Angels Take Manhattan: The Basement

Is this a joke?

Previous episode: Angels Take Manhattan: 2012

Next episode: Angels Take Manhattan: 1938

Game version played: 2.5.1 (GP-A)

The basement, where Rory met the chuckling cherubs. That was also in Manhattan, but in 1938 not 2012. Same place, different time. Blue Time fragments are likely but no rare drop. The backdrop is a series of arches containing shadowy figures. Shield that Brightwell & Hyman match, screw your courage to the sticking place and follow me.

My team is led by the 11th Doctor at Rank 2, who is accompanied by Jenny Flint, Madame Vastra, Porridge and Rory Williams who are all at Lvl.9. I anticipate that this mission will get Jenny to Lvl.10 and hence the next rank. That's confidence for you. It's also a sure way to lose a level, thinking on the reward rather than the task. Stay focused Allsop.

Wave 1 of 4 consists of a Blue Weeping Angel as faced in the last level, plus a Blue cherub which game-wise is a less dangerous version of full grown Angels. We also have Stone gems to add to the fun. I tried for 5+ combos where I could but the Stones make it difficult. It took me 4 rounds to kill the Angel, then just one more to clear the cherub. Knowing that the cherub is less sturdy I probably should have targeted it from the start.

Wave 2 is a single Blue Weeping Angel but this one is in chains. It's the wrist-snapping Angel that Julius Grayle imprisoned in his office. This Angel attacks in 2 rounds instead of 3 and can take a lot more damage than the usual. During our fight she hit me for 160 HP twice, forcing me to use Rory's Stand Firm power. Jenny also powered up but once again using her Smoulder power would have made things worse. Vastra's power was a different story and she let rip, though her Riposte of 150 points barely scratched the chained Angel. By now Porridge was ready to lay a bomb but the Angel was down to about 30%, so I kept it in reserve. The next round she fell so it was the right decision.

The waves are getting larger and next we have a trio of cherubs. This is a multi-coloured flight, 2 Blue and 1 Green. Aha! A chance to let Jenny have at them. I used her Smoulder power and targetted the Green cherub with the resultant Reds. It was a big hit and got Greenie down to 10% or so, as well as badly damaging the other 2. That set me up well and I cleared the cherubs in 7 rounds. I took a few hits but managed to stay near full health using available Pinks. By the time I was done I had the 11th Doctor flashing at maximum, plus Vastra, Jenny and Porridge all with special powers primed and ready for the 4th wave.

The boss wave doesn't feature a boss as such but it's no walk-over. It's the chained Angel flanked by a Green and a Blue cherub. There was no point saving attacks now so I 'unleashed Hell' as Russell Crow said. The 11th Doctor concocted a Fast Plan and aimed 1,000 damage at each opponent. The Blue cherub vaporised but the Green one survived due to his resistance to Blue damage. Next I let Vastra use her Riposte on the survivors which took Greenie down to about 10%. The chained Angel was at about 60% so I planted Porridge's bomb at her feet. I next used Jenny to Smoulder the Blue gems into Red to make sure of the Green cherub, which I targetted.

My first Gem attack killed the Green cherub and got the chained Angel down to 25%. In the next few rounds we traded blows. Rory healed me once and I had the Angel down to next to nothing when the bomb went off and blew her into gravel. A nice bruising battle though I still kept my HP well above 50% all the way through.

There were no drops but after the battle Jenny Flint did indeed reach Lvl.10. The surprise was that Porridge was also promoted to Lvl.10. Both of them ready to elevate to the 2nd rank. Oh yes!

Madame Vastra should give her a rise

This is a landmark in the game, but don't forget the basics. You still get an extra point for going up a level so make sure you assign it. Jenny's attributes have grown over her career, increasing gradually with each level. However her special power, Smoulder, has stayed the same. If you want that to increase, and for her to be able to progress further, then you need to upgrade her rank. Until you do she will be stuck on Lvl. 10 however much experience she gains. Of course there is a price to be paid.

To upgrade Jenny to Rank 2 the cost is 2 Red and 2 Green Time Fragments. Luckily I have them. All you have to do is press the Upgrade button on the Companion's Attributes tab. I did so and was treated to the same 'Brilliant' sequence that I saw when promoting the 11th Doctor. Jenny then immediately jumped to Lvl.11, though you don't get an additional attribute point that time. Looking at her Profile tab her Special Power is now called Flame, and it converts Blue gems to Red in 6 turns instead of 7. Her power has the same effect but you will be able to call upon it more often.

It's worth comparing the advancement of Jenny's power to her wife's for a moment. At these levels Madame Vastra's Riposte is becoming less useful as opponents get stronger. However Jenny Flint's ATK attribute keeps rising with every level even if you add no points to it. So she does more damage with each Red Gem. This means that her conversion power constantly grows in effectiveness. Direct damage powers by contrast grow effectively weaker. Something to ponder.

 Jenny's upgrade got me an extra star which took me to 9 in total, 1 short of a new Perk. Good job Porridge is ready to promote as well.

Ah! There's a problem. Porridge needs 2 Yellow and 2 Black Time Fragments to be upgraded. I've got both of the Yellow but just 1 Black fragment. Foiled. However there is a work around. In these situations you will see that the Max Level button in the Profile tab now says Instant Upgrade instead. If you press it you are offered the chance to go ahead with the upgrade by using 2 Time Crystals instead of the required Fragments.

This means I have a decision to make about Porridge, with three options available.

Firstly, I could use Time Crystals to promote him here and now, and I have earned 10 of these through normal play. In my main game I have many more, some of which I bought to unlock the Fan Area and support the developers. Crystals are not short cuts or cheats, they are part of the game and a reward for putting your money where your mouth is. However here it does seem expensive to use 20% of my crystals just to compensate for 1 missing Black Fragment.

Secondly I could take my team and replay levels that offer Black Fragments as a potential drop. Working backwards the first opportunity is The Snowmen: The Great Intelligence. In my case this level still has Strax as a Rare drop. If I replayed it then I might get to fill that empty slot in my team roster while I'm looking for Black Fragments. I might also get Yellow Time Fragments which I am likely to need soon with Vastra at Lvl.9. I would also be guaranteed to collect experience for my team, and have fun replaying levels. There are other missions that offer Black Fragments but they are lower level without a Rare drop, and so less attractive.

The third option is just to play on. I might get a Black Fragment very soon and I would be earning higher amounts of experience in more advanced levels. I might also get more Rares. The drawback to this option is that Porridge will not gain any of that experience and will not get stronger. Each level will become tougher as he gets left behind. If I had other Companions in the TARDIS I could swap Porridge for one of them and let them gain the experience, though my team would be weakened significantly at first. I have beaten all levels so far reasonably comfortably, so I'm confident I could go on for a few levels yet.

Is this wise?

So my options are to pay up, circle back and build my strength, or to press on. In my main game when I first reached this sort of situation I circled back. Later on as my cache of Time Crystals grew and the number of needed Fragments increased drastically I have tended to pay up.

This time though I'm going to push on. That was the original intent when I started this series of posts, here. It'll be fun to see how far I get before I lose, and a nice challenge to play with what the game gives me for free. That's one of the secrets to enjoying a game I find, to adopt a style, character or strategy rather than just play to a  believed optimal strategy.

So on we go, with Jenny Flint at Rank 2 and Porridge stuck at Lvl.10. But not just now though.

While I've been writing these posts some promising ideas for future books and stories have blossomed and I can't ignore them any longer. There's also a couple of other opportunities that I want to explore so my journey through Season 7, or Chapter One as it is now called, will have to take a break. Getting my first Companion to Rank 2 seems like a good place to pause and I don't want to make the same mistake I did with Cryonite Cove and let things peter out. This blog will continue, though it will focus elsewhere for a time and will probably not be as frequent for a while.

Writing all of this has been fun, educational, thought provoking and a good exercise of the writing muscles. Thanks to all those who have read and commented through Twitter or elsewhere. An especial thank you to Tiny Rebel Games who have produced a wonderful game that is a worthy tie-in with my favourite ever television show, Doctor Who.

Dalek Paradox

Brilliant indeed

Previous Episode: Asylum of the Daleks: Intensive Care

Next Episode: Sontaran Disturbance: England

Game version played: 2.4

In all the excitement of winning Rory I forgot to look at what he offers. Well he’s your first and only Green of course, so he'll stop you wasting those emeralds that are sure to start falling. He has 68 HP, 35 ATK and 33 HEAL making him your first Healer too, going by the Legacy wiki character type. A Healer’s main role is to convert Pink gems into healing HP. Invaluable once the opposition gets genuinely dangerous.

Then there’s his Power called ‘Stand Firm’, which is apt for the steadfast Rory. This heals your team by 100 HP. That is a small proportion at this point but it can make all the difference. So as well as using those Pink combos to keep you in the game, once every 10 turns Rory can repair your HP regardless of the board. You shouldn’t rush to use this power once it’s charged. If you have less than 100 damage then in most cases it would be a waste. If there is Pink about then use that first. I always feel better when I have a fully charged heal in reserve.

Excited about finally getting to play with all gem colours? Yes me too. Make sure Rory is included in the team. Now we can look at the next mission. Wait. What’s that in the TARDIS? Something’s flashing. Why is the 11th Doctor pulsing like that? What’s it say? Upgrade? Grud on a Greenie. More excitement.

Why is my 11th Doctor ready to upgrade? Well the Doctor doesn’t accumulate experience like the Companions. He depends solely on Time Fragments, so if you’ve got the right colours you can upgrade him any time. Rank 1 Doctor # 11 needs 3 Red and 3 Blue, and I’ve got those. Where from? You may well ask.

For the purposes of this blog I log in and play 1 level at a time, occasionally but not often on consecutive days. This means I get a lot of Red Fragments at the log in bonus, sometimes 2 Blue. Most new players will start the game and go deep before they log out, gaining less early Fragments.

I did wonder if it was fair to upgrade 11 just yet, as most players won’t have the Fragments this early. However everyone will get different drops, log in on their own schedule, and can buy and invest Time Crystals however they choose. You can buy 4 Fragments of either base colour for 2 Crystals, and can get 2 of each for 5. Easier still you can select Instant Upgrade and promote the Doctor directly for 4 Crystals. I’ve earned 4 Crystals so far in this game, so most players will be able to upgrade the 11th Doctor one way or another by now. Personally I wouldn’t spend Crystals this early as the fragments drop regularly enough and you’re unlikely to be struggling, but if you’ve got the Fragments, go ahead. Advancement is one of the pleasures of experience based games.

Internal argument settled, I selected Upgrade for the Eleventh Doctor. First of all I got a chance to change my mind, ‘Are you sure?’ Yes I’m sure. I’ve spent 10 whole seconds considering the mission statement of this blog and the ramifications thereof. I selected ‘Yes’ and a portrait of the Doctor appears with ‘Brilliant’ written across it. A single star appears, and then a second one pulses into join it. As a character advances you earn an extra star towards your total. This took me to 6 stars in total, one for each companion plus 2 for the Rank 2 Doctor.

4 more stars for Perk #3

Before I could check on the Doctor’s new powers, I was alerted that a new perk had been unlocked. Crikey it’s like Christmas isn’t it? First things first though. Let’s see what the new and improved 11th can do. On the Attributes tab we can see the two stars, plus that we need 8 Red, 8 Pink and 8 Blue Time Fragments to get him to Rank 3. I already have the Red but the others will take some work. Moving over to the Profile tab we see that his ‘Cunning’ special ability has become ‘A Fast Plan’. He now does 500 damage to all opponents after 30 combos, and 1,500 after 30 more. This is meaty damage. Even Porridge’s bomb only does 1,000 damage at Rank 1. Red foes beware.

So what about that Perk then? Go to Team and from there to Perks. You’ll see that you now have ‘Colour Enhance I’ active. Tap on it and you’ll see that you can get a 5% damage bonus for one of the character colours. Time to make a choice. Look in your team roster and look at the total damage for each colour. The bonus is a percentage, so obviously if you choose your strongest colour then you will get the most points, which for me would be Blue. Another option is to shore up your weakest colour, Green for me. This would make you more rounded but deliver less points. You could just pick your favourite character or colour and go with that. Don’t worry about it too much. You can change your perks at any time without penalty. If a mission goes sideways, go back and change your perks. I chose Blue for now to get the biggest bang.

Right then. I’ve Perked up, the 11th Doctor is upgraded and Rory is in the squad. Let’s see what Dalek Paradox is all about.

You have the chance to win Blue Time Fragments and Red. Blue hasn’t been up before and this is the first level that isn’t identified as a TV episode. Who knows what you’ll face. Well, Daleks obviously, unless that’s the paradox.

There’s another portrait here too, labelled 100% drop. It’s Red, let’s look a little closer…Oh my life, it’s the 10th Doctor. My cup runneth over. Allons-y.

Look at all the pretty colours

Into the fray and we’re on the Earth’s moon again, this time for real I assume rather than on Hedgewick’s World of Wonders. How are breathing? Are we suited up? No time to wonder about such trivialities as the Doctor is talking. His sonic screwdriver is detecting a paradox up ahead. It must be closed to stabilise time itself. There are strange readings from his past so there’s a need to be careful. Anything could be in there. Right Ho Doctor, consider us warned.

Wave 1 glides into attack and it’s a Blue Strategist Dalek, joined by a newcomer. It’s a Yellow New Paradigm Dalek, the Eternal. Just what is the Eternal all about? Well apparently nothing, at least not yet. It was thrown into the New Paradigm mix as a long term investment, so that it can be used as a future as yet unimagined plot device. Good thinking. Note that Rory i.e. Green is strong against the Strategist i.e. Blue. The relationship between the colours is being filled in. Well if this Eternal had any surprises for me then they were not manifested, as I blasted him and his Blue Buddy into atoms first shot.

Waves 2 & 3 are made up of more Daleks, nothing you haven’t faced before. They were tough enough to return fire and inflict minor damage, but nothing to write home about.

Looks like a 70's rock album cover

Feeling confident I waited for Wave 4 of 5, but then saw a ‘Warning’ flash up. Huh! Up until now that’s only been seen before the final Boss wave. Something Wicked this way comes. It’s a Reaper.

Vastra quite reasonably asks what the Reaper is, the Doctor explains that they hunt through time and space looking for paradoxes. They are not to be trifled with and can’t be destroyed, but once the paradox is closed it will vanish, if you can just get past it. These beasts only appeared once in the series, in Father’s Day, but one actually managed to kill and eat the Doctor. Take a bow Reapers, you are the stuff of legend.

Defeating the Blue Reaper took a while. It has a stun ability which put a couple of Companions temporarily out of action and it can take a lot of damage. However with a few big hits and a Riposte from Vastra I managed to beat it.

Sexy

There was another Warning, and then a Blue Paradox appeared. All crackly and energetic, this is a good looking opponent. I’d been saving Porridge’s bomb for this so the timer was set. The first rounds consisted of me doing small damage to the Paradox, while it kept warping my Green gems to Blue. This could have gone on for a while but I then managed to inflict a significant hit, and heal myself back to 100% using Pink gems.

Just then the Doctor started to flash. Oh yes! A chance to use his new ‘A Fast Plan’ ability. I let him off the leash and the Paradox collapsed under the onslaught. Victory.

Dalek Paradox was a decent contest with new enemies and another step in the story. The rewards were good. I got the ‘No More Yellow’ achievement for beating 10 Yellow enemies, and Porridge went up a level to 4 where I boosted his HP to 152. This was Rory’s first scrap and he obviously learnt a lot. He went straight to level 3 so I had 2 points to award, both went onto HEAL.

Last but not least I got the 10th Doctor in the TARDIS, but that’s quite enough excitement for one day. I think I need to go and lie down. 

Polycystic Kidney Disease

Thursday 4th September has been declared Polycystic Kidney Awareness Day by the PKD Foundation. My wife suffers from PKD, and since I love her it seems only right to stand on my own particular soap box and spread the word.

Before I met her I had never heard of this disease, and even after we were married it was in the background of our life. I knew she had a condition that was going to affect her health in years to come, but the effects at first were slight. She doesn’t smoke which is a plus, she doesn’t drink which isn’t an issue, and she exercises religiously which just shows me up. I’m sure PKD helped motivate these life choices, as well as her insistence on healthy eating, but she’d have done them anyway because she’s far wiser than me.

PKD is accurately if unimaginatively named. It is an inherited disease in which fluid filled cysts multiply and grow in the kidneys. Some people live their whole lives without knowing they have it, but in most cases kidney functions steadily decline, eventually resulting in kidney failure.

My wife and I have grown older together, which was the plan of course, and each year has been marked by regular visits to the kidney specialist. Each time there is a percentage rating of how the kidneys were doing. Sometimes it stayed the same, occasionally it crept up, but overall there has been a downward trend. The visits to the specialists have now become more frequent.

A Polycystic kidney alongside a healthy kidney

The horrible irony of PKD is that while kidney function decreases, the organs get bigger. The cysts swell and multiply, pushing the kidneys out into the rest of the body. Often the liver is affected too and develops its own cysts, growing along with the kidneys. Space is taken up, other organs are squashed, and the torso gets larger. In later stages this becomes noticeable whatever you are wearing. As you can imagine all of this is uncomfortable, painful and distressing.

As the disease has progressed life has become less enjoyable for my wife. She has needed stronger medication to control her blood pressure, with each new prescription bringing its own side effects. Sleep has become difficult due to continual discomfort. Eating is a cost/benefit exercise, searching through the rapidly shrinking menu of foods that are allowed to her, trying to find something that won’t lead to griping pain afterwards. Even the quantity is a trade off. Her constricted stomach can’t handle more than a child’s portion but she needs enough to stop her becoming malnourished. When we got together it was a joy to have a wife who loved to walk as much as I did, but now her shortness of breath means a walk across the park is the limit.

There is no cure for PKD, at least not yet, but that doesn’t mean that there’s nothing that can be done. Good diet, exercise and controlling blood pressure etc. all help. However there comes a point where the organs will fail. Dialysis is one option, and organ transplant is another. A healthy kidney or liver when transplanted into a PKD sufferer does not start to grow cysts. They behave as they would do in any other patient. They do not last forever, current estimates are about 15 years in the UK but increasing all the time, and demand outstrips supply. Doctors and sufferers almost have to play ‘chicken’ with PKD. Transplant too early and you’ll be looking at another transplant 15 to 20 years down the road, as well as perhaps denying someone in greater need. Wait too long and you may be too weak when your chance comes.

My wife has done well but we are now into discussions with specialists about dialysis and transplant registers. Everyone agrees that we are reaching the point where something must be done, what that is remains to be decided. 

This is an account of my experience of living with someone with PKD in which I hope to raise awareness of the condition. Other sufferers will have completely different stories to tell. For more stories, support, information and donation channels then please use the relevant link from the list below.

International          www.pkdinternational.org

UK                       Pkdcharity.org.uk

USA                     www.pkdcure.org

Canada                 endpkd.ca

France                  www.polykystose.org

Germany               www.pkdcure.de

Italy                      www.renepolicistico.it

Japan                    www.pkdfcj.org

There is just one more thing. Please register as an organ donor. When you’ve gone you won’t miss your internal bits and pieces. They can become food for worms, fuel for the fire, or life for someone else. Thanks.

Doctor Who Legacy – Tutorial

A few years back I spent many a happy hour playing Pirate Galaxy. I later started a blog about it called Cryonite Cove. I’ve already posted about that here and there so I won’t repeat myself. However I had a great time at the Cove and it was popular with readers. My Doctor Who:Legacy (DWL) posts have had almost as many hits as my wolf tattoo, so that’s all the encouragement I need to jump on the bandwagon.

I’ve created a new profile so that I can restart DWL from the beginning, and will blog my way through the episodes. I’ll only be using the characters and extras that drop free. Obviously I’ll be earning crystals as I go, but I’ll hold off buying characters with them until and unless I get stuck.  I’m not out to compete with Adipose, the VisualRecord, or the DWL wiki, which would be a fool's errand. This will be more of a shared journey though the game. There will be some hints in there I’m sure, plus observations, moans and discussions about the television show. Please add your own comments and feedback as we go, so I know that I’m not talking to myself.

We’ll start at the beginning with the tutorial. Yes I know you don’t need hints on how to get through it, but that’s not the point, see above.

Tutorial

Preceding Episode: This is where you start. I’m not going to explain how you download and install the app. Who’d want to read that?

Following Episode: Nightmare in Silver: Closed For Business

If you’ve played DWL then you’ve been though this tutorial. It’s on rails, so you have little freedom of action other than quitting story segments. The tutorial sets the scenario and introduces you to the basic game play. There’s no, “This is the Doctor, he’s an alien…” so the game assumes you know who and what Doctor Who is. There seems to be no way to replay this tutorial later on. I had to create a new Google+ profile to start the game again from scratch. This isn’t unusual though. There seem to be few games where you can restart with the same log in. Maybe it’s because that would be a free way to freshen things up when you became a little jaded. Obviously game companies would prefer that you spent cash on extras and premium areas instead. That’s reasonable. Everyone’s got a right to earn a living.

You're sure that dress
goes with Green?

So the story starts on the streets of Cardiff, 16th October 1978. Why? I don’t know. Cardiff is no surprise as it’s new Who’s home. I looked the date up and learned it was the day of Pope John Paul II's election, plus Kapil Dev made his test debut. The Tardis Data Core told me that in the Whoniverse, the 4th Doctor and Romana were looking for the 3rd segment of the Key to Time on Earth in 78, though that was in Cornwall. Maybe it’s the birthday of one of the game designers. Maybe I need to get out more.

The 11th Doctor and Madame Vastra exit the TARDIS mid-conversation, text appearing in a box below the pictures of the characters. Be aware, do not click the little ‘x’ in the top right corner, because this exits the story. I did this when I first played, and as I’ve said it’s not easy to revisit the tutorial. The Doctor and Vastra have a little debate about what’s going on and the Sonic Screwdriver is soon being waved about.

I hope that The War Doctor’s dig at his future selves in The Day of the Doctor, “What are you going to do? Assemble a cabinet at them?” points to a little less sonic shuffling from the 12th Doctor. It’s not a weapon, yet 10 and 11 were always jabbing it in hostile faces to keep them back. I know it might give an aggressor pause, but this tactic was overdone. I’d rather The Doctor offered them a jelly baby, feigned idiocy or otherwise used his brain and personality to gain the upper hand.

The Doctor and Vastra conclude that the Sontarans (Hooray!) are somehow involved, and then they spot you hiding behind the bins. Luckily Vastra decides to help you up rather than dice you up. That’s when three Sontarans appear.

The tough streets of Cardiff

I love Sontarans, they’re one of my favourite monsters from the show. I remember watching Field Major Styre in The Sontaran Experiment which was first shown in 1975, so I was 8. Yes I am old. Ever since I’ve been a fan. Strax is a great character but I hope he hasn’t led his race to becoming simply comic foils.

The Doctor, no doubt waving the Sonic about, asks Vastra to help him outsmart the “armoured potato men”, which I must say seems a little racist. Vastra gives them a warning, and then reassures the Doctor that while the Sontarans have the numbers, they (and you) have the intelligence. Then the game play starts.

The tutorial takes you though the basics clearly. It explains about your health bar, which is at a feeble 166. As long as you keep it to the right of the screen then you’ll be okay. If it gets down to zero after receiving damage, then you lose the match and anything you collected in that contest. The idea of colours is explained, the 11th Doctor being Blue and Vastra yellow. If you line up 3 or more gems of one colour then all characters of that type attack. So if you were to line up 5 red gem in this match then you’d do no damage (no red characters), though the red gems would still vanish, which might bring more yellow or blue onto the board.

The little gears icon at the top is pointed out which is used to exit the match. To me it looks like a settings icon so I think they could have chosen something a bit more intuitive.

The gem board is then explained, and you are told that you have 5 seconds to drag one gem around, rearranging other gems in its wake. 5 seconds is longer than it sounds, and you can form a lot of patterns in that time. Of course it’s only 5 seconds as long as you keep touching the screen. If you take your finger off sooner, intentionally or not, the game progresses.

Your first task - Tricky

The game then explains multiple attacks, so that more than one colour combination in a move is possible and they all count. It then highlights a specific gem move on the board in front of you and tells you to watch the Doctor. You make the move (you’ve no choice), and see the Doctor blast one of the Sontarans from the screen.

Now it’s their turn, and the Sontarans hit you for a laughable 5 points of damage. The effect of Pink gems is explained and you heal yourself of all damage. Next the tactic of using more than 3 gems to boost damage is illustrated, simple enough. The next step from there is learning that a combo of 5 gems inflicts damage to all the enemies on the board. This is important, and you should try to get in the habit of looking for such rows. Now early on in my DWL career I thought that you needed to use a whole column or row to damage all opponents but that’s not the case. The rule is 5 gems or more in a single combo. It doesn't have to be in a straight line, it can be a cross, a t-shape or any other combination. The game is clear on this, but only shows a column being used. I only realised my mistake by reading the DWL Wiki. 

By now the second wave of Sontar’s finest is in your face, consisting of one Sontaran. The game tells you that you have mastered the basics, and it’s time to crack on. An example of moving a gem to create more than 1 matching set is illustrated. This skill is acquired over time, very effective but seeming difficult at first. Keep practising and before you know it, you’ll be tracing a balletic path of death through the gems, piling high the bodies of your enemies.

At least the Doctor has hair

The cool down time of the enemy is briefly explained and is easy to miss. The number under the opponent tells you when they will next attack. There is also a description of what they are going to do. Here the Sontarans just attack, but soon you will face foes that will heal themselves, lock gems in place, poison you and so on. This is vital information and you should always pay attention. If you are low in health and see that in 1 move, 2 of your enemies will attack then you’d better match up some Pinks. If you see that you have 2 moves before they heal themselves, it’s time to deal them some serious damage.

Onto special abilities next. As you will know by now I’m sure, each character has their own ability. For the Companions these become available after a certain number of turns. For example at level 1, Vastra can inflict 150 points of damage to all enemies every 9 turns. Her ability is called Riposte at this level. Each incarnation of the Doctor has their own ability, but instead of being turn based they become available after a certain number of gem combinations. So 2 combos of 3 gems in a turn is better than 1 whole row of 6, as it brings the Doctor’s special one step closer. At Rank 1 (Doctor’s have Ranks, Companions Levels) the 11th Doctor’s ability is Cunning, which deals 200 damage to all enemies after 15 combos. However if you save this ability and rack up an additional 15 combos, then he will be able to dish out 500 points instead. All Doctors have two level special abilities, which in some cases is actually an inconvenience.

Flashy

In the tutorial you will now see the Doctor’s portrait surrounded by a rotating flash, indicating that his doubled-up ability is ready. This option comes up much earlier in the tutorial than in regular play. Tap the Doc’s portrait and confirm the use of Cunning. A close up flash of the Doctor sweeps across the screen, the poor Sontarans get fried, and a greyed out portrait icon drops towards your team. The match is over and you are victorious. Nice one.

We now go back to the story, with the Doctor complaining that none of this makes sense. He says that the Sontarans invade Earth much later in the 20th Century, and he knows because he was there. This must be a reference to The Two Doctors, which takes place in 1985, just 7 years after this tutorial. I wouldn’t call that ‘much later’ but never mind.

Vastra suggests that if there’s a Sontaran battle fleet in orbit then they’d better get this human i.e. you, somewhere safe. She also thinks it would be a good idea to get some help. The Doctor agrees, and says that he has someone in mind. You all go back to the TARDIS and the Doctor gets busy with the console. He picks up multiple Vortex Manipulator signals, and realises that the Sontarans have mastered time travel, using it to go back in time and alter the outcome of every major inter-galactic war. They are doing this to create one final, ultimate war. All bets are off you might say, and every race, planet and individual in history is back in play. This is a convenient way for the game to include anything and anyone from Doctor Who’s 50 years of history. It's also consistent to the shows internal logic, or at least as consistent as Doctor Who ever gets.

I'd look for River first too

The Doctor decides that you must all go back and collect allies, as there’s strength in numbers. Vastra starts this off by calling Jenny Flint, the greyed out icon you briefly saw at the end of the battle, and Vastra’s human wife. Is this the first mobile game to include a same-sex inter-species marriage? Good to see that they’re not being stupidly coy to avoid upsetting the one or two conservative players that might take offence.

That’s pretty much it. Next you see Vastra’s experience scale get a boost, and discover that you now have the chance to add the lovely Jenny to the team.

Welcome to the Doctor’s new adventures, says the game, and asks if you’d like to take the Main Menu tutorial. I would if I was you. This tutorial is more traditional, lacking a story but taking you through how to chose an adventure, add Jenny to the team, explore the abilities of characters, etc. etc. The Perks section is a bit of an add on rather than being completely integrated as they only came along with version 2.0 of DWL. It’s clear enough though. 

In my opinion this is a good tutorial. It shows you enough to get you started, sets up the story, and shows an accurate picture of the game. After the tutorial you’ll either wipe it from your device or have your appetite whetted. I do think that it’s easy to misunderstand or even miss completely some of the finer points, and it’s not easy to get later clarification explanation in the game. For instance I couldn’t understand the Upgrade system at first. Luckily there are some good places to look for help, the best I’ve found so far being the DWLegacy wiki. Bookmark this one, I’m sure I’ll be linking to it several times in future posts. 

Apologies for that short interruption

So anything happen while I was away? No? Great, let's pretend I was here all the time then shall we?

Okay, a quick explanation/excuse.

I threw myself into Cryonite Cove and absolutely loved it. Lots of fun writing it, causing controversy, getting barred, being let back into the fold, and of course playing Pirate Galaxy. I had so much fun that this blog dried up and blew away effectively. Once Cryonite Cove (CC) came to a stop I should have come back, but I was probably too embarrassed to show my face again.

Anyway I've bared my soul already on CC and it's not that interesting so enough said I think.

Life is back on an even keel, and my writing career is back up and chugging along. Lots to talk about, most of which deserve a post of their own. Suffice to say my book Hiding is now published and available on Amazon.

Exciting isn't it? Time to start this blog up again, and it's very much in need of an overhaul. Consider my sleeves rolled up.

My Cryonite Cove blog for the online space game Pirate Galaxy is almost two months old now, and I'm having a great time running it. This is important as that was key to my decision to start it, as I explained in Writing For Fun.

So far the advertising cash hasn't started to flow yet but I'm still in the early days. I kept Cryonite Cove quiet at the start so that I would have time to build up a body of posts that would be worth reading. I also spent time fine-tuning the design and layout. I'm confident enough now to start inviting people to visit.

I've joined the official forum for the game and posted about the blog which generated some return visitors. It's also in my forum signature so I need to start posting there more often. There are lots of other avenues to explore so it's time to get more aggressive in attracting attention. I'll have to ask a certain seven-year-old for tips.

One drawback has been that over the last two months I've spent less time posting here. However I consider Cryonite Cove to be actually writing, rather than writing about writing, so the time was well spent. Now I'm in my stride I'll be posting here more often. Plus the Autumn Sci-Fi extravaganza is upon us again so I'll have lots of genre telly to rave about, as long as I can stop watching it for long enough.

Cryonite Cove

On Saturday I started my new blog about the online space game Pirate Galaxy. The name is Cryonite Cove, and it can be found at http://cryonitecove.blogspot.com/


The blog is driven by my writing ambition rather than my genuine fondness for the game. I’m not one of those people who are driven to gain status within a hobby. Some strive to the best, others to be the most famous. You can do this by having the biggest collection of x, be the best player of y, or being the most opinionated and vicious critic of the hobby they love (Comic Book Guy, I’m looking at you.) Desmond Morris opened my eyes to this sort of thing in the Naked Ape, and I’ve never looked at my fellow sci-fi and gaming nuts the same since.

Writing novels and short fiction is hard, I like what I write but it kills me to do it. Blogging is easy. How good it is I couldn’t say (not modesty, I just haven’t assessed my blogging ability yet), but motivation is not a problem. For now anyway, maybe the novelty will wear off.

Anyway, the blog is up and running. If all goes to plan I’ll write an entertaining and interesting blog which Pirate Galaxy fans will flock to, earning me vast sums of cash through advertising as they do. As I love the game and enjoy blogging, it shouldn’t be akin to pulling my own teeth.

Hello all

Some writers who I both envy and admire have started their own Blogs. I follow these regularly and suspect it must be a great way to improve their skills, even for those who are published and successful. I'm a great believer in stealing ideas, as long as they're good ones.

The main subject of this Blog will be my writing, but I'm sure I'll stray into talking about other people's work, what I saw on telly last night, and the fortunes of Birmingham City FC.

Hello and welcome.