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Rao Dao Zao

Rao Dao Zao

https://www.raodaozao.net 37 From Scotland
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  • Rao Dao Zao
    I never played XCOM: Chimera Squad at the time because it didn't exactly get the rave reviews its predecessors garnered, but with no sign of XCOM 3 on the horizon I'm getting desperate. Will a bit of breach and clear keep me going?

    raodaozao.net

    Blog 1019: XCOM: Chimera Squad

    XCOPS.
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    Rao Dao Zao
    There's always that worry when a sequel changes engine -- and developer -- that something essential might be lost along the way. Luckily, despite all the technlogical flourishes it brings to the table, Deadly Shadows still feels like proper Thief.

    raodaozao.net

    Blog 1018: Thief III

    Thief: Dynamic Shadows.
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    Rao Dao Zao
    That's right, it's demo season again and once more I have been caught with Exon in a right mess. Can I put it back together enough in time for Edinburgh College Games eXpo in Codebase from 5.30pm to 8pm on Tuesday the 26th of May 2026? Guess you'll have to come along and find out. Entry is free!

    raodaozao.net

    Blog 1017: Say Hello, Wave Survive

    Standing at the door of the game dev expo, crying in the rain / My game had a kind of so-so level and I’m gonna make sure it never happens again.
    raodaozao.net raodaozao.net

    More details about ECGx can be found here, if any of you can get your asses to Edinburgh: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/edinburghcollegegames/2176634
    Rao Dao Zao
    One of my greatest filmic regrets is not going to see 2016 medieval action-fantasy The Great Wall at the cinema. Every time I watch it that pain grows stronger, because it's basically my perfect film.

    raodaozao.net

    Blog 1015: The Great Wall

    The Great Film.
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    A]mun
    When This Wreckage 2? :wsmile: (someone said jokingly)
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    Rao Dao Zao
    Rao Dao Zao
    I think you mean When the Freedom Slips Away 3.

    I want to say 'this year' but I'm not holding myself to any firm deadline because that way madness lies. In the mean time, you can read all the developer diaries and salivate over all the wildly out-of-date screenshots here - Shattered By Light
    Rao Dao Zao
    It turns out that when I played Thief II: The Metal Age as a teenager, the mission that caused me to give up was only two from the end -- so I had actually seen pretty much all of the game. Now I'm an adult, can I finally see it all the way through?

    raodaozao.net

    Blog 1014: Thief II

    Unlike my school friends, I never had a rebellious metal age — I went straight to 80s synthpop.
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    Rao Dao Zao
    Another day, another bit of the level editor. While I've had a robust solution for doing natural terrains in Exon for ages now, I've struggled to integrate man-man mega-structures into the mix. Time to do something about that.

    raodaozao.net

    Blog 1013: Marching Squares

    Mate, it’s April.
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    Rao Dao Zao
    Who doesn't love a bit of XCOM? This time I finally graduated from Easy to Normal difficulty and... Well, I did win, but it made me think. (Always dangerous.)

    raodaozao.net

    Blog 1012: XCOM

    “XCOM” to the tune of “Sex Bomb” by Tom Jones.
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    Rao Dao Zao
    It is perhaps remiss of me to not have played one of the foundational texts of the immersive sim genre when I'm such a fan of Deus Ex, but here I am, late to the party as always: it's finally time for Thief.

    raodaozao.net

    Blog 1011: Thief

    But what if you could sneak past the monsters?
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    Rao Dao Zao
    How hard is it to keep an open world populated with just the right number of wandering monsters? You already know the answer: quite hard, actually. Like everything. Sigh.

    raodaozao.net

    Blog 1010: Repopulation

    Oh, it’s not perilous; the old creature spawning system would have made it perilous, but now the creature spawning system will not make it perilous.
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    Rao Dao Zao
    It is a truth universally held that the expansion pack does it better, and Star Wars: Empire At War: Forces of Corruption is no exception -- it takes the base game and slams it into hyperspace.

    raodaozao.net

    Blog 1009: Forces of Corruption

    (Long John Baldry as Dr. Robotnik Voice) Forces of Corrrruption!
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    Rao Dao Zao
    Yes, Star Wars: Empire At War is still worth the price of entry for the automatic space battle movie camera system alone. Just ignore that bit where the Death Star successfully nukes Yavin 4.

    raodaozao.net

    Blog 1008: Empire At War

    Stars for the star wa–! Oh, wait, wrong franchise.
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    Rao Dao Zao
    Venetica might actually be my favourite 7/10 eurojank game of all time -- scouring corruption from fantasy Venice is as fun as it is a refreshingly off-beat premise for a third-person action-RPG.

    raodaozao.net

    Blog 1007: Venetica

    Venetica? Yeah, I know ‘ah pretty well.
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    Rao Dao Zao
    Sometimes a game doesn't survive a second play-through. According to the history books, I gave Divinity: Dragon Commander a glowing review when it launched, but today I struggle to see the appeal. I'm not getting old, you're getting old.

    raodaozao.net

    Blog 1006: Dragon Commander

    Not a dragon supreme.
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    Rao Dao Zao
    I will apparently do a lot for a late-90s third-person fantasy game, namely waiting years for a suitably pristine retail copy to come on sale so I can snap it up. Finally, Drakan: Order of the Flame has winged its way to me.

    raodaozao.net

    Blog 1004: Drakan: Order of the Flame

    Order of the Flame? It’d like the steak, please. Well done.
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    Rao Dao Zao
    I definitely like the idea of stealth action games even if I'm rarely patient enough to pull them off. My time with Stolen was, alas, no different than usual. "Stick to the shadows," they said...

    raodaozao.net

    Blog 1002: Stolen

    Stolen? No, I bought it… from a random guy on the internet…
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    Rao Dao Zao
    A new year is always a good time to reset the clock on a project that's been dragging for a while. It's time to put Shattered By Light back on schedule.

    raodaozao.net

    Blog 1001: Old Year’s Resolution

    My new year’s resolution is the same as it ever was: 1440×1080, or 1024×768 if the game won’t take it.
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    Rao Dao Zao
    Dungeon Siege is neither a satisfying action-RPG nor an engrossing tactical party RPG. In trying to straddle the line it has only managed to make the worst of both worlds... But god damn if it doesn't look good doing it.

    raodaozao.net

    Blog 998: Dungeon Siege

    It’s okay, there actually is a dungeon that is under siege (right at the end).
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    Rao Dao Zao
    You didn't seriously think you'd get away without a UT2004 blog this year, did you? I've been playing for years and somehow only just discovered the hidden Onslaught ladder.

    raodaozao.net

    Blog 997: Onslaught

    Vehicular manslaughter? I ‘ardly know ‘er!
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    Rao Dao Zao
    Looking back on the games I've played this year, it has been quite the eclectic mix. Critical darlings that I hate, critically maligned sequels that I love, plus the usual heap of weird old shit nobody else has heard of -- love 'em or hate 'em, though, they're all very pretty looking.

    raodaozao.net

    Blog 996: 2025 In Screenshots

    So many screenshots, so little time.
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    Evilhog
    Evilhog
    What a productive year. I rarely finish more than a few games a year, let alone so many. Good to see Unreal II and KnightShift getting some kind-ish words.
    My biggest gripe about Unreal II is the player character's ridiculously slooooow "running" speed - who's brilliant idea was it to make it that way?

    By the way, have you played KnightShift's predecessor, "Polanie" (aka "Slavs")? That game featured milk-based economy back in the mid-90s :)
    GOG gave it away during a time-limited promo when they released KnightShift on their store (not sure if it's still included with recent purchases, but there are always high seas if you're not faint of heart...).
    Rao Dao Zao
    Rao Dao Zao
    Unreal II's walking speed was literally last-minute executive meddling. There is a way to make it faster via config file edit (more like the run speed of the original Unreal), but it resets back to default on every level load -- but for the one level I managed to turn it on, the game felt way better. Alas.

    No, I didn't realise KnightShift was even a sequel until I did some digging. The game definitely doesn't advertise the fact in any way. My research suggested Polanie was never translated into English though?
    Evilhog
    Evilhog
    Check your PM box)
    Rao Dao Zao
    Since I've apparently been on an RTS kick recently, I decided to squeeze one more little one in before the festive season. Populous: The Beginning is an absolute classic that still shines despite its advanced years.

    raodaozao.net

    Blog 995: Populous: The Beginning

    It’s an Ebenezer Goode game, where you can Move Any Mountain.
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    Rao Dao Zao
    Sometimes I overhear somebody mention an obscure old game and immediately set my sights on having it. Today's dive into the wilderness comes courtesy of Devastation, which is certainly an FPS from 2003.

    raodaozao.net

    Blog 994: Devastation

    Flynn Haskell: revolutionary street fighter or functional programming language?
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    Rao Dao Zao
    If the prospect of a fantasy RPG/RTS isn't enough to get me through the door, then a punny title will definitely seal the deal.

    raodaozao.net

    Blog 991: KnightShift

    Boogie Knights. Knight Fever. A Knight’s Tale. Wait–
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    Rao Dao Zao
    Winter of the Wolf offers a slightly disappointing new campaign after all the delights of Battle Realms, but at least it's the obligatory snowy expansion pack.

    raodaozao.net

    Blog 988: Winter of the Wolf

    The night I left the city… I dreamt of a wolf.
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    Rao Dao Zao
    Battle Realms is an RTS packed with more than enough cute flourishes to embarrass any of its early-00s contemporaries.

    raodaozao.net

    Blog 987: Battle Realms

    Battle Realms is another one of those games that GOG gave away for free at some point, years and years ago, and despite thinking “that looks kinda cool” for most of that time, I’v…
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    Evilhog
    Back in the day, when PC hardware manufacturers were so generous as to throw in a few promo CDs with the package, my crappy old Asus GeForce FX5200 (I almost miss that little bastard!) came with a full copy of Morrowind (!) and a bunch of demos - Battle Realms was among them. For some reason, I avoided that BR demo for almost a year, even though the artwork on front of the CD looked very cool - two anime-styled fantasy warriors duking it out against a magenta background. Perhaps, I was too busy with playing Warcraft 3 at that time (my holy grail of a game in 2004). Anyway, when I finally installed the demo, I was fascinated by the game's presentation. What amazed me the most was the choreography of combat - this is something very few RTSs have implemented at this level ever since. Each battle feels like something straight from a Hong Kong martial arts movie, or an anime fight (in a good sense). Even DoW with its "sync kills" feature wasn't as impressive as BR's spectacular animation during combat. I don't want a thousand polygons per model in RTS games, just give me back that Liquid magic!
    Rao Dao Zao
    Rao Dao Zao
    Yep, I'd say it's wildly prettier than WC3, though unfortunately not as expansive. This GOG version has an expansion pack so we'll see if it goes anywhere with that.
    Rao Dao Zao
    Sometimes what you need is an obscure early-00s FPS with expansive, often beautiful levels... Just a shame the shooting's not up to much. That'll be why Chaser is obscure, then.

    raodaozao.net

    Blog 986: Chaser

    “If You Can Hold A Gun You’re Not Dead” (yes, this is the tagline)
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    Rao Dao Zao
    Mask of the Betrayer continues the story of Neverwinter Nights 2... sort of. In as much as some more stuff happens to the same person for (mostly) unrelated reasons. Luckily high-level D&D is always good fu-- oh. Oh dear.

    raodaozao.net

    Blog 984: Mask of the Betrayer

    Y.M.O. – Behind the Mask (of the Betrayer)
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    Rao Dao Zao
    Now that exhibition season is over I've returned to working on Exon's art, which inevitably means I need to play with the Milkshape file importer again. I swear, I'll never be happy.

    raodaozao.net

    Blog 983: Extra Model Data

    How long do we think it’ll be until I do the obligatory regretpost rescinding everything I say here?
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    Rao Dao Zao
    It turns out that the more open-ended a scenario is, the harder it is to get the pacing right. Who could have predicted this?

    raodaozao.net

    Blog 982: Shattered By Pacing

    “We’ve reached the point of no progress reports,” he said, before immediately coming out with another progress report.
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    Rao Dao Zao
    Despite thinking that Neverwinter Nights was a honking pile of shit, I decided it was time to play the sequel. It does have a better reputation, but then again, so have many other sequels I didn't like... I... I may have a problem.

    raodaozao.net

    Blog 981: Neverwinter Nights 2

    Alwayssummer Days.
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    Rao Dao Zao
    Picture the scene: you're in a fight and you desperately need some repairs, but all your repair kits are stuck in your inventory and you can't grab them. Well, what if they weren't hidden away...?

    raodaozao.net

    Blog 980: Quick Slots

    Hammer Z to consume 18 cheese wheels.
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    Rao Dao Zao
    Dawn of War II's second expansion pack decided to half-heartedly become an RTS again and I'm not sure how I feel about that.

    raodaozao.net

    Blog 979: Retribution

    In the grim darkness of the far future, there are only missed opportunities.
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    Shar Dundred
    Shar Dundred
    FYI, it had never stopped to be a RTS (Skirmish mode, etc); it was just the campaign of the main game & Chaos Rising that changed into something more akin to an RPG.
    Rao Dao Zao
    Rao Dao Zao
    Skirmish modes do not exist, shhhh.
    Rao Dao Zao
    Given how stand-alone all of Dawn of War's expansion packs were, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising allows you to import your progress in the base game for high-level heresy funtimes.

    raodaozao.net

    Blog 978: Chaos Rising

    Pure in the Eyes of the Emperor.
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    Rao Dao Zao
    I had a lot to say about RTS Dawn of War and its three expansion packs, but I still enjoyed enough of it to want a sequel. Except... the sequel is an action-RPG?!

    raodaozao.net

    Blog 976: Dawn of War II

    In the grim dark of the future, there are only White, Green and Blue rarity items.
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    Wazzz
    Wazzz
    I remember being very surprised by the direction of the campaign in this game, especially since the multiplayer still upheld the idea of some measure of RTS, although this time without the base building. They seemed to want to emphasize tactical combat and squad development, and the campaign instead focused on individual hero units?
    I had a friend who did a playthrough where he insisted on investing in the weakest options for each character, making some of the boss fights take forever (we're looking at the Assault Marine and Force Commander using their Pistols, iirc, or whatever equivalent each had, while the Devastator used his melee, that sort of flavour), and he could still beat the game on what may have been the highest difficulty. It did not sound like an enjoyable experience to do it that way lol.
    Rao Dao Zao
    Rao Dao Zao
    Haha, yes, the upgrade path for each hero was incredibly obvious -- they might as well have been WC3 heroes, each completely locked on a specific track barring some item choices. Probably would have been better if they embraced that to be honest, if they'd given them all a few more active abilities... I only really had trouble with one boss (the optional Ork Warboss), so I guess I must have made a small mistake somewhere. (Normal difficulty of course.)
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    Rao Dao Zao
    Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire has its moments, but it's mostly a heady cocktail of "dull" and "condescending". Why did I play it all the way through? Very good question, glad you asked.

    raodaozao.net

    Blog 974: Pillars of Eternity II

    Pillars of E2rnity. Pillars of Eterni2y. PiIIars of Eternity.
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