#Heretical Objects Coop

[fleshwerks]

it's mr. Lea Surana day! all day long!

there was that one time when alistair theirin...

a king mr lea surana made through sheer willpower, resourcefulness, brutal suppression and execution of any who would have enough power and will to contest this machination, a king out of an unvalidated, bastard boy with no reigning experience or education, whose only claim to the throne was 'looks a lot like cailan theirin'. and alistair theirin, king of ferelden, never really got along with lea surana. alistair was a hypocrite with a big mout h and little courage to seize the day, and lea surana was a sheltered fucking librarian slash procurer of illicit goods for the rest of the mages cooped up in there, a young man who had managed to avoid being made tranquil because he was, unbeknownst to him, something of a pet project to the first enchanter irving. and being an intense 19-year-old guy from a closed society, the first thing he thought of alistair when he saw him was: 'oh andraste, he's hot'. until alistair opened his mouth, of course, and it's hard to remain civil with someone who is straight, obnoxious, and also the object of your desire and infatuation.

anyway. king alistair forgot who paved his way to the throne with bones for cobblestones and blood and fingernails for mortar, and rebuffed lea surana, who by that time had holed up in soldier's peak, having it turned into a laboratory well supplied, yet isolated and near unassailable, a source of mystery, fascination, and one of ill repute. in the guts of the 'soldier', as people call it, the heretic mage, yellow prince, wraith of ferelden, had consolidated brilliant minds and rare resources to figure out how to reach the Maker himself, demand answers from him, and if answers don't satisfy, then tear god from his throne and take his place. not to rule, but to remove god from the world, enjoy the peace of being an absent god, floating in time and space long after the universe had grown cold, dark, and devoid of anything but void and dense dead stars. whilst, of course, leaving the living world to blossom and live out its existence the way it chooses, because lea surana is ruthless, ambitious, and will delete everything that's not wise enough to stay out of his way, but the world is very beautiful, and it needs no meddling god, much like a boy becoming adult does not need a father to dominate him and tell him how to live. good, bad, the worst, it's what attracted this envy demon to the waking world in the first place, what made it see a dead elven newborn float down the river to the ocean in its tiny little funerary vessel, and decide to take its form, like many demons who haunted clan surana had done before. 'mythal has judged the dead, and releases them not to the afterlife just yet'. many dead washed back to the shore of the surana living grounds after having died and been given to the river. all of them changelings, gifts of mythal, rejected by death.

ANYWAY. king alistair theirin forgot who made him, who put that fancy circlet of gold upon his brow, and ferelden was this close to imploding into another civil war between the king and the yellow prince holed up in soldier, with all of amaranthine to supply defensive forces and to feed them too. except it didn't happen. not yet.

so lea surana plucked maggots from carrion and ate them, and spat out a black fly, who landed on his hand and listened closely, when lea surana told him to 'go remind the king how easily he can be unmade'. and it did. right in through the ear canal, a bite down, and ten minutes later the king was on the floor. three weeks of edge of consciousness and a bad infection in that ear. he never regained hearing in that ear again. the black fly returned to lea surana, and guard scurrying suspiciously tensely, albeit no alarm was sounded, told lea surana everything he needed to know.

and then he ate that fly because bugs are good protein. like a snack. and left denerim, protected by the fear of those who still saw him as one of the king's court, and avoided by those who had an idea of what he'd done, but knew better than to get in his way. he's not a malicious man. just stay out of his way, because he has a meeting with god to prepare for.

peace in ferelden lasted another year until alistair finally stripped the lands of amaranthine from lea surana in absentia, and took his troops to siege the soldier's peak for two more years until lea surana disappeared, and when the king's troops overran the castle, they found hell inside, and no soul in it. just... gone. all of them.

[teh2dgamer]

Spotlight: Nintendo 64 First Person Shooters. 007: The World is Not Enough Look at a list of the best Bond games released since Goldeneye, and there will usually be one thing common in all of them, they're, more than likely, all developed by Eurocom, and The World is not enough is all where it started. While I, personally, still prefer Goldeneye over this game, mostly due to the feeling in the gunplay, there are some people out there who, indeed, like this game over Rare's Goliath, and I can understand why. While I can't go into every detail, one of the biggest pros is that it definitely gets the Bond feel down better than Goldeneye, especially with a heavier emphasis on the use of gadgets. Swap any character out with Bond in Goldeneye, and the game would still make sense. The World is Not enough, you would still be able to tell there was a heavy Bond influence. The Core design still copies the foundation first seen in Goldeneye, objective-based missions, with tons of bad guys to dispatch. The mechanics are the same in the controls, and the auto aiming of weapons. The game duplicates Goldeneye's gameplay masterfully, while still managing to create it's own feel. Even the gunplay is done really well, but I cannot put my finger on what exactly, but Goldeneye's feels a little better. Maybe it's the speed of it, I can't really say. That being said, this is still, easily, one of the best shooters on the Nintendo 64, and it even adds bots in the multiplayer for good measure. Armorines: Project S.W.A.R.M. As I said in my spotlight PS1 First Person Shooters video, even for it's time, armorines was an average-at-best first person shooter. That being said, I do remember the reviews for this game being awful, and while I haven't played all the way through this game, I can already tell you that it is better than the reviews made it out to be. This is not the best shooter you will find on the Nintendo 64, but it certainly isn't the worst either. The N64 version is probably the better buy over the PS1 version, even if it feels more sluggish (even with an expansion pak, and running it in lo-rez mode), and the designers, for whatever reason forgot about the play mechanic where, firing off your last round makes your charcater automatically reload for you. You have to do it manually every time. Doom 64 This was my introduction to Doom. Having never owned a PC growing up, I never had the chance to experience the original. PC's were neither as cheap, nor as common place as they are today, and very few people I knew ever owned one. So, having never played the original Doom, Doom 64 is the game I referenced in my mind every time the subject of Doom came up. This darker-feeling moody Doom game with redone character sprites, fully polygonal graphics, and an ambient soundtrack is what I truly thought Doom was. It is strange to say, looking back now, but I had no internet, and no magazine subscriptions at the time of it's release, so I did not find out the truth about this game for years. That being said, this, for it's time, completely new Doom game, made from the ground up, all new graphics, all new levels, and same great Doom feel is a great addition to the Doom series, and a great addition to your N64 first person shooter library. Duke Nukem 64 While Duke Purists pan the N64 port for having the raunchiest bits of the game censored, which in hindsight, as gaming has already long-since passed the F-bomb and nudity lines, is a small complaint. Yes, some of the raunchy bits add to the cheesy-action-character theme of the game, even without the shock value, you are still left with an exceptionally designed first person shooter. Do you really think that Duke was only popular because of it's shock value? What this port of Duke loses in censorship, it makes up for with some thoughtful additions; The graphics have been completely revamped Better looking areas, better looking explosions, redone, smoother looking weapon and enemy sprites, and a smooth framerate; some level layouts have been altered, and there are even new secret areas to find in some of them; and there are some cool multiplayer additions like being able to play the campaign coop with a friend, and a deathmatch mode that even lets you fight against bots. I only have two small complaints against this port, the first is the default controller setup forces you to use the d-pad to swap out weapons which requires you to move one hand off of the controller in order to change weapons. That being said, I have not played around with the control setups, so scratch that complaint if just swapping the controller layout in the options remedies that one. And My biggest complaint of all is “What Happened to the music.” That's right, upon booting the game up, you a treated to an awesome rendition of the Duke Nukem theme, but that's where the music begins and ends with this game. All the levels are silent, hearing only Duke and the enemies. Small annoyance for what is still a great shooter to add to your library. Goldeneye: 007 If you own an N64, you obviously do no need to be told about this one. I had so many great memories of playing this one multiplayer against my brother and another friend, we could not find a fourth player, as we got so good, and so cut-throat in this game, no one wanted to play against us. There is so much I could go into about Goldeneye, but it is one of those games that so many people have so many great memories playing as well. Even though I can admit that it was overrated in hindsight, I still love this game, and the fond memories of playing it. Parts of the game may feel dated, mostly the control scheme, and the bot-less multiplayer, meaning, in my opinion, you need at least three people playing to make it fun, because one-on one bores me, but the single player and the feel of the game are still really fun to this day. I think part of it is that you can tell that Rare had a lot of fun making this game. It is a serious game that doesn’t take itself too seriously. For starters, everything in the game blows up when shot; shoot a chair, shoot a desk, it doesn't matter, everything blows up; the enemies, also, have such a goofy and awkward charm to them, that you almost feel bad for killing them...almost, as they certainly don't have the same problem with killing you, especially on the harder difficulties. They don't say anything, this is akin to killing a bunch of mimes, but they still have tons of character in their animations. Even their death animations are goofy. Aside from the humor, the game has some serious gameplay. Previous shooters on other consoles did have multiplayer through system link, but Goldeneye showed off the power of the N64 by setting the standard for split-screen multiplayer being as much of a must in it's day as online deathmatch is currently. As I mentioned earlier, the gunplay is thrilling, and other hardcore additions like the ability to unlock new cheats by completing each lever on a certain difficulty within a certain time-limit turning every level in the game into it's own challenge mode, and adding a ton of replay value. There is no cheat menu in this game, no codes, you have to ear your cheats, which you can then use in multiplayer. I can go on and on, about this game. Even if you were not a fan of this game, you still have to admit that Goldeneye has left it's mark on gaming, and, in my opinion is a timeless classic. Hexen I guess that Hexen does sort-of qualify as a first person shooter. It does have certain RPG elements, but Ultima Underworld this ain't. Hexen is a part of the Heretic series...which means little to me as Hexen is the only game in the series I have played. I remember renting Hexen for the Nintendo 64 back in the day, and hating it. I remember thinking it was kind of cool that my brother and I could play it coop, in fact, up to four players can which is really cool. There is also a deathmatch mode for kicks. If you asked me, for the longest time, I would tell you this was an awful game. I saw little value in it for the longest time, however, years of hearing it's fans defend it, and realizing that I certainly did not play it enough to give it a fair shot back in the 90's has caused me to acquire it myself. I have had it for years, and still haven't played it much since. In playing this footage, this is probably the furthest I have gotten in the game since I rented it 19-20 years ago, and, sure enough, it clicked this time, and I actually enjoyed what I played. It might be another decade before I ever play it again, but now I see the appeal, and why people like it. This will never be my favorite Shooter/rpg hybrid, but it definitely has it's appeal. I can't recommend this to every N64 owner, but more for those with open minds, and are more forgiving in their gaming. Perfect Dark I probably do not have to tell anyone about this game either. Rare did a bang-up job in following up Goldeneye with a game that improved on the formula in almost every way. After Goldeneye, EA acquired the rights to the James Bond License, leaving Rare to start a completely original IP as the true sequel. The end product was the ever-delayed Perfect Dark. If you were stuck on a desert Island, and only an N64 to play, this is definitely the game you want to have on that island. It has so many modes of play, and thanks to the bot-multiplayer, almost endless replay value. The graphics, thanks to the expansion pack, are high-rez; the single player mode now sports a storyline as well as voice over work, and allows for two player coop; bots have now been added to the multiplayer meaning that even if you have no one to play with, you can still enjoy the multiplayer; all kinds of challenge modes have been added, even the firing range at the carrington institute has it's own challenge modes; and overall, Rare went out of their way to improve over Goldeneye in every way. I only really have two small complaints about this game. The biggest is the addition of an incredibly annoying blur effect whenever you get hit. This is especially annoying in multiplayer, because not only does it lead to the computer opponents slapping you to death as your entire screen turns into a blurred mess of annoyance, but not even dying clears this effect from your screen. You respawn with a screen that is just as blurry as when you died, and you have to wait until it clears on it's own. I know this seems like a nitpick on what is otherwise an exemplary game, but it sometimes ruins the experience in multiplayer for me. My other small complaint is, well, not really a complaint, but just the fact that even with so many improvements over Goldeneye, I still like Goldeneye better. For me, it will always be the more memorable of the two games. Every level in Goldeneye is a lot more memorable than the ones in Perfect Dark. In order to remember a level in Perfect Dark, I generally have to play it again, whereas, I can remember most of the levels in Goldeneye off the top of my head. This could be chocked up to the different stage of life I was in at the time of Perfect Dark's release, or maybe the vastly different gaming climate in the year 2000 when Perfect Dark hit verses the one in 1997 when Goldeneye hit. I don't fully remember when I picked this game up, I do remember that it was when it was dropped to a 10 dollar price tag, and I bought it with Donkey Kong Country, because It came with the expansion pack. So, when I bought it, I either already owned a Sega Dreamcast, or was very close to owning one, meaning, though Perfect Dark was a great game, and I did put many hours into it, between being hyped for the PS2, owning a Dreamcast, as well as collecting for the PS1, my gaming focus had shifted away from the Nintendo 64. I had also moved away from my home town, and ended up moving again after a year to another new high school in arizona meaning that, by the time I had made friends that were trustworthy enough to come over and play games, we were already playing PS2, Xbox, and Gamecube games, and any itching we had for bot deathmatches went to Timesplitters. So, for me Goldeneye will always be king, even if, objectively, Perfect Dark is the better of the two, I just spent more time with Goldeneye, and have better memories of playing it. However, if you own an N64, this game needs to be in your collection. I don't even know if it is debatable. Quake II Like Doom 64, this was the only version of Quake II I had played, or, eventually, owned, and like Doom 64, I had no idea till much later that this version of Quake II was a completely different version of the game. I did not even own a copy of the PC version until 2005, and not even the gaming magazines at the time bothered to mention the fact that N64 version of Quake II was a completely different game from the PC version, so I just figured that Quake II had ambient music in the backgrounds, and straight forward sequential levels. I had rented the original Quake for the N64 previously, so I figured quake II used the same moody style soundtrack. Boy was I wrong about that one. The N64 version of Quake II would probably be more like a mission pack for the PC version, and scores points for being a completely different game. All the levels are new, and different from the PC version, there is no hub-level setup where each level felt like one giant seamless level with different areas to explore in the PC original, and the rocking Sonic Mayhem soundtrack has been replaced with ambient music. The N64 version still has all the baddies, and hard-hitting beefy weapons (minus the throwing grenades, but who misses them) of the PC version. While, obviously, the speed of shifting to a mouse setup to an analog stick has slowed the game down quite a bit, the game still has it's own sense of intensity, and there is always something so satisfying about blasting an enemy in the face with the Quake II Super-shotgun. My favorite shotgun in all of gaming. This is a well designed, well made, great shooter, that is a great addition to any shooter fan's library. There is even a solid deathmatch in this one for up to four players, but no bots to frag. This is one of my favorites. Turok Dinosaur Hunter This was, actually, my introduction to first person shooters. This was the first one I ever played. Looking back, I remember this game seeming very disorienting. I never got motion sickness from games, but being new to 3D gaming, and having Turok as on of the first polygonal games I played, this game, at the time, seemed a lot more magical, and mystical to me. There was something surreal about playing this game, and I still really like it. In hindsight, there are issues that may turn some gamers off to this game. I liken it to platformer elements added to the design. The biggest one being that in order to unlock new levels in the game, you have to find level keys hidden throughout each of the massive levels in the game. Many of them are obvious, and easy to find, but others require exploring every inch of each level to find hidden areas. Turok does have a very goo map function, but this means that the reward for beating a level, is not always going to the next level in the game. If you missed some of the keys hidden throughout the map, you have to backtrack to search every inch of the previous levels in order to find the keys. Basically, if you don't get them all on your first try, you will be replaying many of the levels multiple times. Luckily, there is a list in the menu of all the keys on each level, so you can find out how many you still need to find in each level. The level are huge, and replaying many of them can lead to frustration, especially the ones that require a lot of platform jumping, and that is anoter thing that may turn many gamers off, there is a ton of platform jumping in Turok. Many of them can be annoying when you miss the jump, and have to constantly climb back up to the beginning to start the platform sequence again. This sometimes feels like Trial and error, but in other places, it is do or die. Meaning missing the platform treats you to a quick cutscene of Turok plummeting to his death, and using up a life. That is another platformer-esk design choice that will seem out of place, while there are mid-level save-points, Turok gains lives be collecting 100 of these triangle things. I am not sure if I have just forgotten their official names, or if I never knew their names to begin with. So, triangle things. When you collect 100, Turok usually announces the fact that you just gained an extra life by proclaiming I am Turok, and generally scaring the ever living crap out of you in the process. When you run out of lives, it is game over, and there is no continuing. I guess you could consider the lives system as retry system where you get to start back over where you left off without loading your game, but, even then, it does seem like a strange system in a shooter. That being said, I still love this game. I have never actually beaten it by playing straight through, but that's because this is one of those games where the cheat codes were just so fun to play around with that I have spent more time playing the game with cheats over the years than I have trying to play it in a serious manner. Playing around in the game can be just as fun as playing it seriously which adds a new dimension of fun to the game. Overall, despite some awkward design choices that may turn some gamers off, this is still a worthy title for First Person Shooter fans, and it has impeccable atmosphere, and yes, a lot of fog too. Turok 2: Seeds of Evil If I remember correctly, the developers of this game were quoted as saying that every level in Turok 2 is the equivalent of walking six virtual miles. Turok 2 improved over the original in many ways. Better graphics thanks to the expansion pack, bigger levels, an actual storyline, split screen multiplayer, and cooler weapons like the cerebral bore. To be honest, I still have yet to fully play through this one either. Not only have I had fun playing around with the cheats as I did with the original, there is one incredibly demotivating design choice that has always kept me from fully playing this game. I don't even remember how far I have played into it over the years, as I tend to delete my save in order to make room on my N64 memory card for other games. What has kept me from being motivated from seeing this one all the way through is simply that, in each level, Adon starts out by giving you the level objectives you have to complete. Taking a que from Goldeneye, Turok 2 switched to objective-based missions. What demotivates me every time I decide, “This time I'm going to do it. I will see it though this time!” is the simple fact that, if you miss one of the objectives in the level, you get knocked right back to the beginning of the level and have to start again. The objectives you have already completed are still completed, but you have to retread to find, say, that one missing child you did not rescue. So you just walked through six virtual miles of gameplay, and if you missed even one thing, you have to do it all over again. Whereas in the original Turok, even if you did not find every key in each level, you would usually still find enough keys to unlock a new level, so you did not have to replay the level you just played right then, in Turok 2, you are basically stuck in limbo until you complete the level. This kind of kills all my motivation to see this game all the way through, and it does it every time. I know this can be remedied by not sucking at the game, but if you miss one thing, no mercy shall be applied, you have to start right from the beginning of the level again. There is no grace My only other slight quip about this game is that, while the game does look great running in the high-rez mode, and even the high-rez leterbox mode, thanks to the expansion pack, if you want it to be playable, and not sluggish, you still have to play it in low-rez mode as the high-rez mode make the game chug. The fog doesn't bother me as much as it bothers others. I don't mean to sound overly critical, because I still really like this game, and do suggest it to all N64 fist person gamers, just be warned, there are some frustrating design choices. That being said, I am totally going to see this game through one of these days. Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion One of the last big shooter releases for the N64, Turok 3 definietly has a Half-Life inspired single player mode, and in my, probably unpopular opinion, has the best single player in the original Turok series. I have actually played through this game all the way, but it has been years, and I only vaguely remember it. The only complaint I remember having is that the weapons in the game did not feel as though they had as much omph to them as in previous games. The beginning sequence sees the current Turok dying, thus leaving the role of Turok open for two new characters to fill. The player can choose to play the game as either Danielle or Joseph. Danielle is capable of jumping higher, and can reach different paths in each level that Joseph cannot, however, Joesph is smaller, and can slip into smaller areas that Danielle cannot. This gives the player the incentive to play though the game twice, once with each character, in order to see all the game has to offer. Thanks to their work on the previous Turok Rage Wars, the multiplayer is much imporved with the addition of bots. These bots aren't as smart as those found in perfect Dark, and they have the tendency to team up on you, even when teams are turned off, but it is still a nice addition to the game. Overall, I would have to say this is my favorite Turok on the N64, and it is different enough from the previous games that, even if you could not get into the original or Turok 2, Turok 3 is still worth a look. And, hey, you can actually play this one in high-rez mode as it doesn't go into slug mode when you do. Turok: Rage Wars 1999 was the year of the tournament shooter. Id software and Epic Megagames released two huge bombs on PC gamers that year known as Quake III and Unreal Tournament. Rage wars follows suit with the simple question, “Who needs a single player mode?” Like Quake III and Unreal Tournament, what consists of a single player campaign in Rage was is just a series a bot matches with multiplayer objectives added. Multiplayer arenas have replaced large, intricately designed levels, and there is no story to speak of. After every few levels, you get a boss level, but in the end, the single player mode is just training for the multiplayer mode, and the only reason to bother is because playing it unlocks things in multiplayer. I have one really big caution for this game. The single player mode alloys for coop play with a friend, however, if you own the black cartridge version of this game, you will never be able to complete the game with two player coop. There is a glitch in the black cartridge version in one of the monkey-tag modes that no matter what you do, you will always lose the match. It is a game, ending glitch. Luckily, Acclaim later released a Grey version of the cart with where this glitch is fixed. So, if you are buying this game off of amazon, or ebay, make sure you buy the gray version of the cart.

[hereticalobjects-blog]

H.O.C. will be curating the opening night party to celebrate this year's Come Up To My Room art & design extravaganza at The Gladstone Hotel. 

Entitled "Any Way You Like It", the event will feature installations and performances by WISH, COUNTRY & MARRIAGE

http://comeuptomyroom.com/any-way-you-like/

HOCs Jaclyn Blumas & Robert Cram are also a part of the 3 member curating team who fully assembled and organized this year's massive Come Up To My Room show!!

GO H.O.C.!! 

[kahunacrush]

A quiet tropical night... where dreams take over

[hereticalobjects-blog]

H.O.C's Mutt Kaw puts the final touches on his triumphant Die And Be Reborn installation for this month's #ComeUpToMyRoom show at The Gladstone Hotel. 

""die and be reborn" invites the viewer to witness the split second before the soul leaves one physical form behind to turn to dust, and takes on another in a never ending cycle of life, death, and reincarnation." 

[hereticalobjects-blog]

STREAM #DIRTYFRIGS NEW EP RIGHT NOW OVER AT CHART ATTACK -- http://www.chartattack.com/news/2014/11/12/premiere-dirty-frigs-ep/

[hereticalobjects-blog]

Montreal experimental ambient drone/folk musician #MBBAKER's debut album is now available for stream and purchase on our bandcamp page

----->>  https://hereticalobjects.bandcamp.com/album/cairns

[hereticalobjects-blog]

#Unfinished Business drop a new video for their Haunted House Remix. Check them out live on Thurs. Oct. 2nd at The Silver Dollar alongside Rhyme Jaws & Cyprian.

Purchase their amazing debut album Mix and Mash here ------------- http://hereticalobjects.bandcamp.com/album/mix-n-mash

[hereticalobjects-blog]

2 Takes from 6 Mile Lake

#WickedWitches announce the arrival of a new single and B-side. The pairing, entitled "2 Takes from 6 Mile Lake", is a short selection taken from an extensive recording session up north this past winter. 

A short film directed by HOC's Trevor Blumas, and produced and art directed by the whole cooperative, will accompany the audio release.

To celebrate, the band is throwing a party at the Magpie Taproom on Sat. Sept. 27th and invited some friends to take part: The Auras, Marriage and Killer Wails

Details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/368183376671260/

[hereticalobjects-blog]

$TEPPING $TONE single teaser by Kivesche Be

[hereticalobjects-blog]

Glorious portraits of Ween participants by Brad Casey from his photo booth installation at H.O.C.’s Summerween 4 party.

[hereticalobjects-blog]

Glorious portraits of Ween participants by Brad Casey from his photo booth installation at H.O.C.’s Summerween 4 party.

[hereticalobjects-blog]

Glorious portraits of Ween participants by Brad Casey from his photo booth installation at H.O.C.’s Summerween 4 party.

[hereticalobjects-blog]

Glorious portraits of Ween participants by Brad Casey from his photo booth installation at H.O.C.’s Summerween 4 party.

[hereticalobjects-blog]

Glorious portraits of Ween participants by Brad Casey from his photo booth installation at H.O.C.’s Summerween 4 party.

[hereticalobjects-blog]

Glorious portraits of Ween participants by Brad Casey from his photo booth installation at H.O.C.’s Summerween 4 party.