the hammer. I'm not sure if this is a model problem or an animation problem.

- The building mechanics are OK, but the first-person viewpoint makes it hard to place down roofs and visualise floorplans. An ability to make wooden scaffolding would have been nice...

- Most quests have bonus objectives, in the form of treasure chests and notes to find. The chests are a great idea! The notes, however, are very poorly implemented. Some are just recipes; some mention guards or wizards, even though I haven't encountered any in the game yet; some even start with the words "I know you probably can't read, but...". There's no way to store these notes, so if they are supposed to provide lore and/or story, they are useless - by the time you find the next, you forget what the previous one was about.

I have bought this game at a good discount, as a sort of "supplement" to House Flipper (although the two games are by different developers). So far, it seems to be perfect for the purpose, not to mention a ton of potential, so I'm recommending it. However, if you looking for an HF Replacement, or a game with a high level of polish, it's not quite there yet.

Gorogoa's good points have been described countless times before: gorgeous graphics, unique atmosphere, clever puzzles. Overall, it is very well made. It's one of those games that feel like art pieces.

My only gripe is that the story and message aren't very clear. On one hand, this is a great thing, as it forces you to think about the game you've just completed, and to try and find your own interpretation of it. On the other hand, I wish it made me care about the main character a bit more... Or at least to come away with a more pronounced emotion of either joy or sadness.

In other words, I can only recommend it to certain kinds of players. If you don't like short games, steer clear of this one, or at least buy it heavily discounted. If you like puzzles, you are going to enjoy it, but don't expect anything too difficult. If you are a collector of games that are unusual/unique, feature beautiful graphics or have an "indie feel" to them, this is a must buy!

Pluses:
- This pack is all about flags, so it's mildly educational.
- The images come in a balanced range of sizes.
- Lots of straight lines and big blocks of a single colour make the pack relatively easy.

Minuses:
- Lots of straight lines and big blocks of a single colour make the pack relatively boring and lessen the feeling of achievement on completion.

Disclaimer: I have bought The Sims 4 with 80% off, so I don't care how expensive it is. Here is a list of other unlikeable things about it.

1. It's Very old-fashioned. The loading screen looks like it's from 1995. I literally needed to download a replacement to give myself something to look at. The world map looks worse than the one Sims 2 had in 2004! You can only give your sim 3 traits. You could give 5 in The Sims 3! I needed to download "More Traits in CAS" and "100 Base Game Traits" mods to recreate the experience...
This would not have been a problem, but the game's devs, by their own admission "do not support or condone mods". So if you want some, download them off a dozen different third-party sites and install them manually.

2. It assumes you know everything! So don't look at "Lessons" - they teach you nothing. Or "Help", which is for technical issues only. Instead, watch dozens of YouTube guides to learn how to rotate objects, control what your sim does at work, use cheats, build a house, and do a multitude of other things.

3. The Origin start screen is 20% "stuff you actually need" and 80% "Buy our stoopid, overpriced DLCs Naaaww!"

4. Unless you download the traits mods I've mentioned above (or any others of your choosing) your time in Create a Sim will be spent as follows: 30 seconds to choose traits and aspirations; 3 minutes to design the face and body; 30 minutes dressing up. Is it just me, or are those priorities slightly off?

5. The game is crazy! The need to buy food directly from of the fridge (because a grocery store is so 2008/last generation, right?). The moment you realise that having your sim work from home is 100 times more interesting that having them go to a rabbithole workplace. Wondering why your sim needs to spend multiple sim-hours to do "work related tasks" After Coming Home From Work, just to have a chance of promotion. Needing to buy skill books for 70 simoleons a pop, when your bank balance is just 3,000. Having Bars in Both basegame worlds, even though there is no alcohol. All this and much more will make you question your sanity almost constantly.

Even though I suspect it's the developers' and publishers' sanity that's absent without leave....

The Good:
- True to its name, the pack has images on every subject matter, in small, medium and large sizes, with and without backgrounds.
- If the free content in the game didn't help you decide what style, size and subject you prefer, this is the perfect pack to start your journey into paid DLCs.
- The large images feel epic! If you have some patience and turn on "pixel lock", they are well worth the effort.
The Bad:
- I wish a couple more variety packs were available to buy, and hope more are made in the future!
The Ugly:
- The first 10 of the 20 images are small. You will most likely complete all of the first 10 images in an hour, especially if you have "pixel lock" turned on.
- Only 5 of the images are medium. A selection of 5 small and 10 medium images would have been a better balance.