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Sep. 7th, 2014 10:37 pmSo minecraft is sort of saving my sanity right now because it's the only one of my games I can still play -- using the mouse right now is problematic enough in the best circumstances, but since I'm still trapped in the backup chair (wrong height, wrong angle, no side to side tilt) it's even worse, and all of my games require both mouse and some keyboard.
(There are of course mouse-only games for things like Bejeweled, but that's not really the same sort of thing, and doesn't scratch the right itch; plus which, I'm using the mouse awkwardly with my non dominant hand, so anything that requires speed or accuracy is right out, and generally mouse-only games require both of those.)
(Plus, there is something innately therapeutic about virtually smacking things in the face with a sword.)
Not being able to do gaming is making the house-arrest of not having my real chair (have I talked about that here? How I can't really go anywhere safely so I'm stuck at home) way more frustrating.
But minecraft has an iOS version. That I can play on my iPad. And that works for the way I hold it. (Landscape, with hands along the sides, mostly touchpadding using thumbs.). And while it's not the only game I have installed, it's the only one that feels like gaming.
Except.
Mods (which are IMO a pain in the ass, and confusing, to install in the PC version) are pretty much impossible (without jailbreaking and other stuff that is beyond my capacity given that I can't really figure out the PC equivalent, which is easier).
Which wouldn't be a problem except that I get lost.
Easily.
So, like, I build a house, and make it all pretty, and put important stuff in chests, and then go wandering -- above ground for NPC villages or other kinds of tree/flower or just because wandering is fun, or below ground for iron or diamonds or redstone -- and then can't get back home argh.
I have a workaround for the PC version, which is F3 to get the debug info up, and write down the x/z coordinates of important places like my home base, and then when I want to get from somewhere else to a known place I just compare coordinates and travel as necessary. This is a tad kludgier than ideal, not as good as installing a mod that allows me to set visually-marked waypoints, but it works.
The iOS version, as far as I can tell, has no way to display coordinates. At all. No debug screen, no way to get info, nada.
So in my current world I have a house that is aesthetically pleasing and also decently functional and defensible, and it is close to good sources of trees (spruce in one direction, birch in another) and close to sheep and pigs, and I'm scared to go anywhere because I won't be able to get back. And sure, it's valid to play nomadically -- carry with me the important stuff, food and coal and iron and any diamonds I come across, and just wander with no fixed home -- but that's not what I want to do right now. I want cozy adventures, where it doesn't matter that I'm hoarding gravel for no apparent reason, where I don't lose everything when I die, where I feel safe and not stressed.
I'm a little frustrated.
*gnaws on things*
(There are of course mouse-only games for things like Bejeweled, but that's not really the same sort of thing, and doesn't scratch the right itch; plus which, I'm using the mouse awkwardly with my non dominant hand, so anything that requires speed or accuracy is right out, and generally mouse-only games require both of those.)
(Plus, there is something innately therapeutic about virtually smacking things in the face with a sword.)
Not being able to do gaming is making the house-arrest of not having my real chair (have I talked about that here? How I can't really go anywhere safely so I'm stuck at home) way more frustrating.
But minecraft has an iOS version. That I can play on my iPad. And that works for the way I hold it. (Landscape, with hands along the sides, mostly touchpadding using thumbs.). And while it's not the only game I have installed, it's the only one that feels like gaming.
Except.
Mods (which are IMO a pain in the ass, and confusing, to install in the PC version) are pretty much impossible (without jailbreaking and other stuff that is beyond my capacity given that I can't really figure out the PC equivalent, which is easier).
Which wouldn't be a problem except that I get lost.
Easily.
So, like, I build a house, and make it all pretty, and put important stuff in chests, and then go wandering -- above ground for NPC villages or other kinds of tree/flower or just because wandering is fun, or below ground for iron or diamonds or redstone -- and then can't get back home argh.
I have a workaround for the PC version, which is F3 to get the debug info up, and write down the x/z coordinates of important places like my home base, and then when I want to get from somewhere else to a known place I just compare coordinates and travel as necessary. This is a tad kludgier than ideal, not as good as installing a mod that allows me to set visually-marked waypoints, but it works.
The iOS version, as far as I can tell, has no way to display coordinates. At all. No debug screen, no way to get info, nada.
So in my current world I have a house that is aesthetically pleasing and also decently functional and defensible, and it is close to good sources of trees (spruce in one direction, birch in another) and close to sheep and pigs, and I'm scared to go anywhere because I won't be able to get back. And sure, it's valid to play nomadically -- carry with me the important stuff, food and coal and iron and any diamonds I come across, and just wander with no fixed home -- but that's not what I want to do right now. I want cozy adventures, where it doesn't matter that I'm hoarding gravel for no apparent reason, where I don't lose everything when I die, where I feel safe and not stressed.
I'm a little frustrated.
*gnaws on things*