What I’m Playing: March 2025

I’ve decided to try doing a digest of the games I’m currently playing. I’ll probably get bored and drop it later. But maybe not. I don’t know 🙂 Perhaps I should start taking this more seriously—after all, games are a major part of my life, considering game development and everything else.

Currently playing:

  • Allods 2 – mentally preparing to stream the new “Legend” mode.
  • Chess – solving puzzles. A little bit every day.
  • Cycle Idle RPG – checking in every couple of days to see if I’ve broken through a wall.
  • Milky Way Idle – installed it today. Feels like trash similar to Idle Clans (which is actually decent game). But no so great as offline idle games like Bard Idle and Incremental Epic Hero 2. But I haven’t taken a deep dive yet.
  • Backpack Battles – played it once, fun little thing. Might dig deeper.

Still working on my IdleMir—haven’t gotten around to updating Tangaria. Everything is ready there, just need to tinker with the ladder a bit.

Posted in Diary | Leave a comment

About numbers in RPG

In many modern (and not so modern) RPGs, players are shown tons of numbers, monster levels, and all sorts of behind-the-scenes developer stuff they really shouldn’t be seeing. It completely kills the spirit of exploration. It’s way more interesting when you don’t see exact numbers and explore the world by trial and error. Text hints like “weak,” “medium,” or “strong” are more than enough… And sometimes, it’s even better with no hints at all. That’s how you keep the atmosphere of magic and a real adventure.

Many games have this mechanic – at first, you can’t see monster stats, and you only discover them gradually as you slice them into thin strips. For example, in Allods 2, it’s done pretty nicely, but I’d still prefer if instead of concrete numbers, you’d only see textual vulnerabilities like “weak,” “medium,” or “strong.” On my server, there’s this little hack – all monster and item descriptions don’t match what’s actually on the server. People grumble about it, but to me, it’s a wonderful bug-feature that adds a bit of spice for those who’ve been playing A2 for way too long.

Example: Might & Magic 6

A good example is Might & Magic 6. You have no clue which area is dangerous and which isn’t until the first random dragon smacks you in the face. Most M&M players ruin the exploration vibe with save-load abuse, which is just not cool. Died? Hit respawn and keep going. That’s exactly how M&M6 was designed – with the idea that you’ll die and revive, not save-load every step. Especially since dying there just wipes your money and nothing more.

If M&M6 existed as an MMORPG, where saving would be, obviously, impossible – it’d be pure bliss. Throw in some PvP with blackjack and palace guards while you’re at it 🙂 Just wait till they make Skynet, and it pours us a matrix like that in a bathtub. Glorious!

How to play without ruining the experience

By the way, I did some streams of M&M6 not so long ago (well, relatively). Then I kinda dropped it and lost my save. Now I’m just waiting to forget the game properly so I can enjoy it again. Playing when you already know too much is painfully boring. That’s why before returning to any game, I usually try to forget as much as possible. You can also set yourself some challenges: for instance, the “right” way to play M&M6 is not to use bows – and really, it’s better to skip them altogether (unless you’re a newbie… and yeah, for newbies, bows are fine). Limit teleport usage, don’t save after every sneeze, and stop kiting mobs until you’re blue in the face – the result is real immersion, almost like the first time.

All of this adds to the atmosphere. Ideally, just mod the game – M&M6 is practically begging for tweaks like that. For example, resting in a tavern or camp could be more tightly tied to spending money or food, and teleporting should only be available at certain times. But I don’t really have time to mod yet another game, so I’ll just wait until I completely forget it and start noobing around with some custom rules.

Let the game rest and ditch the “extras”

So, if you love mystery and exploration, try turning off some of the information and don’t go overboard with saves. Even better – let the game sit for a few years, then come back to it almost like a newbie. That kind of self-discipline gives you a fresh perspective on old favorites and brings back those unforgettable golden days of noobing.

RPGs are about going in blind and discovering the world step by step, not checking numbers in every menu. Good luck to everyone who appreciates that kind of vibe and is ready to give old (and new) RPGs a second chance – without numbers and save-spam!

Posted in Articles | Tagged | Leave a comment

Chess (guide)

I love chess. But I’m bad player, my brain works differently. That’s probably why I like it – a pure challenge, a game against the nature of my own thinking. A small tip sheet for myself:

Opening

  1. Pawns to the center, develop pieces, hide the king
  2. Don’t move the same piece multiple times
  3. Don’t rush into active moves

Middlegame

  1. Play on the flank where you have more forces
  2. All pieces attack the king (if opposite-side castling – pawns join the attack)
  3. Trade pieces in defense, avoid trades in attack

Continue reading

Posted in Guides | Tagged | Leave a comment

Divinity: Original Sin PREVIEW

I’ve played a bit of Divinity: Original Sin. I liked how the dialogues between the characters are written—how they argue, each with their own position. But… I’m not a fan of the sheer number of barrels, chests, and boxes you can rummage through and loot (with no consequences). The same issue plagued Elder Scrolls. And yet, in Fallout 1-2, where there are also plenty of places to grab stuff, you’d quickly get smacked on the head if you did something wrong. Here, it’s a free-for-all. You just end up feeling like a walking trash collector, looting everything in sight. This breaks the narrative… Although, maybe the solution is simple—just ignore all the chests and boxes. That might even make the game harder and, perhaps, more interesting. Continue reading

Posted in Diary | Tagged | Leave a comment

Divinity: Original Sin GUIDE: increase font size and UI

Hiho! Today, I’ll guide you on how to change fonts and adjust the UI size in Divinity: Original Sin (and also in Enhanced Edition). Whether you’re on Windows or Linux, these simple steps will help you customize your gaming experience.

Changing Fonts:

You can download the necessary font files via this link.

  1. Extract the contents of the .zip file into the following directory:
    C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Divinity Original Sin Enhanced Edition\Data
  2. Ensure your font files are placed in this folder:
    C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Divinity Original Sin Enhanced Edition\Data\Public\Game\GUI\fonts

Increasing UI Size: Continue reading

Posted in Guides | Tagged | Leave a comment

Scratchy pixel

As you get older, you mostly find yourself launching the games you played as a kid.

Launching being the key word. You fire it up, click around for a couple of minutes—well, maybe 10 at most—and then quit.

There’s not even much nostalgic joy in it… just a fleeting glimpse of yesterday’s sunlight brushing across an unshaven cheek. Like trying to sip coffee from a mug where it dried up weeks ago.

Right now, I’ve got Diablo, Settlers, Heroes 2, M&M6 installed… and today, I even dusted off the first Civ. I should probably add Warlords, Orion, Dune, Warcraft, and other classic nostalgic titles to the mix.

Install, launch for two minutes, quit. Then sit there and code  your idle game.

As for new games—there’s no pull at all. Those polished pixels are just too smooth, they evoke zero emotion. At least with the old ones, nostalgia sometimes sneaks up on you through the layers of apathy — barely felt, but it’s still a catch.

Maybe it’s just autumn blues? Oh well, New Year is coming soon — we’ll eat away the sadness with mandarins, and maybe the interest will spark again 🙂

Posted in Diary | Leave a comment

The first book on gamedev

I found a book called Game Development Essentials: An Introduction at a book-sharing station. Despite being 20 years old, it turned out to be quite decent in parts. I picked up a few interesting ideas. From what I understand, the author isn’t really a developer, but she did a great job with the literature review on the topic.

I’ve always thought that books like these are a waste of time; that they’re full of clichés and that experience in this field can only be gained through practice. But no. There’s useful information there; even if you don’t find anything radically new, you can get inspired with fresh ideas simply by studying material that someone else has organized.

Books are the quintessence of someone’s thoughts. And even fairly mediocre thoughts, when organized, can provide food for new ideas.

Now I’m curious to read some more modern books. I’ve got plenty of practical experience in game development, but I’ve never really studied the theory 🙂 Seems like it’s about time.

Posted in Diary | Leave a comment

New season in Rage of Mages

My server in Rage of Mages 2 came to the new season! So far the most interesting one, with a lot of new mechanics: Reborn, Reclass, Ascension:
https://rom2.ru/en/season-7-reborn-reclass-ascension/

Cya in-game!

Posted in RoM2 blog | Tagged | Leave a comment

Serflings – best port of “Settlers 1”

Hallelujah! The best port of the original Settlers has been found: Serflings

The original Settlers, in my opinion, is the coziest of all RTS (real-time strategy) games. It’s a world where every house, every path, every tree is created with love. The sounds and music are absolutely amazing. The attention to detail is incredible. Here’s my old stream: https://youtube.com/watch?v=l0gy4uSsE-U

Serflings runs on Java. It requires the original files (which can be found on old games sites). Be sure to read the guide to understand how it works.

Posted in Diary | Tagged | Leave a comment

tangar.info became igroglaz.com

Hooray, comrades! The migration is complete. Redirects have been set up. Here’s what’s new:

  1. I’m actively working on idleskills.com
  2. I played as a barbarian in the new season of Diablo 4. It was fun, but after a week I had played enough to exhaustion. It’s the best season so far, but still rough. D2 is ten times better
  3. I’ve tried various idle RPGs. Notable projects include Loop Dungeon
  4. I drop by Hearthstone now and then. The current meta decks are surprising in their randomness. The game has lost its mathematical precision but has become… more spectacular and fun for casual players
  5. I wanted to play Settlers 1. The most popular open-source port has a blurry issue blurry. I was too lazy to set it up under DOSBox. Maybe next time..

Developing a game is quite interesting; I constantly have to dive into game design depths and brainstorm the question, “What exactly do I want to create?” (it’s not always immediately clear); then into coding concepts – “How can I implement this so that the game is released this year, not next?”. I try to simplify things to avoid getting too bogged down – then polish up features after release. But leaving a bare skeleton isn’t great either… so I have to find a compromise.

Posted in Diary | Leave a comment

Optimizing my websites

Considering that many things in the world are changing (and not always for the better) – I have to optimize a few things. Specifically, this site will move to the domain igroglaz.com after some time – the .info domain is getting more expensive every year; it’s now $25… totally unreasonable. So, I’ll move my personal blog to blog.igroglaz.com (which already has a redirect), and my game site will move to the main domain. I can’t do this immediately as I have to wait for search engines to update the redirect index (which takes about 3 months, unfortunately).

Additionally, I’m putting magery.ru on hold until better times. If I have something to publish from my book, I’ll post it here. I’m also discontinuing a few other domains for cost-saving reasons. The content won’t disappear; I’ll just move it to subdomains.

But there is good news: Continue reading

Posted in Diary | Leave a comment

Unveiling Sanctuary: The Core Idea of Diablo

I’ve talked about this on my streams. But it’s probably worth mentioning here as well, as it’s not too obvious.

In the first two parts of Diablo, the storyline and lore were quite straightforward and clear: Diablo (Mephisto/Baal) – bad; angels – good. Kill the bad, help the good.

Starting with Diablo 3, the focus shifted. There was a transition from a black-and-white moral dichotomy to a more complex and multifaceted worldview. (Almost all) angels in the world of Sanctuary turned out to be not “fathers”, but deceivers. And humans (nephalems) – an independent and no less worthy representative of fauna, emerged from the interbreeding of angels and demons. In this context, the threat from angels to human existence (potentially) is much greater than from demons; as demons largely revel in human imperfections, while most angels find humans irritating.

The main idea of the world of Sanctuary is:

Humans are Captives in the Hands of the World’s Mighty.

We are like tiny insects, manipulated one way or another by angels (the so-called ‘good’) and demons (kinda ‘bad’) for their own interests.

This is, of course, the cover. Inside is the idea is in striving for a deeper understanding of human nature. Traditional moral absolutism (good and evil seen as immutable and universal categories) gives way to postmodern pluralism and relativism (the rejection of universal truths and the recognition of multiple realities). Instead of a clear understanding of the world, players face a multitude of perspectives and interpretations of events, which makes them question the absolute nature of good and evil. In a way, the evolution of the Diablo series’ storyline is a conflict between Idealism and Realism. Idealism, represented in the earlier parts, gives way to a more realistic and pragmatic view of the world, where moral dilemmas do not always have clear and definitive solutions.

The idea is correct, beautiful, philosophical, deep. It resonates with the real world. The plot of D4 finally brought this idea to a climax. If in D3 we simply methodically beat up the winged and horned – in D4 we primarily feel the impact of the Eternal Conflict on the lives of ordinary people; each individual representing a universe in themselves; and these universes collapse one after another, burning like moths on a lamp. The townee side-quests, which are abundant in D4, very organically complement the epic storyline.

One thing’s for certain, the scriptwriters at Blizzard are competent – were, are (and probably will be). I would say this – the only aspect in which new Blizzard games (or expansions) get better every year is the lore, world setting development, and plotline evolution. Gameplay occasionally degrades – so D2 is better than D3-4; and vanilla WoW is better than all the expansions combined… but in terms of the storyline, Diablo has grown into something more than just banal chopping up baddies; so too has the WoW setting developed quite multifacetedly and organically. Many WoW players pay for subscriptions and buy expansions exclusively for the continuation of the storyline.

But what’s missing? Existentialism – that is, freedom of choice and personal responsibility. In Diablo, as in WoW, players are rarely given the opportunity for non-linear quest progression. Usually, all dialogues do not imply branching, and here lacks the spirit of Fallout series – where characters face moral dilemmas that require players to make choices based not on imposed moral norms, but on personal responsibility and understanding of the world… Perhaps we will see this aspect in Diablo 5.

Posted in Diary | Tagged | Leave a comment

Cheap endorphins in online games

I’ve created an interesting video on how to play games correctly. Comments from the bearish editorial:

The concept of “cheap endorphins” – getting quick and easy pleasure without significant effort. In MMORPGs, where players constantly feel satisfaction from easy-to-access achievements and rewards (ding!), this can create an illusion of productivity and success, promoting the release of endorphins – “happiness hormones.” This is normal…

Continue reading

Posted in Diary | Leave a comment

Don’t drink wine in one gulp

Wrote the last preview in a hurry. Got Diablo 4 for a 3-day trial and scratched the surface… Survivor’s error out of mind. Such games should be savored slowly.

Now I’ve bought D4 with a 50% discount and I’m chilling out. I’m noticing some aspects of the lore that I hadn’t thought about before (see last stream). The game is solid… though I don’t retract my previous words about its downsides. But the positives still prevail; especially for old farts like me, who:
a) have nothing else to play (literally nothing)
b) want to chill without hardcore grinding. D4 is super-casual, which I like today… though my younger (pimply hardcore gamer) self would have despised it (well, I’m getting old, what can I say).

But let’s return to the main point – it’s important not to chug down collectible wine in one go. What taste can you experience if you just suck it out of the bottle neck? At best, you’ll get acidity and the prevailing sensation will be heartburn…

Wine is to be savored. Sipping it slowly from a glass after a hard day’s work. Then the bouquet truly unfolds.

And there’s no need to burn out immediately. A session longer than 2 hours is evil. This is again an analogy to drinking. A couple of glasses with dinner – fine. But guzzling like a pig every day, lapping up a liter at a time – will quickly kill the desire (or you’ll just become a plain drunk, nothing good about it).

In short, there will be many streams about D4, subscribe to the channel

Posted in Diary | Tagged | Leave a comment

Diablo 4 preview: delicious plastic curd

Update: preview updated

Unfortunately, lately Blizzard has been slowly digesting its own innards fattened during the prosperous years. This includes Diablo 4… Is it a success or just another commercial reflection of the legendary Diablo 2?

Let me start by saying that this article is written based on a trial version where you could only reach level 20 in a couple of days. So, this is a preview, not a full review (which will come a bit later).

So, first, let’s talk about the pros of Diablo 4… although, there are some cons leaking through.

Pros of Diablo 4

Continue reading

Posted in Reviews | Tagged | Leave a comment