So, the Endless Forest...
I had the usual problems installing it, with AVG screaming it was malware and not to use it (Kai checked, and apparently I'm the only person ever to get that result. I uninstalled it and used Kai's exe instead, as he knows that is fine. Still reported it as malware though... I think it's just Butch playing sillybuggers). And as it uses up quite a lot of memory I don't have it running as a screensaver, and I'm only running it when I've closed everything else down, but that works fine for me.
Once you've registered you incarnate as a faun. (That tiny golden leaf is the cursor.)
Yes, the human face is a little creepy to start with but you get used to it quickly. Everyone looks the same - you tell who is who by the shiny glyphs over their heads, and you get plenty of choice of glyphs (I tried about 15 before I settled on this one). You can't speak, but you can call, and there are a whole load of body language keys - bow, roll on back, tilt head, and others that I haven't tried yet, mostly because the app does not work well with a tablet. I have a few keystrokes sorted though, enough to be able to play in a limited fashion, but I may have to pick up a mouse just in order to play...
Soon after I appeared, a stag enchanted me!
Enchantments don't last very long, and are quite random - you never know what you're going to end up with...
I did something that gave me temporary antlers...
(The grey stag is Kai! He came to find me then spent a couple of minutes running circles around me!)
Something else gave me a mane of peacock feathers... (that's another faun (new player) who came to say hello (though not literally of course). He travelled with us for a bit, which was fun.)
And eating purple flowers changed my pelt!
Being in the area of the shrine changed all our pelts to pure white...
While bathing in the waterfall changed them to red!
The game - if you can even call it that, there's no goal other than to relax and unwind - is quite simply a joy. It's the complete antithesis of most games: the enchantments are all temporary, harmless and usually pretty, and no one can hurt anyone else there. The graphics are lovely (not perfect, but it really doesn't matter) and the soundtrack very fitting, running water, little breezes, insects and birdcalls, with the occasional snatches of ambient music. I played last night from 12.30 until nearly 2 am: it felt like about half an hour and I came away feeling great, energised and strangely content.
Highly recommended. And free. Tonight I'm going to see if I can find the pool. Bet Kai knows where it is!
And on that subject... He used the nebulisor for the first time today. Has to go into the procedure room by himself as the stuff they use is toxic (cyclosporin? Something like that. I'll try to check tomorrow), and it left him with a scratchy throat and a truly horrible bitter taste in his mouth, and feeling a bit on the less than stellar side, but he only has to do it once a month (at present). I chatted to one of the other lads in for treatment - he's 19, has leukemia, and is taking part in a trial treatment that is going to take three years and two months. His story had parallels to Kai's: he was actually in the process of booking his flight to the US when he got dragged into hospital. He's a BMX fan and wants to live and work in the States. He was very helpful, actually, with lots of info about the ward, the people there, and the effects of certain meds (the steroids Kai will be taking - to counter the toxic effects of the nebuliser, I think I have that right - may make him want to eat all the time, apparently). All in all it wasn't too bad. It's less frightening when you know what's what, though no less worrying.
They're hoping to get him in to start treatment this week. More later.
I should be answering emails but I'm knackered and will only make a mess of it. They'll have to wait til tomorrow when I can get to them. In a little while I shall open the Forest again and relax for a bit. Can't get to bed before 2 am, just to make sure Kai remembers his last tablet (he's a little forgetful at the moment).
Later.
Labels: Endless Forest, Kai, medical matters
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Joules *Dances with Haddock* Taylor
pontificated this at 11:34 pm
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