Rocket League Gets Big Changes in The Autumn Update

Rocket League Autumn Update 

On September 28th season 5 of rocket League will come to an end and season 6 will begin. With the new season, the community will see a number of welcomed changes and additions to the game. 

Standardized Arenas 

Starbase Arc and Wasteland are getting changed to standard maps for competitive games. Both theses maps had unique layouts and shapes which change the way the game played. Bounces were different and you had to adapt to scenarios differently. One common trait was that the ball would tend to bounce towards the goal regardless of how you hit it into the wall.

With these maps becoming standardized players can still enjoy the unique environments and play a game that is consistent with other maps. 

Transparent Goal Posts 

Finally. The walls around the goals will now be transparent allowing players who are in net better see the ball through the walls. This will allow players to be better prepared to make crucial saves and better reads while defending. 

Addition Changes / Rewards

Additional changes are also coming to Rocket League as expected with every update.

• Accelerator Crate
• New Battle Car - The Jager 619 RS
• Pearlescent Matte Paint Finish
• Farmstead Arena 
• 90 New Free Items
• Player Banners - Season 5 reward as well as additional banners
• Decryptors - Like keys but earned through events and can open any case 
• Ongoing events - News to come

I am excited about these changes, Rocket League has done a great job of listening to its community and addressing issues. I feel the rewards for season 5 could be better but the opportunity for free case unlocks is a great addition. I know what I will be playing on the 28th.   

Update ( I built a PC)

I doubt this will garner much attention but I have some free time so I think I may start writing again. Since my last post (almost 3 years ago) I've moved away from consoles and built a custom PC. The attraction of more titles, higher graphical settings and lower cost for games was too much to pass up. I do have to admit I miss titles such as NHL and the Forza series ( even though Apex is now out). But I've been able to try new genres and games not available to me before. I've considered purchasing a console but I can't justify the price when I would just buy the same titles on PC.

The game I have grown to enjoy and always challenged me is Counter Strike: Global Offensive. This game is by far the most played game I own on PC. The strategy aspect to it is something I really enjoy. You need to play with a certain mindset and learn a lot to succeed, things such as weapon sprays and how to throw smoke grenades to land in a specific spot.

For those of you who are thinking of coming to PC and not sure about making the transition I honestly think you should. The community is awesome (/r/pcmasterrace on Reddit) and similar sub-reddits will offer you any support needed (as well as other forums). If you don't know how to build a PC the people at /r/buildapc are amazing and will show you how to get the most out of your money and have a PC that meets your needs/wants.

I'm not sure if I will keep writing but I may pick a game and write about my progress. I've started playing Hearthstone and I'm enjoying the challenge so far, so we will see.

Till next time,

Cody

Call of Duty - Ghosts

Today Call of Duty announced it's yearly title "Call of Duty: Ghosts". This will mark the tenth installment in the Call of Duty franchise which has experienced record setting success year after year. Some people think the series is on the decline as the game has changed little over the years and uses the same basic multiplayer formula. Will this year be different? The teaser trailer seems to take the direction of a more secretive force, almost a Black Ops direction maybe more stealthy. Or maybe they will continue with the formula that has worked so well for them. We will only know closer to the release, so for now enjoy the trailer.

Setting Personal Goals

I'm back after a extended break which consisted of finals and the Christmas Holiday. I enjoyed some extra hours of gaming as I'm sure many of your guys and girls did as well. I hope everyone got the games they asked for.  I picked up Far Cry 3 and have been playing that since boxing day.

Over the holidays before Christmas  I picked up NHL 13 again and started focusing on playing versus, which is one on one. My record was around .500 and I knew I could be better then that. In NHL 13 you receive points for a win and lose them for a lose. These points determine your level and your opponent when playing versus. When I started playing I was around level 20 (nothing to brag about) so I started setting small little goals for myself like getting to level 25, 30, and so on. I began to enjoy the game more and more. I started playing better, finding teams I payed better with and so on. I started winning more and facing harder more challenging players. Games have become super close and intense often going to over time. I currently have my level up to 40+ and my record is above .500.

I found that setting a personal goal and not a predetermined one ( placed in the game) has made my playing experience more enjoyable overall. I wasn't only competing with others, but myself as well. Trying to improve my skill as a player.

This is applicable for any game I feel, and if your in a rut or not enjoying your favourite game set a small challenge for yourself each round!

Happy New Years and Game On!

Your Brain on Games

With the recent release of COD Black Ops 2 and Medal of Honour here is a video from TED on how FPS games help the players thinking. Heres the link as the video won't embed. http://www.ted.com/talks/daphne_bavelier_your_brain_on_video_games.html

GTAV Trailer!

Forza Horizon and How I feel About it

This past Tuesday I was sitting on the fence whether to buy Forza Horizon or not. Going back and forth with myself and after watching countless videos on YouTube I decided to bite the bullet only because my copy of Forza 4 was cracked and I was lacking a racing game. I wasn't sure what to expect from an open world racer, but with people from Turn10, some former Codemasters ( Dirt, Grid, F1 2012) people and Playground studios I was anticipating a fun game.

The first hour or so you go through the tutorial period and race with all the assists on, which for me seems remedial and super easy. As soon as I had the ability to change the settings and increase the games difficulty I maxed it out. Manual Transmission no driving assists, and AI set to insane, I was a Forza 4 veteran after all who played on the hardest settings should be easy. First couple races I was getting my @$$ kicked I couldn't believe it. Eventually I set the AI to hard to level the playing field and haven't touched it. I was surprised at how difficult the game could be and welcomed the challenge.

In Forza Horizon there is a hidden stability mode until you set the difficulty to expert, then it turns everything off and is close to simulation as your going to get. You can turn other things back on such as automatic transmission, driving line, rewind to your preference creating a custom setting. Even with all the assists off this game isn't trying to be Forza 4, but that is fine with me. You still need to know how to drive a car properly and use the racing line to have a chance to win race. A FWD car will not steer if your full throttle in a corner and a RWD car will over-steer if you accelerate to quickly in a corner, so discipline is still needed.

Another part of Horizon I enjoy is how large this world is. You can drive for hours finding cool roads to drift on, or hit the highway and red-line your super car. Speed Traps and Speed Zones set challenges while just cruising around. They track your speed at each location and post it leader-boards  Every time you hit one it tells you which of your friends you beat or who was faster then you. There are also other racers just cruising around which you can challenge to race to win some cash, but the earnings are small in comparison to the main events in Horizon.

Two things the disappointed me we the lack of cars and the same wheels from Forza 3. In Horizon there is just over 200 cars I believe and for myself only a handful are attractive. I don't understand while they chose some of the cars they did. There is an obvious focus on super cars. Ferrari has the largest selection with easily double or triple the cars compared to other manufacturers.
The wheel selection and body upgrades are the same as Forza 4, which means the same wheels as Forza 3. Forza has always been marketed as a title for the car enthusiast, but if you are one and you follow the trends in automotive styling you will know that few of the wheels in the game are actually applicable to today, with expecting of the timeless one such as Volk's TE-37's.

Overall I am enjoying my experience with Forza Horizon. I was glad a picked up this game and I'll be playing it for some time to come.