A few days ago Activision finally released the Stimulus Downloadable Content for Modern Warfare 2. Much to my delight, one of my favorite Call of Duty 4 maps, Crash, was part of the map pack. The only downside to this package is that it has a separate playlist, meaning it’s got a map rotation of just the 5 ‘new’ maps. That being said, Crash barely comes up as a playable map anyway, it’s mostly Overgrown or Salvage, much to my dislike. I definitely enjoy this game and these new maps are a great add-on, be it that the new maps are quite confusing and big, whereas the returning classics are played either far too often (in Overgrown’s case) or far too few.
Summer’s coming up, good weather is starting to arrive, time for a fresh start! Lately I’ve been having plans pop into my mind about redesigning my room. This doesn’t involve entirely redecorating it, I’m satisfied on that extent, but more of removing some furniture I don’t use at all and replacing it by some stuff I could put to use, such as a second desk to work on. The problem is though, my parents won’t really like me dishing out some closets that have been in here for over 10 years, so I’ll need to discuss it with them first. It’s pretty straightforward though, the biggest closet in my room takes up nearly 1/4th of my available space and it’s not put to use at all. There’s all sorts of junk inside it I’ve probably not seen for years or more. Removing it from my room would be the perfect occasion to start over a bit and get things a bit organized. We’ll see what happens, I’ll keep you posted.
Probably one of the most exciting games I’ve ever played is Assassin’s Creed II, the sequel to the well-known game Assassin’s Creed published by Ubisoft. The story of the sequel picks up where it’s predecessor left off, following Desmond in his pursuit of finding out about his ancestors whom were all part of the order of assassins, a group of killers designated to protect the world by slaying all who wish to take control of it. It’s a purely fictive game and storyline but it is in fact based on actual historical events and facts, albeit they’re slightly altered, but nonetheless it takes a lot of imagination and inspiration to develop such a game and to keep the player compelled to it.
Based in renaissance Italy, the game shows a young Etzio Auditore, the lead figure of the game, as the new ancestor of Desmond. Being a womanizer and a thug, you have little more than your fists as weapons to survive in this harsh period of time in Italy. Soon enough though, Etzio will find out the true legacy of his father, whom was formerly known as just a banker, and will be required to pick it up and pass it on. Being an assassin, his father has a wonderful piece of gear that closely resembles to Altaïr’s. After his family has been betrayed by a local official, it’s up to Etzio to avenge the death of his father and two brothers and to secure his mother and sister’s life. The game will continue to focus on this, as well as finding out the whole conspiracy behind his family’s betrayal and a lot more.
For all I have left to say, this game is a wonderful piece of storyline and hack ‘n slash entertainment, all combined with beautiful graphics and fast-paced action. A must-have!
The examination period is over and done with, time to relax during our spring break, also referred to as the Easter holiday. Just to keep it short regarding my examinations, they were fairly good and I don’t have anything to worry about so far, albeit a bit tricky for some of them, we’ll see how it turns out in the end. Most of them consisted of programming languages so the majority were practical exams where you need to develop an application in a certain amount of time (in our case it was 2 hours per application). Other than that there was a networking exam which consisted of an online assessment provided by Cisco, the leading figure when it comes to networking and network management. Most of the lecturers give your grades straight away as they’re instantly given, others will need some time to correct and review your developed applications.
Spring is in the air now as we notice flowers starting to bloom, the rain is returning (replacing the snow we’ve come to hate) and leaves us inside yet once again. It’s also a sign to the students that summer isn’t that far away anymore. Summer time is most likely the thing most students look forward to as they can relax two to three months in a row, spending their holiday either working or going on a trip. I, for one, will be working one half of my holiday and relax during the other half, just to earn some cash and still be able to recover from school. But, before we can start enjoying that, it’s still a while to get there and another examination period awaits us at the end of this academic year. Shouldn’t be too hard, I’ll just give it my all when the time comes.
More to come soon!
Whenever you’re planning to create or design something, it’s always handy to make some preparations beforehand. In a similar way an examination or test should require you to do the same things as you’re about to create and/or design something but this time within a certain amount of time. This is why I always try to make some exercises before heading into an exam. However, this only applies to course modules where you actually have to make something, rather than writing down and answering some theory questions (e.g. networking), in that case it’s better to get into your books and study all the necessary stuff. I believe that the projects we make during the course of the year are always meant to keep us in shape programming wise. Hence why I always try to make the best out of it and try to enjoy the projects I’m supposed to make.
My latest project was an ASP.NET driven website with Microsoft SQL as the data storage type. It was a preparation for the ASP.NET exam I will be having next week. On this exam we’ll need to explain how and why we used the code we’ve written to create and design the website, this based on what we’ve seen in class. I’ll be uploading the website to my Projects subpage as soon as I find the time for it.
Wish me luck for these exams,
Will