The Sims 4

I took advantage this week of Origin’s Game Time event for a 48-hour trial of The Sims 4.

I should say that I did not expect to enjoy it very much given the “word on the web” circulating about the level of execution and general game play.  Nevertheless, I did enjoy the game for the 48 hours that I had access to it.  (48 hours was basically enough for me to play it an actual 4 to 5 hours, after dinner, two evenings in a row.)

Game play was very smooth, and the game ran unexpectedly well on my desktop.  It’s a good, stock, Sims base game with an updated look and feel to the interface and the graphics.

Some have complained that the graphics are worse than in the Sims 3 but they aren't worse so much as different.  For me, the oddities that things were so very stark, and that the ceilings were so damned high that your Sims end up with a lot of wall space.  (I’ve never personally seen ceilings this high in any house anywhere ever, though they could exist, I suppose.)  I kind of felt as though my poor, lonesome Sim was knocking around a large, echoing space all the time.

Deja Vou mixes up some mac and
cheese in her enormous beige kitchen.

Outdoors, the scenery all appears larger-than-life too, though this may be that it’s finally something like normal sized and fleshed out a little.  The landscapes were far more natural and appealing than those I’m used to from Sims 3.

Deja Vou tries her best to annoy a neighbor.

Still, the game wasn’t completely bug free.  Old glitches evident in Sims 2 and Sims 3 still reared their heads here in Sims 4.

Deja Vou and a neighbor get a little too close in her kitchen.

Pools were in.  I say that because I’ve seen a lot of hand wringing about pools being excluded from the base game and how this is a crime against the very nature of The Sims franchise, but there they were.

Small lots mean really small pools.

What adding the pool did emphasize to me was just how small most of the lots were.  I looked around but could not find a way to add more lots to any neighborhood so, at least for now, it seems a Simmer is stuck with whatever the designers of the default neighborhoods think is appropriate for them to have.

The game also announced to me after a little bit of play that Sims can multitask now.  This seemed to mostly mean that they could carry on conversations while cooking, and while doing other things.

I hate to think about how much this happens in the real world.

Gardening seemed to be improved in that the plants looked better and there were new options (such as “take cutting” and “splice”)  and the ingredients were better integrated into the cooking skill.

The weeding work is never done.

While playing Sims 4, I very much missed the CAS (Create-a-Style) tool from Sims 3.  As in The Sims and Sims 2, with Sims 4 you’re back to being stuck with only a few color options  on any item — anywhere from no options to about eight — and the options are, in large part, bland and unsatisfying: Zero Punctuation summed it up as “chintz and pastels or fuck off back to Call of Duty”, and that does seem to sum it up pretty well.

There are other genuine complaints.  Open neighborhoods are gone.

Get used to this.  You’ll be seeing it a lot.

This meant that when I wanted my Sim to go visit a neighbor, and I clicked on their door, I faced a loading screen while she went to that house.  That house was empty so of course she had to just traipse right back home through yet another loading screen.  There are loading screens between the Sims in the neighborhood and any non-home activity (museum, library, park, &c.) they might want to try, and that loading screen gets old, quickly.

This also means that your Sim just disappears when it’s time for them to go to work, or when they “go for a jog“ or any other activity that takes them away from their home lot.  (So, I guess, no more job rabbit holes, either.)

The neighborhoods themselves are pretty small.  The base game comes with two, and they each have  a few housing zones, a big park, and an area of other community lots (library, museum, gym, and so on).

My Sim’s current neighborhood is highlighted
above, showing its general size.

Of course, leaving the bounds of one of those regions means facing loading screen, which was something I couldn't stomach as often as my Sim wanted to roam about.

Build mode took a little while to figure out and, once again, there were some things missing that fans of the franchise have become accustomed to.  For me, the main one was the lack of any terrain tools: no more raising or lowering lots (all the lots are just level), which for me takes away the fun of L-shaped stairways and the like.  It’s not an absolutely huge thing, but given how tiny some of the lots are, being able to bend a staircase around a corner would help quite a bit.

Overall: The Sims 4 still has much the same charm as The Sims has always had, and it’s enjoyable enough to play for a while.  I can’t say how long my enjoyment would last, though, once I was facing the full limitations of all the loading screens and the lack of being able to customize clothes and furniture as I’m wont to do in Sims 3.  The game runs pretty beautifully now, but so did The Sims 3 before all the Expansion and Stuff Packs were added, so I will just have to wait and see on that matter.

I am not planning to buy it in the immediate future: it’s just too pricey for the content offered and with the other negatives I’ve listed above.  I’m also not considering it right now because of it not being offered on Steam, but that’s a problem I don’t think EA’s management will ever grow up enough to resolve.

A Tale of Two Stollen

While I was home for the holidays, my mom made a great traditional Christmas stollen (that is, a German bread-slash-fruitcake very similar to Italian panettone).   I really enjoyed it as a breakfast food: You see, I’m not really a breakfast person at all but if I do have something, I want it to be light and sweet, and a pastry of some sort really works for that.  (I love, love, love cheese danish for breakfast — don’t judge me!)

Last week, I was running low on cereal and decided to make myself a stollen for the rest of the week’s breakfasts.  So I whipped out my Bernard Clayton’s New Complete Book of Bread (hardback|paperback) and made the Strasbourg variant he detailed.

Stollen the First

The resulting stollen was OK.  Not fabulous, but totally edible and good enough.

I should note that I made a couple changes to his recipe here.  Since the candied fruit I can buy at the local store is full of corn syrup, tartrizine, and other sad excuses for quality ingredients, I gave it a miss and used sultanas and diced dried figs in it, instead.  Also, where the recipe called for confectioner's sugar, I used “instant dissolving” (AKA, super fine) sugar instead in order to avoid the corn starch in the former.

Apart from that the recipe called for a starter of yeast, salt, water, flour, sugar, and an egg with butter whipped into it.  This sat for a few hours, then then more flour was added along with blanched almonds, the dried fruit, a little brandy, and a bit of cardamom.  This sat until it was double, then went into the fridge overnight, and was taken out the next morning, allowed to double again, then put in the oven.  Once out it was buttered and sprinkled with sugar.

The bread was really dense, and I think the cooked figs did the overall flavor a bit of a disservice (at least to my taste buds).  There was a strong yeasty-alcohol flavor to it too, which wasn't the brandy, I don’t think.  It was interesting but, for me, it was “too interesting” for breakfast.

I should say that I often have this “too dense” problem with the Bernard Clayton recipes, and in large part, I believe it’s that this book was first published in 1973 and the flour we get at the store now has a whole lot of additives that were not in the flour then.  It just doesn’t behave as it should in some circumstances.

Stollen the Second

Anyway.  For my second attempt, I started with the recipe from the Ohio Farm Bureau, dropped the figs, then added the brandy and cardamom that I’d liked from the first recipe.

The result was a much lighter bread that tasted sweeter (though I don't think it is) and is much more the sort of thing I was really looking for.  If I’d change anything if (when) I make this again, it will be to add more dried fruit than I did for this one, and perhaps use one less egg.

I know that the crust in the photo looks quite dark, but it’s soft and sweet (and just compare the color to your nearest loaf of Wonder Bread).

The recipe I ended up with for Stollen the Second is:

1 package (2¼ teaspoons) yeast
¾ cup very warm water
½ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
3 whole eggs
1 egg yolk, white reserved
½ cup unsalted butter, softened and divided
3 ½ cups flour, plus extra, if necessary
½ cup chopped blanched almonds
⅓ cup sultanas
⅓ cup golden raisins
1 Tablespoon brandy
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
3 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon melted butter
instant dissolving or super fine sugar

Combine the yeast and the water in a large mixing bowl. When the yeast is foamy, add the sugar, salt, eggs, egg yolk, the ½ cup of butter, and half of the flour. Beat for 8 to 10 minutes, ensuring the butter is whipped into the dough.

Stir in the remaining flour along with the almonds, sultanas, raisins, brandy, cardamom, and and zest until well mixed.  Cover the bowl with a slightly damp cloth and let it rise in a warm place until it doubles in bulk (usually 1 to 1½ hours).

When double, stir the mixture down, cover it tightly with plastic wrap, and store it in the refrigerator overnight.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and shape it into an oval about 12 inches long and 8 inches wide. Spread the butter over it,  then fold the dough in half lengthwise, pressing the edges together firmly.

Place the dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet, cover it, and let it rise until it is double in bulk (about 45 minutes to an hour).

Mix the reserved egg white with a tablespoon of water and use it to brush over the dough.

Heat the over to 375°F (or 190°C), then bake 30 to 35 minutes, until the loaf is deeply golden-brown.  When it comes out of the oven, brush the crust with the melted butter and sprinkle with the instant dissolving sugar.  Let the stollen cool for 30 minutes before serving.

It's not that hard to make, and it lasts a while (I just cover the exposed end with plastic wrap), so a slice a day has been a good breakfast for me.

Parmesan Sesame Crackers

I've been feeling pretty domestic for a few days now, so have been baking, as I do.

Today was sesame parmesan crackers which (with a pasta machine) are pretty easy to make.  The result:

Crispy yum yum.*

The recipe:

1½ cups durum semolina flour
1½ cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp sea salt
⅓ cup olive oil
1 cup water
sesame seeds
grated Parmesan cheese

Combine the flours and the salt, then add the olive oil and water and mix until combined.  Divide the dough into 8 to 12 parts, oil each ball, and set aside.  Let the dough rest 30 to 60 minutes.

Preheat oven to 450℉ (about 230℃).  Roll each ball out into a thin strip (I use the second lowest setting on my pasta machine), then layout on a baking sheet atop parchment paper.  Prick each strip with a fork, then brush each strip lightly with water, cut to cracker size (a pizza cutter makes this easiest) then sprinkle with sesame seeds and grated Parmesan cheese.  Bake 7 to 9 minutes, until deeply golden, then allow to cool on rack for 5 minutes.

These crackers are really great for snacking with cheese and sliced salamis.  They keep well in a ziplock bag.

* The crackers in the photo above are paler than the recipe generally makes but I was out of whole wheat flour and used all purpose flour instead.

Castle Ravenloft Board Game

Castle Ravenloft Board Game

Over the holidays I had the chance to sit down and play the Dungeons & Dragons Adventure System board game, Castle Ravenloft.

I found it to be a lot of fun in general, however I think the “Adventure System” needs to be a lot simpler to appeal to a broader audience than hard-core D&D nerds like me.

The box weighs in at around seven pounds (oof! that's about 3.2 kg) and includes a lot of stuff, though I should say that a good portion of that weight turned out to be left-over heavy card stock we threw out once we’d punched out all the tiles and other bits and pieces from it.  The set includes a fifteen-page rule book and a similarly sized adventure book of single-page adventures plus a set of interlocking dungeon tiles (to build the board), a twenty-sided die, a large stack of playing cards (monster cards, encounter cards, power cards, treasure cards), several much heavier stock cards for the stats of the PCs (Heroes) and NPCs (Villains) and various tokens and hit-point counters in heavy card, and, finally, dozens of unpainted plastic miniatures (some recognizable from other sets).  A full inventory can be seen on the D&D Adventure System Wiki.

We played with a varied group of experienced D&D and board gamers over the course of a few different gaming nights.  The games ranged anywhere from a solo game to a full group of five with ages ranging from eleven to sixty-eight.

The game plays a lot like the D&D 4th edition games I’ve sat in on, complete with ability cards (At Will, Daily, and Utility powers) and healing surges with the exception that it's totally playable by a solo player — the game’s rule set, essentially, takes the place of having a Dungeon Master in the game, and each monster and villain comes printed with a set of “tactics” to let you know just what they do each turn with no decision making on that level really necessary.  The games take roughly 40 to 90 minutes to play depending on how many people are involved and how complex the chosen adventure is.  A simple adventure might be “you wake up in the dungeons of Castle Ravenloft and that can’t be good, so try to get out before the sun sets” while a more difficult one might be “you’ve got a brilliant get-rich-quick scheme: get into the dungeons of Castle Ravenloft and escape again carrying twelve treasure items”.

Game play is fully cooperative meaning that the players either win together or lose together: if one player's Hero dies, then the game is lost for all players regardless of how well they've done individually.  (This caused some drama during one game when the party rogue claimed their share of the treasure and quickly escaped the dungeon, leaving the rest of the Heroes there to pull their own weight; the rest of us didn’t fare so well so, despite the rogue getting out of the dungeon and having done their “fair share”, they still lost the game.)

The game requires a seriously huge amount of table space to play: not only are you building a random dungeon out from tiles that are fairly large themselves, but you need to have several decks of cards out on the table to draw from, and each player also needs the space to lay out their Hero’s card, their various power cards, their treasure cards, and the cards of any monsters, encounters, and traps they're controlling on the board, all in an organized way so they know the order in which they received them.  We played with five people at a table made to comfortably seat eight and just barely had room enough to see an adventure through.

If I had one major complaint it’s that the game is just too complex: there is just too much to keep track of.  For a full game of D&D it seems sort of normal but for someone expecting a board game, they may feel quickly overwhelmed (or in the case of younger players, bored).  For example, each Hero has some effect on nearby heroes such as giving them bonuses on their attacks or being able to heal them if they themselves do not attack on their turn.  In addition to this, each player may be controlling a monster or three, a trap or two, and an encounter.  Each player's turn then consists of the Hero Phase (them moving their Hero and attacking or not), the Exploration Phase (in which they may turn over new dungeon pieces and spark new encounters as well as causing new monsters and traps to appear), and the Villain Phase (in which any monsters or traps controlled by that player take their turns).

What that results in, when you get all five players going, is a chaotic mess with a lot of people saying things like “Oh wait!  He should’ve gotten a +2 on that roll because of …” and then a lot of back-tracking to try to sort out what really should have happened, if you’d managed to remember all the myriad details you needed to track to make the game work.

As a minor complaint: the rules are extremely vague in some places which either leaves room for argument and rules lawyering, or requires make-shift patchworks to cover those situations the rules gloss a little too lightly.  Example: the rules never say whether the Cleric Hero may heal himself and all the wording seems to indicate that he’s supposed to only heal others — but that really makes no sense in the context of actual playing so we just said “OK, the cleric can heal himself, duh.”  There are numerous “how to play” videos and such around the place, but I'd argue a board game really should not need you to take an online class in order to learn how to play.

The Good: the game can be reasonably paced if you learn the ropes well and just move it along.  We found the best way to do this was to have one person who wasn’t playing a hero, but was really just “minding the rules” for each player and saying what needed to happen next — you know, a DM.  The game materials are generally of very good quality (except that one of our gargoyle miniatures came sans head, which was odd) and there’s a lot in that box to make the game worth the price, especially if you can get a good deal now that it’s a few years old.  The game has got a nice D&D 4e flavor to it, without all the extra set-up of building characters, reading an adventure, lugging around rules books, and getting a DM, and so on.  It comes with a series of varied adventures for you to try, and you can download the rule book from Wizards of the coast if you want a taste of what you're in for before buying.  (Sadly, the extra adventures they published for the game can no longer be found on their site.)  It’d be exceptionally easy to use the materials in the box to write and play your own adventures as well.

I'd recommend the game for D&D fans who can digest complex rules quickly and don’t mind a lot of bookkeeping — it’s really a quick way to have a D&D game without a lot of the usual fuss and muss.  I’d not recommend the game for anyone who wants a quick board game as a simple diversion.  It might be a slightly-simpler-than-D&D gateway for introducing a new player to D&D but, for me, that would miss a large part of the appeal of the actual table-top role-playing games, namely the role-playing, by reducing the game to simple goals and plastic pieces on a board.

Health and Wealth in the New Year!

It's been very quiet here in recent weeks, with the holidays keeping me busy.

But here's your pork and cabbage for health and wealth in 2015:

(We take ours in fried dumpling form, around my house.)

Happy New Year!