Now Playing: New Vegas

For the time being, I've decided to put my Civilization V back on the shelf and play Fallout: New Vegas for a while. Some of my friends may recall that I have played it a bit previously, but now that I have it properly patched (a grudging thanks to Steam) and, quite frankly, the game works a lot better now. Something in the first batch of updates that Steam downloaded must have optimized the game's performance with my video card (or some other such nonsense) and it simply plays better (less laggy) than before.

So far, since starting to play on Sunday, I've apparently logged a solid 6 hours in New Vegas (as opposed 79 hours that it claim's I've played Civilization V. Of course, Civilization is a turn-based game, which means I can leave it sitting whilst I do other things without cataclysmic events resulting in my loosing the game... so, adjusting for that, I'd place my actual Civ game time at a more respectable 50 hours.

But I digress...

As for Fallout, I've always been impressed with the story behind the games (the first two of which I have not played) and New Vegas seems to be no exception. Further, the music used for Fallout 3 was a wonderful break from real-life, present-day rubbish, and it was extremely fun to listen to while blasting enemies.

For New Vegas, the developers chose to incorporate a musical score that includes what I'd call “old country western” songs. While appropriate for the setting, I'll admit that I found the music from the Capital Wasteland a little more to my liking. Further, I have yet to hear the great multitude of different songs that I recall from Fallout 3 – meaning, I'm hearing the same songs with greater frequency.

Of course, as I mentioned earlier, I've only invested 6 hours in the game. Maybe there is a New Vegas equivalent to the “Galaxy News Radio” quest? I try to not read too much ahead of where I am in the game in fear of spoilers, so I don't really know.

In other news: Sunday was my 29th birthday, so I guess I'm starting to get old. Or not, but I sure feel old some days. My wife was kind enough to prepare some insanely thick cheeseburgers with fries and onion rings as my so-called “birthday dinner.” I suppose this is the only day of the year when she'll willingly put her hands into a pile of ground beef – otherwise it is my job.

Thing is, she cooks them better. Shame...

Also want to comment on our son's schooling, which is progressing nicely and exceeding the requirements (as usual). He will soon be undergoing the AIMsweb Benchmark testing (same thing he did in September) to see how he is progressing. I will try to make time to post those results when they are delivered to us.

And now I guess it is time for me to go to work.