GeekOut magazine by miranda.aaron

GeekOut

Geekout Magazine, May 31, 2015, Issue 1

THE NUMENERA Welcome to the tabletop rpg that takes you a billion years into the future page 6

GRC

Gulf Roleplaying Community page 12

page 24

Y select

Tabletop Gaming Television Art

start

X B

EDITOR

Geekout Magazine, May 31, 2015, Issue 1

eekOut, a UAE based magazine that brings everything geeky from all the different mediums that we love, which includes tabletop, gaming, television and art. My original goal was to inform fellow geeks about all the new and local geeky things the UAE had to offer, and suffice to say i have done that to the best of my ability, with a few deviations here and there. Designing an entire magazine from scratch seemed quite the daunting task at first, with deadlines to meet and content to generate. Needless to say i have tried to the best of my ability to bring you content without sacrificing any quality. I hope you enjoy it. Special thanks to: Omar Ismail Dimo Valev Joseph John Sayema Wasi

Contact No. - 0566786096 Email id - GeekOut95@hotmail.com Address - Manipial University Dubai, Academic City. Facebook page - www.Facebook. com/groups/geekoutuae/

BETTER CALL SAUL

OTHAM CITY

CONTENTS Tabletop The Numenera - 6 GRC ( Gulf Roleplaying Community) -12

Television

CITIZEN Up and coming - 18

Art Art of Comic Con -24

Gaming Looking Forward - 30

THE

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NUMENERA Welcome to the tabletop rpg that takes you a billion years into the future

Illustrated by Aaron Miranda

ou find yourself trudging through the snow, only to bear the sight monolith floating across the sky. What is it? Where does it come from? thats for you to discover. Welcome to the ninth world , Numenera, where technology is so advanced that its fallen into myth and magic. Numenera is a tabletop rpg created by game designer Monte Cook, who is most known for writing expansions for D&D(dungeons and dragons). In Numenera players experience vast wasteland of futuristic technology left untouched, guarded by experiments straight out of the works of Arthur C. Clark, Isaac Asimov, HG Wells and H.G. Lovecraft. You the player in this world have to forge a new destiny from whatever you can salvage from the past. Numenera is Tabletop science-fantasy themed RPG which was successfully funded on kickstarter, it had asked for twenty thousand dollars but ended up making over half a million dollars. This RPG takes place a billion years in earth’s future, with a theme that blends both past and future in a way that makes players experience something unique.

LORE

Illustrated by Aaron Miranda

Welcome to the Ninth World, where technology is magic and even our most distant future is still very much the past. There have been eight previous Civilizations before us, we refer to them as ages, eons , epochs, or eras , but it’s not wrong to think of each as its own individual world. They have left their unfathomable technology in their impenetrable fortress guarded by unwavering experiments. But the greater mystery is the Monoliths that are scattered around the planet. The Ninth World is divided into two areas. The first is “The Steadfast”, which is a collection of kingdoms and principalities, comprising of nine different countries. Collectively, the rulers are often called the Nine Rival Kings. The second is” The Beyond”, which lies beyond the bounds of The Steadfast, a vast wilderness punctuated by very occasional, yet very

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isolated communities.

GAMEPLAY For Numenera you as a player must create a Player Character with the help of the GM, who runs the game, this PC is what you use to play in the game. The game consist of three different classes. The Glaives, who can can wear heavy armor and wield massive weapons, or they can fight with light weapons and armor so they can move quickly, the Nanos, who are wizard-like characters who harness the Numenera to work miracles. These miracles, called esoteries, walk the line somewhere between machine and magic, and then there are Jacks, who are named after jacks-of-all-trades. They have a lot of tricks in their bag, which makes them skilled at a little bit of everything. The game follows a typical D20 system, where a 20 sided die must be rolled to determine the success or failure of any action. PCs have to roll for various actions ( such as fighting ) which usually has a minimum roll that is needed in order to The GM usually decides the difficulty of the action, however for combat every creature has a minimum roll that a player needs to get in order to successfully attack them. If the player roll an 18 or above, it’s a critical hit, which usually means bonus damage depending on the situation, and if th player rolls a 1, it’s a critical failure, which as you tell result in a negative consequence for that PC. One of the major parts of character creation is allocating resources between 3 different attributes for your character. These attributes are Might, Speed and Intellect. During character creation you spend a set number of points on what attributes you want, but usually your class tends to determine which attribute you will specialize in. Points within these attributes can be spent to reduce the difficulty of context specific tasks. For example the difficulty of trying to hack into a metal door though a computer panel can be reduced by two if you spend an intelligence point, which means that you need to roll 2 less than required on a 20 sided die. However you have to be careful in

spending them through the game since your attributes also double up as your health. This means that when an enemy successfully attacks you, your attributes will get reduced by their attack. The Ninth World is also littered with Artifacts, which are tech devices that are permanent in nature, unless they run out of power. They are usually a Weapon, Armor or Utility item. It is very rare to find a straightforward artifact. Then there are Cyphers which are one-use, jury-rigged bits of technology that the PCs frequently discover and use. When the PCs come upon an old device, defeat some artificially enhanced or designed creature, or simply sift through the ruins of the past, they can scavenge a handful of new cyphers. Then there are discoveries, which are random interesting things placed in the world by the GM for the PCs to explore if they find it, they usually don’t impact the GM story in anyway other than to entice the players to explore. Finally there is Oddities, which are usually useless but interesting items that PCs carry with them. They tend to be used as a plot device for the GM to get the player move along the story or start a new one.

CREATURES The Ninth World is packed with creatures that are out to get the PCs. They can range from nanobots to massive City destroying robots to the mind warping lovecraftian beings from between dimensions, they all exist in this world as byproduct of the last eight civilizations, with no purpose for more than an era they follow their last give commands, which usually is either an at offensive order or an defense order. The biggest Baddest of them all are the Latos, titanothaur and the Dread Destroyer. The Latos is gigantic and mysterious, latoses are very rare, found only in the remotest areas of the Beyond (or beyond the Beyond). Their creation is a mystery, but for some reason the people of a prior age decided to preserve locations within small, artificially closed universes and hide them away inside massive guardians.

The ways of the prior worlds were strange indeed. The 50-foot (15 m) body of a latos is made of a unique alloy, and its head is a transparent sphere that contains an area far larger than its size would indicate. In this area, reflected in the “face” of the latos, is a place of ancient importance, permanently preserved and deserted. Then there is the Titanothaurs which come in a variety of shapes, but all share one difficult-to-ignore quality: mind-blowing size. Appearances of these colossal creatures are rare events that usually don’t last for more than a few days. In that sense, they’re akin to hundred-year storms and at least as destructive. When they emerge, they’re attracted by artificial structures, the more densely situated and elaborate the better, which they set to smashing with a vengeance. It’s hard to judge the size of things so far outside normal scale, but good estimates put most titanothaurs at over 300 feet (100 m) in height. Most titanothaurs rely primarily on their strength and mass to get the job done, but many have some additional trick or ability that sets them apart from their kin. Unfortunately, that extra trick usually translates into even more devastation.

Finally there is the Dread Destroyer they are called that by the few folk that are aware of them, these giant war machines have organic brains and internal organs protected by a self-repairing metal shell. With their twelve legs, they lumber over any surface—even clinging to a vertical surface like an insect if need be,but if they enter the water, their raised abdomen lowers and a propeller engine moves them along efficiently. Although a single dread destroyer could launch an attack on an entire city, it is far more likely that you’ll find one defending an important, ancient site. There are of course hundreds more exciting creatures within the Numenera universe,however to go through them all would be tedious.

Definitions Tabletop rpg - pen and paper roleplaying game pen-and-paper role-playing game rpg- a role playing game GM- game master, he or she is reponsible for guiding the story PC- player characters

Illustrated by Aaron Miranda

Lathos

Dread Destroyer

Titanosaur

Human

Illustrated by Aaron Miranda

Size comparisons

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;Amber monoliths are are scatterd across the universe. There is no explanation or lore behind them. They are mainly used as a plot device by the Game Master for whichever way he or she sees fit. Its all left up to the imagination.â&#x20AC;?

GRC Gulf Roleplaying Community

eeting members of the GRC for the first time was quite enlightening. As someone who has dabbled in a few tabletop RPGs (role-playing games), I couldn’t help but notice the amount of time, energy and effort they put into their events. Everything from the tavern themed tables and chairs, to the board filled with quest sheets pinned on with an old timey style, to the GMs (game masters) getting into character during the session. This was a living, breathing, active community that could charm almost any passerby at the con into joining a session. The GRC (known as the gulf role paying community) is a group of people that shares the hobby of playing tabletop RPGs. It has been mainly set up as a platform to find other people to enjoy the hobby with. The group has around 450 members currently and is still growing. The group was born at MEFCC (Middle East Film and Comic Con) 4 years ago when the founder Omar Ismail, and co-founders Russell (last name left out) and Norman Lowe decided to book a table and set up a play session there. They taped a simple piece of paper on the table with the words “Shadowrun at 4:30” written on it. They were mainly looking a few people to register so that they could have decent play sessions in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. To their surprise the goal having a few people register did not go as planned. A total of

77 people registered at the con, hence the group was born. Within 2 days the group had grown from a mere 3 to around 80 people. The DMs at the event were quite welcoming. They were open to posing for pictures and explaining what the group was about. Omar (the founder) at the time made sure to introduce himself and a date for an interview was set. The following article is a conversation I had with Omar Ismail, who is the chairman of the GRC community. I hope you enjoy it. My first question would be who is really the head of the GRC? I read an article on the national that said that there were multiple heads, more specifically you and this other guy called “Russell (last name left out)” I am essentially the chairman, I run the GRC, the gulf role-playing community. However I can’t do it alone so we have a committee. The committee consists of 12 people. Russell helped found the GRC. It sounds kind of grand, so let me tell you a story. What ended up happening was that we were all role players, we used to play in the same group and at some point we were running low on players, because you know how Dubai is, people come, people

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leave, people go to whichever country they came from, they come back, etc. So our group grew really big at one point and we were struggling to keep it in control, and when I say really big here I mean 7,8 or 9 people, for one gaming group its pretty big, but then it shrunk back down to like 4 or 5. We were still happy and we didn’t go looking for more people. A couple of people then left all at once and we were only 3 people. people went back to South Africa, the States, etc, so we decided to go looking for other players. We struggled a little bit, because it’s hard to find other role players in this country. Comic-con came up and I was eager on getting a table there and just advertise for the group for just role-playing in general I was friends with the comic-con guy. Back in first comic con the table was 150dhs. So I went to comic con looking for players for my group. People told me I was crazy, saying your not going to get that many people. I said no, I think we might have enough for a game in Dubai and in Abu Dhabi. Again, they told me I was crazy. So I put up a note-pad piece of paper which said Shadowrun at 4:30. As people came past the desk I introduced myself and asked them if they were interested in role-playing. we got 77 signups in 2 days. At which point Russell ( last name left out)

and Norman Lowe who were in my gaming group and me met after the con. We had a list of 77 people and had no idea what were we going to do. We couldn’t invite them all into the house to play a game. I could not DM for 77 people. At which point we thought we at least need a facebook page, maybe a website just so people can all be in one place, and maybe we could talk to people and set out maybe a news letter. We didn’t know what the hell were going to do. I used to have a blog called the UAE roleplaying community, it was just for gaming for the 5 of us or 6 of us, so I changed that to the gulf role-playing community, which is the website now,. We started talking to people and started getting parties together. We used to call them mini-mini-mini-cons, but now we just call them mini-mini cons. A couple now have just been mini cons. Are most of these events at people’s houses? Or do you book a location? The first ones were, but now there are too many of us. There are around 450 of us or more, so now we have to book conference rooms and stuff like that. If you want to be a member do you have to pay a subscription fee? No, we are not that kind of group, we are

just a group of people who are looking for others to role-play with Do a few people in the group take on the expenses for an event or does everyone pay? It depends, sometimes we do. Sometimes if it’s too big a convention we will ask people to pay the cost. We don’t make any money off of it. The only time we had money left over we set it aside for charity And the beginnings of your group happened how many years ago?

A shot of Omar Ismail at MEFCC (Middle East Film and Comic Con). He is not only the chairman of the GRC but also happens to be a part time stand-up comedian.He insisted on a “serious” face.

“I went to Comic Con looking for players for my group. People told me I was crazy, saying your not going to get that many people. I said no, I think we might have enough for a game in Dubai and in Abu Dhabi. Again, they told me I was crazy.”

4 years ago, so the last comic-con was our 4th birthday. Does your group only grow significantly at comic con? Or does it grow throughout the year? It grows on its own, were not seeing that much of a surge now at comic cons, so we get maybe another 50 people at comic con. Throughout the year we get another 50 or so. And how do you know how many people you have? Based on subscriptions? Yes, but we also look into how many people attend our cons and stuff like that. But from 450, can you say about a good 100,150 are active? Yeah I would say something along those lines, 40 or 50 are super active they show up to every event, every con. Is Russell still involved? Well im the founder, Russell is the cofounder, he helped me with all the administration. He has taken a step back, and there is a reason his second name isn’t in the paper;He doesn’t want to be in the papers. Where is the GRC mainly based? It’s based in the UAE, because me and Russell are in the UAE. He is in Abu Dhabi and im in Dubai.

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So is it mostly in Abu Dhabi and Dubai that you have sessions? Yes, however we do have representatives in places like Kuwait. The UAE is our biggest, but Kuwait is the biggest outside of the UAE. We are struggling a little bit to get people in Bahrain. There are people who want to game in Bahrain, but not enough that we are able to help them there.

Are you a registered group No, we are a facebook page with very enthusiastic fans. Where do you get most of your tabletop equipment from? Because we’re not really centralized, the list is as long as the list of places you can get the stuff, because we just have individual members who bring their own stuff.They buy it locally, bring it from abroad, etc. However they got it they will bring it. At one point we tried to set up a GRC library which is still in the works. It’s not big enough to be called a library yet.

What’s your most played game? Hard to say what the most played is but, i would say path finder via the pathfinder society. Why are there 2 different groups for the same activity? Cant you join together? Pathfinder society is run in the states, so Pathfinder society is not a local group its an international group, and they are just the guys who run pathfinders society here. They are very much affiliated with us and in every real way but officially they are separate. Do you have any plans for GRC in the future, what specifically? We have lots of plans for different things were going to do, but the GRCs point is to just be a community where other people can meet other people for games, and that’s it. How we can help people get games together, how we can run better events. All the other stuff is kind of secondary.

How many mini-cons do you have in a year? We have 4, the next one is on 12th of June at Abu Dhabi golf club. What is the general age range of your club members? I ask this because I was there with your group at comic con and the people were much older than I expected Our youngest member is 16 I think, and our oldest is around 50.When people get into role-playing they get into it for a long time. I think one of our advantages is that we are a very mature group, which means things run well and people know their responsibilities. I mean you were there for a lot of the setup at comic con right? Yes, I was there You can just trust people to handle stuff because they are adults, and no offence but not college adults. What I mean is they have been working for 10 years so they know when things need to get

done, they get done. They tend not to expect anything from anyone else, which is great because it means that when I am organizing something I can count on people to just handle certain aspects without my constant oversight, usually. So you and 12 people handle the entire group? Do you have regular meetings or you just talk on the facebook group? Yes we do. We also have a facebook committee page where issues are raised and stuff like that, that is the main one, and then we have skype meetings. We usually divide up into teams. Why does the GRC need a chairman if it already has a 12 group committee that organizes everything? Do you always need a head? Yes you do, otherwise it devolves into just squabbling. To be fair itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s essentially to end major disputes. Let me explain. It is interesting to watch where you can

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put different levels of information, because if I put in the committee page something like, “guys when are we going to hold the next con?”, there could be a little bit of a conflict between 4 or 5 people who want it on different dates for different reasons. Now you post one more level down and it will become unmanageable, because you have 30 people who want to DM who want it on different days. You drop that down to the main page with 450 members on it, and as soon as you ask any question at any level, it’s over because everyone wants their opinion heard. Have you ever heard of painting the shed? No, could you explain the phrase? Sure, so let’s say me and you wish to have a shed, what sort of wood grain should we use? I don’t know anything about wood grain so I really can’t say. Let’s say I ask 100 people, how many would you think would know the answer to

that? Not many Yes, out of a 100 people maybe 1 or 2 might say I don’t think we should use oak because oak is too much of a heavy wood, I think we should go with something simple like pine. That dispute will now be over because its 2 people. Now I ask these 100 people about what color do you want the shed,what do you think will happen? It would turn to chaos Exactly, because everyone has an opinion, and as soon as everyone has an opinion everyone wants to contribute. That was quite insightful. Thank you Omar, it has been a pleasure speaking to you

UP AND

COMING

elcome to Gotham city, a city in the DC universe where everybody’s corrupt and on the take. From concrete skyscrapers, to begotten hotdogs stands to rusty shipyards edging the city, one cannot help but feel that Gotham city has history. The show does take place in the batman universe, however with one catch. There is no batman.

they are in the batman universe. The roster of characters so far include poison ivy, the riddler,batman, the penguin, detective bullock, catwoman and of course the legendary Gordon whos the main protagonist of the show.

“What!?” You may ask. “A series based in the batman universe with no batman!”

villain, hero and character

Well to calm your senses there is batman, except the show takes place around 20 years before batman, right after the murder of Bruce Wayne’s ( batman’s) parents when he was a child. The main protagonist Gordon (who’s the future commissioner and confidant of batman in the DC Universe) is a rookie detective who is placed on the case of the Wayne family murder. The show revolves around the conflict of Gordon being one of the only straight cops in Gotham, who tires not to compromise any of his principles in a city where everyone’s on the take. This conflict is evident right from the beginning of the series. The show also sets the foundation of how each villain, hero and character came into being before they became who

“The show also sets the foundation of how each came into being before they became who they are in the batman universe” The show is great for anyone with basic knowledge of the batman universe, however the show seems to fall flat to anyone who is not familiar, the show has an air of seriousness but some episiodes end up being a little silly since the show is based on comic books and animated series. The show is produced by fox and directed by Bruno Heller, who is a director most known for HBO’s television series “Rome” and and CBS’s television show “ The Mentalist”

Illustrated by Aaron Miranda

GOTHAM

Taking a look at some of the new and fresh television dramas out there

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GOTHAM CITY

BETTER CALL SAUL

ou see a top down view of a dingy broiler room inside a Vietnamese nail saloon, the room has been turned into a cramped make shift office. there is barely enough room to open a door without hitting any furniture, and in the center of it all is Saul Goodman, at 3 in the morning, sitting at his desk with a plastic cup of cheap alcohol in his hand, looking at his telephone hoping any voice mails of potential clients have been left over. He pushes the button only to find that the are are “ no new messages” Welcome to better call Saul,the new up and coming prequel before breaking bad, which was about a chemist teacher turned meth dealer. The main protagonist is based of the breaking bad’s Saul Goodman, who was a corrupt criminal lawyer who worked for Walter white (chemist turned meth dealer). The prequel revolves around him struggling to make a buck as a low income lawyer, while also getting into some unexpected trouble of course.

“Welcome to better call Saul,the new up and coming prequel before breaking bad, which was about chemist teacher turned meth dealer.”

Even though the show has some of the nuances of breaking bad in terms of plot, set design,etc, it still has its own unique look and feel throughout. Even though the show is less action oriented than breaking bad you cant help but invest yourself in some of the principal characters. The show is produced by the AMC network, and has the director Vince Gilligan working on it. he is of couse most know for producing the show “breaking bad” and was also the producer and writer for the show “X files”

Illustrated by Aaron Miranda

The show goes on to shed light on how Saul Goodman became who he is in breaking bad, while also enlightening us about the back-story of a few other key characters in breaking bad as well.

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BETTER CALL SAUL

DAREDEVIL

arvels one and only daredevil, the man without fear, has come with its very own television series that just came out on Netflix this season .The series follows Matt Murdock, a lawyer by day and the vigilante “daredevil” by night. The series takes place right after he passes the bar and is just beginning to start up his own law firm as a rookie lawyer with his partner and friend foggy nelson. By night he roams the streets of the Hells Kitchen neighborhood, New York, helping anyone in danger as the vigilante “Daredevil”

“Marvels new daredevil has an overall gritty take on the man without fear, with dynamic fight scenes that go beyond Daredevil fans expectations” He is however no ordinary superhero, as a child Matt had fallen victim to a roadside accident that involved radioactive substances spilling all across his body, the substance went through his eyes blinding him, but it also heightened all his other senses beyond human capability. More specifically it gave him a type of sonar which acts like his vision.

Marvels new daredevil has an overall gritty take on the man without fear, with dynamic fight scenes that go beyond Daredevil fans’ expectations. With a decent cast, and a compelling plot, what more could you ask for? The show was created by Drew Goddard, who is an American screenwriter, producer and director. He is most known for his dark-comedy/horror comedy film “The Cabin in The Woods”.

Illustrated by Aaron Miranda

The show has a fun yet dark take on Marvels “Daredevil”, with a film-noir like style with hard hitting fight scenes that makes it even that much more entertaining to watch. The show however happens to be more violent than other marvel series, compared to other renditions of daredevil, Matt is almost willing to do anything to achieve his goals. This includes things such as beating his enemies to a coma, torturing, maiming and on some occasion even threatened to kill villains via not aiding them from serious injuries or wounds.

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25 Geekout Magazine, May 31, 2015, Issue 1 ART

Tr i x a Q u i n z o n A 23 year old graphic designer who is also a part time illustrator and concept artist. Her dream is to become a concept artist for the entertainment industry. Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Originally from Philippines but has spent a few years working in Dubai. She did her bachelor of arts and bachelor of fine arts in the Philippines before moving to Dubai. She specializes in digital illustrations and is currently learning about game concept development and entertainment art.

Liz Ramos A Peruvian Information Graphic Designer and illustrator based in Dubai, UAE. Is Currently working for the editorial field and also involved in personal and collective artistic projects. She is also an Info-graphics Editor at Dubai Media Incorporated.

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Danesh M Danesh is a Canadian illustrator of Indian origin. After being born in Hyderabad and brought up in Dubai, he moved to Toronto. Over there, he completed a Bachelor of Science in Psychology at the University of Toronto. He then shifted fields, and studied illustration at the Sheridan College in Oakville. Since then, he has illustrated for advertising agencies, newspapers, magazines, events and video games

Matt Ryder Matt Ryder is a full time caricature artist who owns his own business which specializes in drawing caricatures at various events. After Caricaturing around the world from Europe to America to the Middle East, Matt has now settled in the UAE and is performing at weddings and Events up and down the country! Matt is known for his hilarious caricatures that are mixed with the perfect blend of exaggeration and spot on

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S T A RBETTER CITIZE CALL SAUL Like us on facebook www.facebook.com/groups/geekoutuae/

OTHAM CITY

Looking

Forward

Taking a look at some of the exciting new space-sim’s coming out this year

Welcome to “no mans sky”, an adventure space-sim where the goal of the game is to eventually reach the centre of the galaxy. This amazing space-sim not only allows you to fly though endless space, but also allows you to manually land your craft on a planet, get out of your ship, and explore all the local fauna and wildlife. The universe is randomly generated every time you play. The developers state that there are 18 quintillion different possibilities for a planet with its own unique wildlife and fauna. You could find yourself on a lush green planet with deer like creatures or a barren desert wasteland with giant carnivorous worms. Players go though the galaxy exploring, gathering resources, trading and fighting depending on their play- style. The game also has perma-death, meaning that once you die, you start all over again at one of the many corners of the galaxy, with that “not so nice” ship you initially started out with. The initial ship you start out with does not come with a hyper-drive, which means that you are initially stuck in the solar system you start out in. This entices the

player to gather enough resources to buy a hyper-drive or a new ship that comes with one, so that they can explore the galaxy.

“The developers state that there are 18 quintillion different possibilities for a planet with its own unique wildlife and fauna. You could find yourself on a lush green planet with deer like creatures or a barren desert wasteland with giant carnivorous worms.” The Developers estimate that in order for players to reach the centre of the galaxy it will take 40 to 160 hours without sidetracking or additional exploration of the universe. This simply means endless possibilities with endless hours of gameplay

Illustrated by Aaron Miranda

NO MANS SKY

icture yourself whizzing through hyper- space, past millions of potential solar systems you could have visited, only to arrive at your destination. A player name pops up on the screen, it mentions that he is the first one to visit this star system. You hope to someday discover a star system or planet that no one has discovered before, just so it can be under your name.

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ELITE DANGEROUS

lite dangerous is the new and upcoming sequel to the many elite games before it such as Elite (1984), Frontier Elite 2 (1993) and Frontier: First Encounters. These games had a 1 to1 scale replication of our entire universe ! , and all of it on a mere floppy disk, with menial looking graphics of course.

“Like its predecessor the game has a one to one scale replication of our universe which means exploring our entire universe in the game will be near impossible.” The game got successfully crowd funded in 2012, generating a whopping £1,578,316, approximately £300,000 more than its initial goal of £1,250,000. The game has both offline and online play where there is no objective goal except do what you please. Players can choose to trade, mine asteroid fields, explore, pirate or bounty hunt. There will be non-player characters in the game with player characters, but online players can be distinguished with the initial “cmd” before their name (short for commander)

If you are unfortunate enough to die, be killed, hunted down in this game like the dog you are, or just happened to slam into a space station by a useless docking computer, then you will be given an opportunity to re-buy your ship by paying an ‘insurance’ cost relative to the ships purchase cost. The game is already out for purchase on steampowerd.com for $60 with 30 unique ships and many more to come in future patches or updates.

Illustrated by Aaron Miranda

Like its predecessor the game has a one to one scale replication of our universe which means exploring our entire universe in the game will be near impossible.Players online can also team up with friends online. Once you have added your friends you can see when they are online in the game, and add them to your group/party. A single group can contain up to 4 player characters, with the added benefit of being able to communicate with each other through voice chat.

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STAR CITIZEN

here seems to be no doubt that star citizen is going to be benchmark for all space-sims when it comes out in the following year. The overall hype behind it is well deserved, with the title raising around 70 million dollars though crowd-funding website called kickstarter. com, making it one of the most highly crowd-funded games in the world. The list of features promised including what is currently in the game is quite astounding.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The most wonderful feature of the game is the ability to get out of your ship and jet pack around. There are no limits to where you can exploreâ&#x20AC;? The final game is promised to have space combat, a first person shooter and a massive online multiplayer game. There is however significant skepticism, even from backers of the game themselves. With so much promised to be done in this following year, it makes me doubt on whether the team is actually going to deliver on time. As for what they have currently made in terms of content for the backers, its beautiful.

The most wonderful feature of the game is the ability to get out of your ship and jet pack around. There are no limits to where you can explore, everything from planetary landing to walking inside the hull of your ship adds that feel of realism to the game. Couple this with an extraordinary graphics card on your computer and I personally might not end up coming out of my house for days

Illustrated by Aaron Miranda

The module that is playable right now is called Arena Commander, which is a dogfighting simulator that has a free flight mode where you can test out different ships, a racing mode, and a battle mode with both online multi-player and offline with AI controlled ships.

35 Geekout Magazine, May 31, 2015, Issue 1, GAMING

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