Island Forge - Now Free to Play

I just received a note from Nyhm, the developer of Island Forge. He's just moved Island Forge to a free to play model, so if you've tried the game out, or didn't because it was fee-based, now's the time to give it a chance!

I wrote a couple of posts about this game a while back. You can read them:

• Playing with Island Forge
• Island Forge: Island Forging

Now I really have no excuse to not finish the island I started...

Guild Wars 2 - Karma Food Vendors

The following is a concise listing of known renown heart vendors that sell food items in bulk. It also lists the food items available from crafting master chefs and city karma vendors. This list should provide access to all karma-based items, though it may not list all vendors (yet). Each entry lists the item and its karma cost, then each vendor, their zone, and the nearest waypoint to their location. As always, corrections and additions are welcome. Just leave a comment!

Torchlight II - Original Soundtrack

Runic has made the entire Torchlight II soundtrack available as free mp3 download. As usual, Matt Uelmen does a fantastic job with the music. Well worth a download, even if you're not a video-game player. The tunes on this soundtrack could easily work as background/theme music for a tabletop RPG.

Guild Wars 2 - Food Farms

This is a concise listing of the various cooking material farms in Guild Wars 2. It's currently incomplete, but I'll be adding entries as I find them. Zones are listed in alphabetic order. As always if you have an update or correction, feel free to leave a comment. I've tried to verify all these sites, but when it's 3:00 AM and you're running from trolls... well, you get the idea.

• Update Sept 29, 2012: Sparkfly Fen, Straits of Devestation
• Update Sept 27, 2012: Diessa Plateau, Field of Ruin, Brisban Wildlands
• Updated Sept 23, 2012: Dredgehaunt Cliffs
• Updated: Sept 21, 2012: Blazeridge Steppes
• Updated: Sept 17, 2012: Harathi Hinterlands, Metrica Province
• Updated: Sept 9, 2012: Fireheart Rise, Iron Marches, Mount Maelstrom

And now... on with the listings!

Guild Wars 2 - That was Fast

I finally pre-purchased this game and installed the client last week. I have friends who are serious Guild Wars fans, so this is likely our Next Big Thing (TM). Today there was a one hour stress test, so I jumped on to check things out. These are *really* quick impressions, because you can't really do much in an hour.

Diablo 3 - Special Snowflakes and Beyond

This list contains information on all the rare creatures used in the following Diablo 3 achievements:

• Never Seen That Before
• Special Snowflakes
• A Unique Collection

Minecraft - Daylight!

I've finally gotten around to snapping a day time screen shot of this arch so you can actually see it. Without further ado...

Path of Exile - Beta Weekend Thoughts

Path of Exile is an online action RPG for Windows, being developed by Grinding Gear Games. They recently held an open beta weekend, and since my friends have been playing, I decided to check it out. I didn't have a huge amount of time to play, so this is really a quick look, not a detailed review.

Minecraft - The Arch

A quick screenshot of the next phase of construction. I really need to stop taking night pictures, but usually I snap these after completing a day's work. This is the arch framework and part of a tower build out that's going to be the structure surrounding the giant tower in the center of this build.

Click to embiggen

Minecraft - New Construction

Been a quiet stretch here, but I'm not dead yet. Here's a new screenshot of my mega-tower Minecraft. I had to clip the top off to get everything in view, but that's OK, the top hasn't changed much. I've been focused on clearing around the base and starting the new, smaller towers that are going up around the main spire. Here you go!

I still have quite a bit of clearing to do -- there's also a cave to explore and clear that's been exposed by this excavation. One of the problems with clearing ground like this is... it just isn't all that interesting to post about. This progress has taken a few days of off and on play to accomplish, and I've filled about 4 chests with stacks of dirt from the destroyed hills. Yawn.

Ah well, so goes the mining.

Minecraft - Towering Tower

I've been putting work into my mega tower off and on over the last week or so. I now have the bottom level of the top of the spire complete. It's a glass bowl-shaped room, sort of an observation level.

Diablo 3 - Dye! Dye!

Another concise list of Diablo 3 information. This time it's all about fabulous color! The post covers the dye-based achievements, dye types, and dye vendors. Updated for Reaper of Souls. You can find more Diablo 3 pages here.

Island Forge Goes Live

Nyhm, the developer of Island Forge, dropped me a note to announce the game's full launch today. I wrote a couple of articles about the game a while back, and really do need to finish off that island I've been working on!

Anyhow, you can read the full announcement from the developer right here.

Diablo 3 - Act IV Books and Dungeons

The final chapter in the four part series outlining the books and dungeons required for various campaign achievements in Diablo 3. These entries cover Act 4. As always, the index is a good place to look for other Diablo 3 stuff.

• The Act I List
• The Act II List
• The Act III List

Diablo 3 - Boss Affixes

Another in a series of concise game data listings. See the index page for a full listing of related articles.

Today's list covers boss and champion affixes, the modifiers that give boss creatures and champion packs their deadly powers. These are culled from various sources and personal pain. As always if you see something missing or incorrect, leave a note in the comments and I'll correct it.

I use the term "boss" to refer to unique monsters and their minions and champion packs. I try to use champion when talking about affixes that can only apply to champion packs.

Diablo 3 - Act III Books and Dungeons

Another concise listing of the book and dungeon locations, this time for act 3 achievements. You can find more Diablo 3 pages here.

• The Act I List
• The Act II List
• The Act IV List

Minecraft - Work in Progress

Lest you think I've forgotten about my Minecraft let's play build, here's an update. There's not a ton of visible progress, because my giant tower project has been consuming huge piles of blocks. Since I've decided to emphasize glass on the top floors, this means digging sand, then cutting wood, and then melting sand to glass.  Did I mention it was a lot of blocks?

Diablo 3 - Act II - Books and Dungeons

The second in a series of articles outlining the book and dungeon achievements in Diablo 3 act by act. This is, obviously, the Act II listing. You can find more Diablo 3 pages here.

• The Act I List
• The Act III List
• The Act IV List

Diablo 3 - Act I - Books and Dungeons

Sometimes you just want a concise list instead of a wiki. This is a reasonably complete list of locations for all Diablo 3, Act I books and dungeons that are used for achievements. It does not include the bestiary lore, since that's dependent on killing monsters, not drops. You can find more Diablo 3 pages here.

• The Act II Listing
• The Act III Listing
• The Act IV Listing

Minecraft - Jungle Tree Farm

Done.