[771] Battletech PC Game Rant

I recently started playing Battletech by Harebrained Schemes. I've been a fan of Battletech since I was in grade school. Though I never formally played it, I've always been reading novels and playing video games of it.

It was a relative no-brainer for me to pre-order the game. In fact, I got the deluxe digital content edition as a sign of support for the developers.

Overall I'm happy with the game. My biggest issue is with the random number generator, or RNG.

It's pretty funny that most of the games I like depend so heavily on RNGs. Fallout 1 and Fallout 2 featured this heavily. So did Assassin's Creed: Rebellion on mobile. Battletech also relies on this system to determine successes, failures, and critical hits.

Anyway, what's my issue? The random number generator is too random. And oftentimes favors the AI. It has been a common theme for me to save my game after almost every turn so that in the event that the enemy "crits" me, meaning he does devastating damage to my team's mechs, I have a fallback save to load. This happens. A lot.

Don't get me wrong, there are times when the tables are turned and I do the devastating damage. It just so happens that it occurs more often for opposing AI than my team and I.

It would have been nice if they came up with difficulty sliders. Make the easiest difficulty a guarantee that the user will have a higher factor of scoring critical successes than the AI. This would be great for people who just want to play the game to know the story. Then you can ramp up the difficulty with both sides having equal chances of getting crits. Then for those who really want a challenge, make the AI have more chances to crit.

Then again, I wouldn't call that difficulty. I would call it frustration levels.

There's no strategy involved in Battletech. I tried doing the higher ground maneuver and I still missed my attacks. The AI calmly blasted my head next turn. The only strategy I honestly can find in this game is knowing when to move during your turn or reserve your moves so you can attack the AI in a more favorable setting.

Aside from the RNG issue I'm happy with the game. The animations are nice, the VFX works, and the sounds are great. Mechs are cool. I don't mind if some of the mechs I knew growing up are "unseen" and not available in the game.

Would I recommend this game? Yes. I'm pretty sure other people are more patient than me.

Out.

063/365 - Pacsafe Bag Review

I've been using this for almost a month.

I've always wanted to own a Pacsafe product, since around 2009. Now I finally own a Metrosafe 300 GII. I have to say, this bag is very practical. It has one main pouch that has a laptop compartment and a smaller, zippered section. The front pouch you see in the picture above has an RFID safe packet, a smaller compartment near the top to hold your mp3 player, a small hole to get your earphones out, and a larger compartment in the lower part. The rear of the bag has two zippers, one at the upper area and another at the lower area, this allows you to attach your bag to the handles of your travel luggage. Oh, and there are two external pouches you can use to hold small umbrellas or water bottles.

I'm going to give credit to JD, my officemate, for encouraging me to get a Pacsafe bag. And I'm going to give even bigger credit to my mother, who actually bought me the bigger bag in Hong Kong instead of the Metrosafe 200 GII. She did get the latter, but it was for my Dad.

Let me gush about the good points. There are simple carabiner style locks you can use to lock all zippers in the bag. This prevents unwanted easy access to your belongings in tight situations. The bag has this neat locking mechanism that makes it difficult to remove the strap easily. The strap of the bag has two steel cables inside to strengthen it and prevent it from being slashed off. Also the bag is slash proof.

The design of the bag is very practical also. Space is relatively good if you're going out for the day. It supposedly can carry a 13" laptop, but since I don't own one of those I can't really confirm it.

Now, on to the bad points. The big compartment and the small compartment at the front share the same space. So if the bag is full and you try to put a point and shoot camera up front, it will bulge. And it's also relatively expensive. Those are the only complaints I have about it.

And maybe the big question of how I clean this. It has steel cables and slash guard fabric. Will it rust if I have it washed in a washing machine? I think I'll have to do some research how to clean this bag.

Finally, my conclusion. Yes, I recommend you get one of these. It's perfect to hold an office worker's usual gear. It's safe. It's not too bulky. And it looks nice too. Save some cash, buy one of these. When used properly it can keep your belongings safe and give you peace of mind when you commute or travel.

Out.