Recharge Room Self-Care Pop-Up: Friday through Sunday, May 18-21, noon to 6 p.m. Opening Reception: Friday, May 5, 6 to 9 p.m. No surprise that Farrell says he’s inspired by growing up in the hinterlands of Littleton. But darn, if this mysterious oil painter can’t perfectly fill a canvas that will look magnificent in the right kind of setting.or maybe in that house next door where the windows are always dark. In Mark Farrell’s world, the suburban hood-scapes are creepy and splashed with lurid colors that backlight witches driving carriages, spiderwebs and the symbolism of horror stories. Lane Meyer Projects at Pon Pon, 2528 Walnut Street Mark Farrell Mark Farrell, High Strangeness Both events are free a party RSVP is required in advance at Eventbrite. ![]() On Saturday, May 6, it’s party time, with arts-education sampling and more fun. Sixty years later, the statewide programs are still going strong, and it's time to celebrate! On Friday, May 5, the exhibition Celebrate! Think 360 Artists opens at Converge Denver, showcasing work by a roster of notable artists who’ve facilitated classes over the years. Since 1963, Think 360 Arts (then called Young Audiences of Colorado) has been working magic by pairing local artists with kids of all ages, older adults, teachers and everyone in between to provide quality arts and cultural education in a variety of disciplines, from visual arts to literary arts, music, dance and theater. Think 360 Arts’ 60th Birthday Party, Saturday, May 6, 2 to 4 p.m. Elements of performance, automation, assemblage, multimedia and technology meld works by four artists: Alex Branch, who integrates disciplines to create sound sculptures, video and functional inventions using unusual materials Denver stalwart Bill Nelson, known for constructing weird and wonderful assemblages, clown chairs, jackalope paintings and contraptions Fernando Orellana, maker of kinetic, sculptural and 2-D works inspired by robotics and robot-like humans and LA Samuelson, a multidisciplinary movement artist whose constructed landscapes bear the weight of human seeking.įirst Friday Opening, Friday, May 5, 6 to 9 p.m. Union Hall Gallery chief curator Esther Hernandez is serving up machine dreams with a group show, Tender Machines, that's focused on the nuts and bolts of human goals. Tender Machines Curatorial Talk: Wednesday, May 24, 6 to 7 p.m. Visiting Artist Talk: Fernando Orellana: Saturday, May 6, 6 to 7:30 p.m. Union Hall Gallery, The Coloradan, 1750 Wewatta Street, Suite 144 ![]() ![]() LA Samuelson Alex Branch, Bill Nelson, Fernando Orellana and LA Samuelson, Tender Machines
0 Comments
It lies along the Garonne River 15 miles (24 km) above its junction with the Dordogne and 60 miles (96 km) from its mouth, in a plain east of the wine-growing district of Médoc. Bordeaux, city and port, capital of Gironde département, Nouvelle-Aquitaine région, southwestern France.So, he certainly knows a thing or two about French gastronomy…. Lataillade explains: “Before opening Hutong, chef Jason Ang used to cook at a highly rated French restaurant in Bordeaux, Solena. Situated on a quiet street in a lively part of town, Hutong offers Bordeaux’s most authentic Singaporean dishes.Between modernity, craftsmanship, tradition and experience, Proud of our Roots is the podcast that immerses you in the world of the Bordeaux wines. Meet the men and women of the Bordeaux vineyard, who work every day to produce wines of great diversity in the heart of these exceptional terroirs. Bordeaux's stature has been built on the famous names of Margaux, Latour. Bordeaux's glamorous wine reputation took extensive root with the Classification of 1855 and has reached forward to enjoy an exceptional modern-day following based on winemaking techniques that have revolutionized with the times and terroir that has stood the test of time.This world famous wine region follows alongside the Garonne River and the Dordogne River, and many of the wine estates can be found where. Bordeaux is considered a world class wine region because the climate is absolutely perfect for producing wine. Bordeaux is situated in Southwest France where the summers are warm and winters are very cold. The dry soil of Médoc attracted settlement as early as the Bronze Age and, at least since Roman times. Succulent dark cherry, mocha, cedar, tobacco, licorice, dried herbs and. There is a feeling of exuberance in the 2019 that is absolutely irresistible. The 2019 Faurie de Souchard is fabulous, just as it was from barrel. White and dessert wines are also made, but red wines are what the region's. The expansive region is divided into the Left Bank, dominated by cabernet sauvignon, and the Right Bank, ruled by merlot. Bordeaux is the largest wine-growing region in France with thousands of vineyards producing a rainbow of wines, including the area's signature reds.New York had the highest population of Bordeau families in 1840. ![]() This was about 67% of all the recorded Bordeau's in USA. In 1840 there were 4 Bordeau families living in New York. The most Bordeau families were found in USA in 1880. Legend has it that the first canelés were made by nuns at the Couvert de L'Annociade de Bordeaux at the end of the 17th century.The Bordeau family name was found in the USA, the UK, Canada, and Scotland between 18. ![]() Like many other things in this region, the story of Canelé is related to the wine world. Canelé is the most famous Bordeaux pastry so tasting one is a must when in Bordeaux. Some of the things I'm correcting for may be making up for mistakes in taking the pictures in the first place but some are just challenging pictures that were taken correctly, as well. The healing and clean-up tools are much better/smarter in Photoshop and corrections to missing/minimal colors using color channels can be very helpful at extremes, but I'd expect to have to use it for that, anyway. in Capture 1 have any advantages over Lightroom. I was just wondering if Capture One, with its adjustment layers, masking and such offered better or more advanced control (no layers in Lightroom, of course), so a just some more in-depth processing than Lightroom. Of course, when you get to disparate color balance in the picture (blending flash + non-flash areas a bit), that is probably not something Lightroom will ever be good at - it isn't intended to. However, as I take pictures deeper, adjusting for color balance is much trickier in my experience and Lightroom's tools, as good as they are, haven't seemed good enough at times. I don't go into Photoshop for all of my UW photos - Lightroom is fine for shallow to shallow-mid water images. I do find I can fine tune the levels adjustment in PS with a levels layer there - again it's very quick - in PS I hold down the alt key while moving the slider and it will show where that channel is clipping - you want each channel just short of clipping unless there's some specular highlights. White balance and tint I don't move much as the levels as I describe above does a better job - I occasionally tweak tint in green water shots. ![]() If required, a little bit of clarity - easy to overdo and I always use some structure. Other things I do are exposure and shadow/highlight adjustment these should be done first if significant moves are made. Once you get used to it you are ready to edit is PS very quickly - it does create a tiff file in the folder you are browsing to open in PS - which is an extra copy. Here's the levels adjustment from a recent image I processed: In green water sometimes you might need to pull a little more green out - I do this on the green channel curve. I don't even look at the photo apart from checking highlight warnings when I'm making the adjustments - it comes out very close. On the highlight side use the highlight warning and pull it in till it just starts to show highlight warnings. All you need to is pull in the shadow/highlight points on the tool to just touch the edge of the histogram in each individual colour channel. Levels I regard as a fundamental tool without black/white points set an image will lack mid tone contrast and it is also the easiest way to colour balance an UW photo going. It has some nice features for UW work including the ability to do levels and curves in raw and certainly it gets a lot closer than what ACR can do before leaping into PS. ![]() I use capture 1 and basically use it as raw processing engine before launching into PS. I do think the Capture 1 cataloguer looks weaker than Lightroom but, again, I don't have extensive experience with it and might be wrong about that. That being said, Capture 1 seems to have some features that might be more powerful than Lightroom - it might be able to push UW photos further along before having to jump in to Photoshop.ĭo any of you have some solid experience with Capture 1 and would be willing to share your thoughts, particularly as it relates to processing UW photos? Any general thoughts for non-UW photos as well as the cataloguer are also welcome, but I am specifically looking to see if its feature set might be a better choice than Lightroom for UW photos, in particular. ![]() I do have a copy of Capture 1 and have played with it a little - I'm by no means as familiar with it as I am with Lightroom. I tend to jump into Photoshop pretty early and do a lot of the processing there. Underwater photos have their challenges, and Lighroom (where I start) isn't very useful a fair amount of the time. I've been a Lightroom + Photoshop users for years and am pretty comfortable with it. (io: image, filename: "image.jpg")Įdit: i tried the setting the api version to 7.0 (it was 4. Connect with friends and the world around you on Facebook. You’ll then receive a confirmation email or a text message from Facebook. Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know. A button to ‘like’ your Facebook page directly within the Facebook QR Code page. A featured image and customizable brand colors. A headline and a short description of your business. Make sure not to use any of your real details to avoid accidentally revealing your identity. A Facebook QR Code displays the following elements: Your Facebook profile URL with a direct link that users can click on. In the mobile app, you can log out of your account (if you have a personal one already), and hit the blue Create New Account button. Use a fake first and last name, fill in your email or phone number, add a fake birthday and gender. The worlds most popular website is called FACEbook, not SILHOUETTE-ON-A-MOUNTAIN. use OmniAuth::Builder doĭef attach_image_from_url(user, image_url) To sign up to Facebook, make sure you're logged out and visit . Put your face in the profile picture and your passion in the background image. ![]() I'm receiving that profile image picture now, i didn't change anything in my configuration (it worked fine before, and that user is me and i have a profile picture). “The Rocket Mortgage Super Bowl Squares Sweepstakes is a unique way to kick off our partnership and should add to the excitement of the Super Bowl in a way that is authentic to our fans. “We’re thrilled to bring Rocket Mortgage into the NFL family as our first ever official mortgage sponsor,” said Renie Anderson, chief revenue officer and executive vice president of NFL partnerships. A touchdown followed by an extra point or two-point conversion counts as two separate score changes. Participants will be able to select additional squares if they share the sweepstakes through Facebook or Twitter (earning a bonus square each time a friend or family member registers using their unique link to the sweepstakes) for up to 10 bonus squares.Įach time the score changes during Super Bowl LIV, a winner will be randomly selected from the pool of entrants on the square where the last digit of the NFC champion’s score intersects with the last digit of the AFC champion’s score. Rocket Companies Inc-owned (NYSE: RKT) Rocket Mortgage, the nation's largest mortgage lender, is bringing back the Rocket Mortgage Super Bowl Squares Sweepstakes. One axis of the grid represents the last digit of the NFC team’s score and the other axis represents the last digit of the AFC team’s score. No matter the score, we are excited that the Rocket Mortgage Super Bowl Squares Sweepstakes will undoubtedly have football fans across the country on the edge of their seats.”įor the contest, each participant selects one of 100 blank “square” spaces on a 10-by-10 grid. “It’s our hope that the money we give away through the squares during Super Bowl LIV will change lives and maybe even help some lucky fans buy the home of their dreams. Rocket Companies, Rocket Mortgages parent company, ranked 11 on Fortunes list of the '100 Best Companies to Work For' in 2022 and has placed in the top third of the list for 20 consecutive years. “At Rocket Mortgage we love supercharging the excitement level surrounding huge, international sporting events, and there are none bigger than the Super Bowl,” said Jay Farner, Quicken Loans chief executive officer. Two grand prize winners will be selected to receive $500,000 each. The agreement will begin during Super Bowl LIV with the company introducing the Rocket Mortgage Super Bowl Squares Sweepstakes – billed as the largest official game of Super Bowl squares in history.įor the promotion, Rocket Mortgage will award cash prizes to multiple winners throughout the game, randomly selecting one winner to receive $50,000 any time the score changes (a maximum of 30 times). Gambler's Anonymous Contact Information.Rocket Mortgage by Quicken Loans has announced a multiyear sponsorship deal with the National Football League, making it the league’s first mortgage sponsor./r/sportscontests - Paid and free sports contests.Two lucky players will each receive a grand prize of 500,000 at halftime and after the game. /r/sportsbookreview - Review the books you use. How much can you win from Rocket Mortgage Squares In the Rocket Mortgage Super Bowl Squares game, fans can win 50,000 every time the score changes, which includes touchdowns, field goals, extra points, two-point conversions, and safeties.Up to $1000 first wager match Click for Promo Up to $250 or $500 risk-free first bet with bonus cash back Click for Promo The Game Awards 2022 has come and gone, recognizing this years. ![]() ![]() Place a first-time wager of up to $1250, get it back in the form of a Free Bet if you lose. From now until February 11, 2022, you have a chance to win big at RocketMortgageSquares. Selling of picks is not allowed here and will be removed by the moderators.Ĭlick here to join our Discord chat Desktop, iOS, and Android apps available! SportsbookĢnd Chance Free Bet Up to $500 Click for Promo Please try to keep all discussions under the daily threads. If you want to discuss your individual parlay/bet, individual games or props then /r/sportsbookextra is what you are looking for. Solder paste was applied using a Mylar stencil cut with the revspace lasercutter. I2C Led driver breakout board, D1 was hand-soldered. The "self-learning" stuff supposedly lets you automatically work out the correct profile with the use of sensors, but we have no documentation and it seems unnecessary. This machine selects the IR and hot air heating technology controlling, equipped with special design wind wheel, speed stability and uniform temperature, suit for uninterrupted soldering the LED and BGA components. To change a program (make sure to CHECK against the settings below): press 'Prog', pick the program number, then use left/right to step through the settings, and plus/minus to change each setting. Puhui T961S smart touch screen conveyor 3501000mm six heating zones LED reflow oven. To pick the program: press 'Prog' and use the plus/minus keys to choose a program number, then press 'Prog' again. We program the programs for different PCB thicknesses. The oven has 10 memory locations (Program number 01 till 10).Īt the moment we only have programmed program number 01. It makes a lot of noise and produces quite a bit of heat, so probably best to turn on the external extractor fan. The light will turn on while the tray is inside, so you can check the reflow as it happens. The tray will then move all the way to the right (preheat area), wait for a specified period of time, then move to the left (solder area), wait for a period of time, and then finish by moving further to the left (out of the oven). When you turn it on (switch on the back), it will heat according to the temperatures specified in the currently selected program. In this document is it referred to as the "Piccolo", with a maximum PCB size of 250x150mm. The particular model we have looks like a DIMA SMT Systems SMRO-0170 (to be confirmed). This process is called surface mount technology, or SMT. We now have a real reflow oven and currently we are testing what the best settings are. The SMD reflow oven is soldering components onto printed circuit boards. DDM Novastar is perhaps the top worldwide reflow oven manufacturer for low to medium-volume reflow systems and one of the top companies manufacturing higher. Wie doet 'n voorstel voor een goede vervanging?īecause modern electronics components are tending more and more towards becoming SMD-only, and because the associated size reduction can also be very useful for space projects, we need a reflow oven. Werkte niet goed genoeg en nam veel ruimte in. ![]() ![]() Deze reflowoven is niet meer op de space. ![]() What makes CalendarHero amazing is that it lets you set up pre-configured meeting types, so you don’t have to specify it every time you need to schedule a meeting. ![]() The main goal of this tool is to make scheduling and setting up meetings easier – for anyone and everyone. It’s also compatible with other tools like Slack, Google Analytics, and Mail Chimp.Īs 10 to 8 offers so many integrations, you can easily streamline your entire project management under one roof and be more productive.Īnother schedule maker tool on our list is CalendarHero. You can sync it with your existing calendar platforms such as iCloud, Outlook, or Google Calendar. This tool is specifically built to provide 24/7 booking functionality. If you’re looking for a simple yet robust tool to create schedules and set up appointments every day, then look no further than ‘ 10 to 8‘. Moreover, this nifty tool allows you to leave notes and share comments in the schedules that you create, leading to much more effective team collaboration. If you own a small business, Google Calendar is perfect for you! Google Calendar is a robust tool that offers features like scheduling, task management, reminders, and alarm systems. It is one of the very few cloud-based schedule maker tools available. Unless you live under a rock, you’ve probably heard about Google Calendar at least once in your life. Read more: Project Management Schedule: What is it & How to Create it! What’s more? You can embed this widget on any of your web pages, and your visitors would be able to book time with you when they are on that page. It even has a feature that shows the prospects when you’re available. In addition, HubSpot Meeting offers flexibility and transparency to teams and makes the entire lead-capture process easy. Basically, it automates the manual, repetitive, and arduous task of setting up meetings and sending emails regarding the meeting. This schedule-maker tool saves your time and effort by doing the heavy lifting for you. HubSpot Meetings, as the name suggests, is a powerful and nifty tool for setting up meetings, appointments, automated schedules, and more. However, it is more suitable for freelancers, self-employed people, and small business owners than larger businesses. This way, you can understand what’s coming ahead a lot more easily.Īll in all, Calendly helps you schedule and manage your tasks effortlessly. Yes, you read that right! Calendly gives you a birds-eye view of your weekly/monthly schedule. The tool comes with a solid calendar interface, which makes it easy to understand the tasks that are being done on a particular day, or over the month. Calendar SoftwareĬalendar is certainly one of the most amazing schedule maker tools for creating schedules, taking notes, setting reminders, and other similar tasks. Let’s go! List of the Best Schedule Maker Tools for Keeping track of deadlines: 1. No matter what your business is, you’ll definitely find a tool here that works for you. In this blog post, we’re going to walk you through some of the best schedule maker tools out there. We are talking about…*drumroll*…schedule maker tools! These tools will help you create the perfect workflow for your projects, help you schedule your meetings effectively, make your team productive, and more! They make your work easier, faster, and better. We totally get it!įortunately, there are tools out there that can totally change the way you create your schedules – be it personal schedules, project schedules, or meeting schedules. Creating a schedule for your team, setting up meetings with your clients and customers, building a project schedule, making sure there are no overlaps – it’s mentally exhausting. Mudsdale’s Own Tempo ability prevents Confusion and its Stamina ability raises Mudsdale’s Defense as soon as an Attack move is used against it! Well, Mudsdale has some excellent stats: both its HP and Defense are above average, but crucially it also has a very high Attack stat too. So why is it sat near the middle of the best Horse Pokemon list? This hefty Pokemon, introduced in generation 7 games Pokemon Sun and Moon, has a very low Speed stat, as well as a very disappointing Sp. Unlike all of the other Pokemon on the best Horse Pokemon list so far, Mudsdale is a bit sluggish, to say the least. This is a pretty good move that’ll only hit one enemy, but also has a 10% chance of lowering their Sp. Psychic – unsurprisingly, a Psychic type move – is learned at level 59. ![]() Move-wise, it doesn’t have anything hugely impressive in terms of overall power – but Dazzling Gleam, learned at level 59, is a strong Fairy type move that damages all nearby enemies. Run Away – common too all Ponyta/Rapidash variants – is present as an ability, as is the poison-preventing ability, Pastel Veil. Galarian RapidashĪnother Pokemon introduced in generation 8’s Pokemon Sword and Shield, Galarian Rapidash evolves from the Galarian regional variant of Ponyta at level 40.Īs a Psychic and Fairy type Pokemon, it is different in terms of its abilities to the original Rapidash – even if their base stats are identical in every way! Though Rapidash itself will lose some HP from using Flare Blitz, it deals a massive amount of damage to the opposing Pokemon – and also has a 10% chance of applying Burn status to them too! 7. Run Away is an ability it inherits from Ponyta – along with the Flash Fire ability, which makes its Fire type moves a massive 50% stronger, if Ponyta is hit with an opponent’s Fire type move.įrom levels 49 to 63, Rapidash also gains access to three powerful Fire type moves – culminating in the superb Flare Blitz. It’s a definite improvement over Ponyta, which it evolves from at level 40 – with above average Speed and Attack, as well as progress in every other stat too. Though the standard Ponyta didn’t quite make the list – its similar stats meant it was a choice between Galarian Ponyta and the regular version – we’ve found room to include its evolved form, Rapidash.įlame-maned (as well as flame-tailed and legged!) Rapidash is, as you have probably guessed, a Fire type Pokemon. Though powerful, Wild Charge must be used carefully as Zebstrika takes recoil damage from the move.Īt level 53 Zebstrika can learn Thrash, which dishes out serious damage – but again, must be used with caution as it can leave the poor stripy Pokemon confused for several turns after use! 8. Zebstrika learns a couple of powerful attacks as it levels up at level 47 it gains access to Wild Charge, for example. Like Galarian Ponyta, Zebstrika’s stand out stat is its Speed, with its above average Attack coming in a close second. Introduced in fifth generation games Pokemon Black and White (perhaps fittingly when it comes to this zebra-esque Pokemon!), Zebstrika starts out as Blitzle, who evolves at level 40. If we can have unicorns, I’m sure we can make room for a zebra, right? Though Zebstrika is of course based on a zebra, rather than a horse specifically, we can hardly leave it out – especially considering that Galarian Ponyta is essentially a unicorn! Plus, at level 40 it evolves into the Galarian form of Rapidash – who you’ll soon see making an appearance on the list of the best Horse Pokemon! 9. This Psychic type Pokemon also has few weaknesses though vulnerable to Bug, Ghost and Dark type moves, it’s resistant to Fighting and Psychic type moves. ![]() It has a few nifty abilities too Run Away guarantees escape from Wild Pokemon (if you choose to try and flee) and Pastel Veil prevents Galarian Ponyta – alon with its allies – from being poisoned too. Most of its stats are below average – though its Attack is at a reasonable level – but its Speed stat is definitely not bad, especially for a basic, unevolved Pokemon. Galarian Ponyta was introduced in 2019 Switch game Pokemon Sword and Shield, which kicked off Pokemon’s eighth generation. Ponyta – at least in its original form – was one of the Pokemon from first generation titles Pokemon Red and Blue. ![]() That’s despite the fact that it doesn’t have a cutie mark, of course. Having mentioned My Little Pony in the intro of the best Horse Pokemon list, it felt appropriate to kick proceedings off with a Pokemon that really looks like it could have sprung from the My Little Pony universe. ![]() Australian buyers are only getting one AU$5,599 version featuring a RTX 4090, 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD.ġ x HDMI 2.1, 2 X USB-A 3.2, 1 x USB-C 3.2, 1 x power delivery, 1 x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, 1 x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack, 1 x 2.5G RJ45 Both offer the same AMD Ryzen 9 and RAM set up. In the UK, there are two versions available with one offering an RTX 4090 and 2TB SSD for £3,7/1TB combo at the £3,099.99 price point. This is good enough for 1440p with solid frame rates. If that’s too much, though, the somewhere in-between $2,899. The Strix Scar 17 is going to cost $3,499.99 at the highest config, with RTX 4090, 32GB RAM, and 2TB SSD, which can even get you solid 4K video output if you want more than the 1440p display can provide. Both RTX 40 configurations come with two different storage and RAM options. In the United States alone, there are four configurations available for purchase through Asus’ ROG store. Where can you get it? You can get it in the US, UK, and Australia.When is it available? It is available now.Attempting to use the laptop on a plane ride and the like for tasks outside of general browsing and video content viewing can drain the Strix Scar 17 fairly quickly. The very limited battery life means users will usually need to have this plugged up regularly. However, the Strix Scar 17 does come with some limitations. Alongside music and films sounding great, the speakers also offer 5.1.2 channel virtual surround sound which is useful for gamers looking for more situational awareness when playing Call of Duty: Warzone or Fortnite. Meanwhile, being Dolby Vision-capable ensures that HDR enhances images even further.Īudio is even more impressive through being both Dolby Atmos and Hi-Res Audio certified through its dual speakers. The Strix Scar 17 features a lovely 17-inch 1440p display that offers a 240 refresh rate which is good enough for competitive gamers. It doesn’t hurt that the visual/audio presentation is fairly strong as well. The specs are more than enough to play some of the best PC games like Cyberpunk 2077 to Metro: Exodus at max settings with little effort. In the U.S., there are two versions for both GPU options each, so you at least have some variety. Using the AMD-CPU-and-NVIDIA-GPU-set-up that’s become standard for the ROG brand, the latest Strix Scar 17 features a 16-core Ryzen 9 7945HX, 32GB RAM, 1TB of SSD and the option of either an RTX 4090 or 4080. ![]() Even now, I can get lost in some of these screens for ages and just gawp at them. The pastiche fantasy world that teenage Simon is warped into from the real world is packed with interesting locations that are all beautifully drawn with some of the most eye catching sprite art of the era. A great adventure game will boast a great world where every screen is interesting, and when you crack a puzzle and move the story along, you’re rewarded with another compelling screen to absorb. I’ve said it before on this blog but one of the great appeals of the adventure game genre for me is exploration. What they created somehow felt as slick and polished as the big American games but retained the little charms of a quaint indie production too. Adventure Soft was effectively a cottage industry developer, with only 12 employees, led by father and son team Mike and Simon Woodroffe. Simon The Sorcerer, with its excellent puzzle design, beautiful background illustrations and memorable characters, compared favourably to these other classics of the genre, despite coming from a much smaller developer. ![]() I’d adored both the Monkey Island games and Beneath A Steel Sky on Amiga, and was hungry for more. I was already a big adventure game fan by this point. That novelty really hooked me in to Simon The Sorcerer but it was the quality of the game itself that kept me playing. I’m not sure it would have done, but I think that only goes to show how much of a leap forward CD-ROM seemed after a few years of me loading primitive games from cassette tape on Commodore 64. I even remember playing the game in the living room one day, when my mum asked me to turn the game off before her friend came round… “It’ll only confuse her,” she explained. In our house, the idea of a fully voiced videogame was such a novelty (this was a few years before I got a PlayStation) that it seemed like magic. This was undoubtedly a case of the voices elevating and improving on the basic text version. There’s tons of character to the performances, and the cast, particularly Barrie, nail the comedic tone of the script. Sure, the recording quality could be a little inconsistent, and you can hear a few actors reused here and there, but the overall standard was really high. Even now, nearly 30 years later, I think it holds up really well and is on a par with the work Lucasarts were producing at the time with their higher budgets and access to Hollywood talent. I had nothing else to judge it against, but the voice acting felt of a very high standard to me. As such, when I put that CD in the console and started to play, it felt revolutionary… But, I’m certain this was the first fully voiced adventure game I’d played, as my family wouldn’t get a CD-ROM PC until a few years later. CD32’s Liberation included a bit of speech here and there, including the immortal line, “You wanna buy an animal, a real stuffed animal?” And, of course, Ghostbusters on C64 featured some iconic speech, though that was obviously synthesized. I don’t think this was the time I’d played a game with voice acting in it. It was as though this game was made specifically to cater to my tastes! It was my favourite TV show at the time, and if I’m honest with myself, it still is today. It was none other than Chris Barrie, most famous for playing Arnold Rimmer in the BBC’s incredibly popular sci-fi sit-com, Red Dwarf. What the box didn’t tell me is who provided the voice of Simon The Sorcerer. I knew I had to leave the shop with that disc in my hands. Furthermore, the back of the box revealed this was a graphic adventure game, very much in the style of Secret Of Monkey Island – one of two games to sell me on Amiga in the first place. Finally, here was an Amiga CD32 game that actually promised to make use of the CD medium and offer something that wasn’t possible on floppy disk full voice acting. As you can see, Adventure Soft were so proud of their Full “Talkie” Soundtrack that they made sure you couldn’t possibly miss it. |