Gloria Oliver - Unveiling the Fantastic

Virtual Tourist – Assassin’s Creed Origins 8/2/20

Morning!

Life continues in its usual chaotic cycles. I used a few days of vacation this week, and instead of vegging I spent them working on writer stuff. 😛 I never learn.

I have been learning a lot about landing pages and opt-in pages and figuring out how to get more traction for my novels in general. Writing a good book is but one of the many things you have to do. The writer’s life is not for the faint of heart. Heh heh.

Assassin’s Creed Origins

Our first view of the city of Alexandria! A sprawling metropolis and cultural melting pot.

A temple in Alexandria. Depending on where you are will depend on whether they are Egyptian, Greek, or even Roman. Some are hybrids.

A Ptolemy statue. He was Cleopatra’s younger brother and has usurped her rule. Destroying them is one of Bayek’s little pleasures. 😛

Side view of part of Alexandria. The game has a photo shooting utility and the photos will show on the main map. So you can like other peeps pics. A neat idea! They even do a picture of the day. Encouraging us all to be Virtual Tourists. 😛

Here is some gorgeous tile work. Definitively showing Greek influence.

Inside one of the homes in Alexandria. I so love all the detail!

One of the major streets in Alexandria.

The Library of Alexandria. Imposing, is it not? Yet a perfect example of the mishmash of cultures in the magnificent city. (Ah, makes me think of Rachel Caine’s awesome series The Great Library set in an alternate history where this bastion of learning was not destroyed.)

Pharos the Lighthouse in Alexandria – one of the seven wonders of the world.

Inside the Great Library. There are scholars everywhere you look.

A giant gyroscope inside the library.

It’s awe-inspiring to see what people managed to build in ancient times.

View of the top area of the Pharos Lighthouse.

Statues in the waters of Alexandria. Just how did they get these out here?

The Tomb of Alexander the Great

If you are not currently subscribed to my newsletter/blog – now might be the time!

I am giving away a FREE short story entitled “Elixir of Life” to any who sign up. (For those of you already on the mailing list, don’t worry! I’ll be sending info on how you can get it soon!

Virtual Tourist – The Council 7/12/20

Greetings!

Last time I had shared with you my Pinterest Board for “Black Jade“. I realized later I should have also included the Dallas in 1930s Board. DOH! Research pics on distinct places and things from the 1930s.

History can be very fascinating! Especially as not all the books out there read like the dry, boring dribble of high school history books! 😛

The Council

Steam had a sale over the 4th of July weekend, so we bought two games. My original purchase had included A Plague Tale: Innocence which I’d had on my wish list for a while. Sadly, I had to return it as it gave me terrible motion sickness. I checked to see if there was a way to fix it, but alas, there was not. So I returned it. (The premise was original, and the skill set you have to develop is unique (slingshot), but though it was 3rd person, the moving/bouncing perspective just made me ill.)

So after looking at some others and getting rather down as the ones I got excited about had comments about motion sickness there too, I got lucky and ran across The Council from Big Bad Wolf Studios. The first “episode” was on Steam for free, so I could make sure it would work for me before committing. Yay!

It has an interesting premise, and your choices can change the direction or information during play. It’s set in the late 18th century. Louis is searching for his mother (after the intro play) who’s disappeared after having spent several weeks on a remote island owned by Lord Mortimer. Sarah, Louis’ mother, is the head of the Golden Order in Europe.

You have to choose for Louis to be a diplomat, an occultist, or a detective, which will start the character with different skill sets. They also incorporate action points which you use when trying to use your skills. There are potions you can find to help with action points and with discovering character immunities and vulnerabilities as you go through dialogue choices. It’s been fascinating, so far!

Yep, the characters are not pretty! Though still better looking than the ones in Skyrim! 😛

The story begins, and in many ways revolves, around France.

Louis first look at Lord Mortimer’s island. He sent Louis a letter inviting him to come as his mother has disappeared.

It is a long way from the docks to the house! Sheesh!

The front of Lord Mortimer’s Mansion. Quite impressive!

Giant statue coming out of the wall over the fireplace on the main floor. Everything in the mansion is rather impressive. Psychology at play on those who come to visit. (This definitely becomes clear as you explore some of the bedrooms. Lol.)

Two of the paintings in the main hall. You may not be able to tell from this picture, but the work on the paintings for the game is impressive. They did specific textures to show they are oil paintings. Oil paintings have a certain look because of the paints, how they dry, and the canvas they are painted on. It is much more noticeable in the better lit areas. Kudos!

The tile work in the main hall. Implying his guests are but mice in a maze, perhaps?

Lord Holm – he plays host for Lord Mortimer in his absence. Quite disturbing in his powder and wig. 😛

The invited guests are movers and shakers in the world. Here’s Louis standing next to President George Washington. Duchess Emily Hillsboro is in the background. Napoleon Bonaparte is also one of the many guests, a force being groomed for the future.

Overall, they’ve done a great job with all the intrigue. Some hard puzzles here and there, timed responses, murder, the occult, politics, and a bizarre mystery. Booyah!

Have a great week!

Virtual Tourist – Assassin’s Creed – Origins 5/17/20

Morning!

Tomorrow, I go back into the office for the day job after working from home for over a month and a half. I’ve got mixed feelings about it since there’s so much about Covid-19 we do not understand. It should be an adventure! 😛

Assassin’s Creed – Origins

They really did some amazing work on this first tomb.

Is that a possible way out? The torches have another use, they burn off spiderwebs. Such a neat touch!

Freedom! Isn’t the column work, gorgeous?

Bayek runs into an old friend.

Take a note of the cool shields and weapons. They have a large variety to choose from as well as rare and legend categories.

You start with a trusty steed – a camel! Harder to drive in town than in the desert. 😛 I dubbed him ‘Roach’ – lol. Look at all that sand!

My first look at Bayek’s home town – Siwa.

Dreadful things have happened in the village over the last year. Sinister dealings at the temple. Note the mysterious orb. (And that gorgeous tile work!) 😛

Please take care out there. A lot of stuff has gone back to ‘normal’ but the disease is still going strong. If we relax too much too soon, the numbers will reach new daily highs. Stay strong and stay safe!

Virtual Tourist – Assassin’s Creed – Origins 5/3/20

Morning!

I am running late, but with some luck, I will get this post done on time!

Remember to support small businesses during this time of uncertainty. (Like my publishers!) We’d all really appreciate it! I think Zumaya will try to set up a promotion in the next week or two. Get ready for possible deals. 😛

Assassin’s Creed – Origins

Hubby and I played an interim game between the two Assassin’s Creed games, but it ended up being just a preview. I may still share, as I enjoyed what we played, but this new (for us!) Assassin’s Creed is too gorgeous not to share!

So far, the mechanics work a lot smoother than Black Flag. They’ve also added a neat feature with the iconic eagle and gives the player an aerial view and other fun goodies!

Anyway, here we go!

I loved how they merged the normal Assassin’s Creed logo with the Egyptian hieroglyphs. Looks awesome!

A super cool combo of data streaming and hieroglyphics. Too cool!

Intro film – showing us the unforgiving desert. As with the other one I played, they dump you in the middle of things without context, which is slowly revealed during gameplay.

The prosperous village of Siwa.

A royal visitor – and the moment things began to go wrong.

A year has passed since Bayek noticed the masked figures with the royal caravan. Bayek is a Medjay for the Siwa village before tragedy struck. A Medjay is a protector and policeman of sorts. (I kept thinking they were saying magi! DOH!)

Isn’t this gorgeous? The detail is outstanding. You even burn cobwebs with the torch. Bayek has just dispatched the first of the five men responsible for corrupting the country and destroying all he held dear.

I loved that he apologized to the gods for infiltrating their temple and pilfering some treasures. It was also fascinating to hear him say ‘ancients’ when that is how we think of him in 48 BCE or so.

Just look at the awesome wall paintings! The neat columns! Such gorgeous work!

Such intricate work. Though you can’t take it with you, there are a ton of wonderful representations of actual items you’d see in the bigger tombs. Wait until I share the pic of the cat mummies! Squee!

I’ve put Cross-eyed Dragon Troubles and Inner Demons back for free at Smashwords if you need reading fodder. But if you can spare the cash, please support my still existing publishers! Much appreciated!

Virtual Tourist – Assassin’s Creed – Black Flag 3/22/20

Morning!

Let me get the mandatory stuff out of the way first!

Alien Redemption Trade Paperback

Alien Redemption is now available in trade paperback! You can find it both at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. B&N even has it on special at 10% off. Amazon will deliver it and B&N is offering curb side pickup for all online purchases.

Assassin’s Creed – Black Flag.

Havana on a foggy night.

Another part of Havana in daylight. Of all the places Edward has visited so far, this one is the most advanced.

In comparison, Nassau has a long way to go. This is the main pirate port.

Three pirate captains! Edward is in the middle, and Black Beard is on the right.

They do such awesome things with the water in this game! It’s like being in the Caribbean for real. Edwards just took over on the forts dotting the area.

Captain Kidd talking over a plan he’s concocted. He’s an enigma and makes Edward consider things he wouldn’t normally think about. (He has secrets!)

Ruins in one of the many islands in the area.

Gorgeous waterfalls. They even have a hint of a rainbow!

The real world – view from the office.

Gorgeous artwork on the way to the boss’s office.

Boss’s office. There’s good money in DNA extracted pasts used for entertainment.

Stay safe and clear of the virus. Support your local small businesses so they can financially survive past this challenge. We’ve never experienced something like this. It will bring out many feelings, but let’s not take them out on people who had nothing to do with it. We can make it through as long as we stay calm and together!

Till next time!

Virtual Tourist – Assassin’s Creed – Black Flag 02/16/20

Morning, all!

I haven’t done one of these in a while. Between YE chaos, added work chaos, and the coming release chaos, somethings I’ve had to let slide. (Though it’s over a year since the gall bladder surgery, I’m still not back to normal.) 🙁

Anyway! Here goes!

Assassin’s Creed – Black Flag

This is the first time I’ve tried playing one of the games in the franchise since the first one. Back then, I had to stop because even though I could close my eyes during synchronization, the baud rate in the white room of the prisoner in modern times was so low that even though nothing was moving, it gave me horrible motion sickness.

I am happy to say that this addition to the franchise does not have the same problem. I can even enjoy the beauty of the synchronizations as they got slowed down a bit. (Just don’t have Edward drink alcohol. Talk about side effects. I won’t do that again!) Lol.

The vistas are gorgeous, and the longer you play, the more options of stuff to do or equipment you can use open up. But some of the mechanics are clunky or get in the way. A decent tutorial on combat would have been nice – I still have trouble. 😛 (The same goes for ship combat!) But overall, hubby and I are enjoying it.

Our time vessel is Edward Kenway – a man desperate to gain fame and fortune. He wants to prove to his estranged wife and her family that he did not make the wrong decision by striking out on his own. Now that being a privateer has been outlawed, he’s going to become an outright pirate.

Eventual intro! Pictured here is the Port of Havana.

Edward and a mysterious man have survived the destruction of the ship they were on. Things turn a little weird here. The strange man is injured, and he asks Edward to help him get to Havana. The mysterious man has clothing fitting the Assassins Creed members, but seemingly he is a traitor and is working with the Templars. Somehow these two end up not coming to an understanding, and the wounded man speeds off like a gazelle, and Edward has to catch him. (I did say it got weird.)

From what I understand, the game has no way to remove the UI for pics. A pity, because as you can see, the visuals are lovely. 🙂

After catching up to the assassin, Edward takes his coat, message, and goods for himself. (No hidden blades yet, so cutlasses are for us arrh!) I loved the rainbow with the waterfall!

Edward does a lot of swimming. In a heavy coat to boot! 😛 Even his crew will make fun of him for it. Lol. There’s also an achievement. 😛

Havana without the logo. So nice!

The ever-present hawk leads us to the synchronization spot. Havana has multiple of these as it is a large city.

There are cats, dogs, and parrots you can pet in the game! There’s even an achievement for petting dogs. Too cute!

While some items are repetitive in their look, there’s plenty of excellent detail. Shafts of soft light from small fortress windows – how nice!

Here is a lovely view of several ships leaving the harbor. Look at the gorgeous water! Isn’t it amazing?

I hope you have a great week!

Obligatory Promo Section!

Yep, I gotta have this since a book is pending release. I am hoping to share the cover soon!

Don’t forget the Kindle and Nook versions are currently on pre-order at a discounted price.

You can find sample chapters here.

Don’t forget the free ebooks to help celebrate the release and to thank you for your help in getting the word out, doing reviews, whatever you feel like – Cross-eyed Dragon Troubles and Inner Demons.

Thanks again!!!!!!

Virtual Tourist – Yakuza 0 12/1/19

Mini Movie Reviews

Frozen 2

Frozen 2 – there was a lot to love about this sequel. I adored that we got to see how the family was before the scare, which made the parents separate the two girls. They also worked in the lesson from the first film into the second one, which made for a nice progression. The animation was great, and we have new songs to sing. Lol. I enjoyed it a lot! Rating: 3.75 out of 4 (Hubby’s Rating: Worth Full Price to See Again!)

Ford vs. Ferrari – Matt Damon and Christian Bale are fab in this film. The rapport between the two men and the difficulties they face came across as natural and with depth. From the quick research I did, this is mostly accurate, with the usual license taken by Hollywood to ramp up the excitement and drama. The one bit I do wish they’d pointed out better is how Ken Miles would have won the European trifecta of racing if he’d not been shafted at Le Mans. He would have been the first man to ever win all three. So sad. Good story, great cinematography, excellent acting, cool racing stunts. Rating: 3.75 out of 4 (Hubby’s Rating: Worth Full Price to See Again)

Yakuza 0

The game switches characters and cities. 1980’s fictional Okinawa!

See that giant crab sign? They have those for real! The details are amazing.

Side street view of the cabaret club called The Grand. This is where we will meet Majima.

The front entrance to The Grand. Super glitzy!

They have a full-on band! Though it is the ’80s, this does take you back to the big clubs from the ’40s.

A shot of the clientele at The Grand.

Spotted some nice decorations for Christmas! That’s Majima. Did I not take a pic of him? Eek!

Your super general type store – Don Quixote! They have all sorts of stuff for sale. 😛

This is shrine tucked away in some narrow streets close to Club Sunshine. The same weird priest with the clown face is here. A place to trade your CP points for goodies and advantages.

This town is chuck full of ritzy clubs. Everyone has money to burn! 😛

I keep trying to get myself back on to a regular schedule with posts, but life is all over the place. I hope you and yours had a great Thanksgiving!

Virtual Tourist – Seasons After Fall 11/3/19

Morning all!

Fall is definitely in the air. Temperatures have been chilly all week. It might actually be here to stay!

Due to unforeseen issues at the publisher, Alien Redemption will probably not be available in 2019 but be pushed to early 2020. 🙁 Editing is progressing. I don’t think they’ve assigned a cover artist yet.

Movie Reviews

Terminator: Dark Fate – A lot of James Cameron’s films of late have been not so great, so I went to see this with low expectations. I was very pleasantly surprised – the movie was good!

It picks up after events in Terminator 2 Judgement Day and then leaps forward twenty years or so. Skynet is no more. Now they have to worry about Legion. (Time does not like being messed with.)

Great action, special effects, and acting. There are lots of small surprises. I was impressed with the physical details concerning Grace being a cyborg. You can see the scars around her eyes, her arms, chest, and stomach where they did work on her. There are also divets, small screws, and more. And there is a price to be paid for the enhancements.

The new terminator type sent after Dani was super tough and absorbed information at an alarming rate. I love that they made him a small man, someone who you’d never expect to be able to do what he does. Both a liquid and solid terminator, he makes for a super challenging and scary combo. There were some attacks he could have done that he didn’t, but then a future flashback shows his compatriots doing precisely what I thought he should have done. LOL. Guess it would have made his mission too easy then.

Overall, I enjoyed the film a lot. Seeing Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwatzeneger together again was a treat. Bitter old Sarah Conner was a hoot. The film definitely deserves to do better at the box office than it has so far. Rating: 3.5 out of 4. (Hubby’s Rating: Worth Full Price to See Again!)

Virtual Tourist

Seasons After Fall

Our true form. This is the Sanctuary.

We are back inside the fox and heading off to the second guardian.

You’ll learn that in any of the areas with water, winter is your friend. It is the only way to get across and leap out.

Walking through a hollow log.

The route here is obstructed. There are little creatures you can get to spawn who, depending on the seasons, can be activated to blow them up. 🙂

Another obstruction. Though later, you learn to play with the steam and ice.

There’s a giant feather on the outcropping. Something that will be useful after we meet the second guardian.

The second guardian! Now things are about to get super interesting!

Now we can summon summer by barking twice near the energy ball. The new season affects the little guys, and thus we can make them leave their nest which you can see in the branch to the left.

The tree now has a carving for the second guardian as we make our way back to the Sanctuary.

Stay warm out there!

Virtual Tourist – ABZU 10/27/19

Morning!

October has turned out to be a very chaotic and tiring month. Loads of crazy stuff at work. The weather also just turned, so we’ve had lower temperatures and rain this week. But is the heat really done with us yet? We shall see!

Mini Movie Reviews

Gemini Man – Hubby and I had thought this would be Will Smith and his son, but it was all Will Smith. The film was great fun. Impressive stunts and fight scenes with some surprising moves. Gorgeous locals and cinematography. They even play with camera perspectives – enough to make it interesting, but not so much it disturbs the viewer. Rating: 3.5 out of 4 (Hubby’s Rating: Pay Full Price to See Again!)

The Current War: Director’s Cut – I’d never heard of the film until about a week ago. Per IMDB it was initially released in 2017. The title is horrible (If you don’t know what it is, you’d think it was an actual war movie.) The film is about Edison, Tesla, and Westinghouse and the fight/race to light up the US with either DC or Alternating Current. A lot of history gets sanitized for the history books. Here’s a chance to get a taste of what they don’t tell you. Great acting, fascinating history, and you get a feel for how truly revolutionary the concepts being thrown about are to the people of that ear. Rating: 3.75 out of 4 (Hubby’s Rating: Worth Full Price.)

Virtual Tourist

ABZU

ABZU is a visually stunning puzzle game. The music and art are great, but I will say it was really short (only a little over 3 hrs of gameplay), and the character movement underwater is so awkward that it proved frustrating and horribly distracting from the beauty around you. Just about the time I finally felt I got the hang of it, the game was over. o.O

A fast-moving current underwater.

The awakening.

That’s us. You become aware floating facedown in the water.

The first area – there are several species of fish to meet. 🙂

Each area is different, and through your explorations and solving of puzzles, the area themselves can change. You start getting the feeling something terrible happened here, and you’re trying to fix it.

You will find a statue like this in each new area. You can sit on it and meditate. In meditation, the camera will attach to a nearby fish and follow it around, showing you the name on the bottom right.

As you complete the puzzles, you will enter this energy temple area and give energy to it.

The central area of the energy temple.

Once you give the energy for the area you completed, the energy temple will go through a growth sequence.

This occurs after the change at the temple, transforming the garden and releasing new creatures into the sea.

Have a great week!

Virtual Tourist – Yakuza 0 9/15/19

Morning!

Dropped off the planet again. Seems to be more often than not anymore. Apologies!

I could bore you with the weird health issues or the insanity at work with the horrible software we now have to work in, but I won’t. 😛 Let’s look at something more fun. 🙂

News – Edits on “Alien Redemption” are moving forward! I don’t know if the publisher will work it all in before the end of the year, but I am hopeful! So keep your fingers crossed!

Also, for anyone up in the Oklahoma area, there are activities on Nov 2-3, 2019. I won’t be signing up but thought it would be worth passing then info. It’s the Tulsa Pop Culture Expo 2019! (They were super nice to reach out and send me info, so I figured I’d help them in return. :))

Yakuza O

One of the crazy things about the game is the substories. The main storyline is super serious, but everything else? Not so much. Lol. In this one, I’ve been helping out as a “producer” for a difficult director. They even dressed me for the part. Well, the guy behind Kazuma is the real Producer. The clothes are an exact match. lol.

Another bizarre substory. Helping a dom learn how to talk the talk. (She was too polite and her customers weren’t feeling it. ROFL.)

So adorable! Look at the cute kappa statue! Awwww!

Maharajah Disco. There’s one of these in both cities in the game. The dancing mini-game is HARD! (At least to my uncoordinated fingers.) 😛

Like the substories, all the mini-games take things to farce levels. They have the guys to Saturday Night Fever struts before we do the dancing. The disparity between the main story line and everything else is extreme, but also a lot of fun.

See what I mean? (Oh, and during Karaoke, it goes super crazy. No pics as I am pushing arrow keys like mad! lol)

Swank hotel/office lobby. I’m about to go see a mysterious benefactor.

A lot of the substories end up having to do with kids. Some of the stories are too adorable.

Kazuma has such awesome facial expressions! Lol.

This is Oda. Right-hand man to Tachibana, the mysterious benefactor. He wants to test my mettle. 😛

May your week be fruitful and calm!

Category: Virtual Tourism

Virtual Tourism

Virtual Tourist – Assassin’s Creed Origins 8/2/20

Assassin’s Creed Origins

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Virtual Tourist – The Council 7/12/20

The Council

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Virtual Tourist – Assassin’s Creed – Origins 5/17/20

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Virtual Tourist – Assassin’s Creed – Origins 5/3/20

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Virtual Tourist – Assassin’s Creed – Black Flag 3/22/20

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Virtual Tourist – Assassin’s Creed – Black Flag 02/16/20

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Obligatory Promo Section!

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Virtual Tourist – Yakuza 0 12/1/19

Mini Movie Reviews

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Virtual Tourist – Seasons After Fall 11/3/19

Movie Reviews

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Virtual Tourist – ABZU 10/27/19

Mini Movie Reviews

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Virtual Tourist – Yakuza 0 9/15/19

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The Council

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Assassin’s Creed – Origins

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Assassin’s Creed – Origins

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Assassin’s Creed – Black Flag.

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Assassin’s Creed – Black Flag

Obligatory Promo Section!

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Mini Movie Reviews

Yakuza 0

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Movie Reviews

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Seasons After Fall

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Mini Movie Reviews

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Yakuza O

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