People are leaving the country, Sire/Ma’am

Yo! It’s really been long since my last entry. I was gone away from the net actually the whole month of June. Except, I remember having visited only once [to discover that I had about 50 “spam” in my Akismet!]. No, I was not down with A[H1N1] flu. Well, it’s all been killing time all month long by me. That’s Filipino for passing time doing nothing.

I’ve been literally, totally, lost in wars with Duc De Puce the Rat, Duc Beauregard the Snake, Duc Truffe the Pig, Duc Volpe the Wolf, Saladin the Wise, Caliph the Scorpion, Sultan Abdul the Poet, and yes, the courageous Lion heart Richard.

Opening the computer one day, I noticed this new program installed. Nothing real in mind then, I decided to take a look what’s in it. It turned out to be a game called Stronghold Crusader by Firefly Studios installed by one of my boys.

H mm… castle building… Crusader…Maybe that would be interesting. Choose your adversary to proceed. I came to build castle but … Ok. I’ll know things when I get there – has always been my spirit. U mm, maybe the Lion Heart is less troublesome among companies. Later, groping through the menus and options I heard what sounds like an asungot [side kick] telling me “Your popularity is falling” [my  Lord or Sire], [In my mind, so what, I came to build castles]. And yet later, “People are leaving the castle.”

Ok, so, I am one warlord. I need serfs to work for me. And they work for food… I must put up the granary… put up bakery to supply the bread…bakery needs windmill to supply the flour…that needs a farm to supply the grains… and they all need workers which I must entice back since they all have ran away… Shit, things should have been done systematically the other way around. Why?

Anyway, I don’t know what’s with this guy Richard. ” We are being attacked!”, cried the frantic asungot.  Lion Heart started harassing me with his creeps, destroying everything I had put up, with ballisters and catapults! And I did not even have a fortified castle  built yet, nor been able to build a considerable army for defense! I needed funds for everything. I have nobody, and my treasury is empty! I ought to have developed my industries – which are agriculture, forestry, mining and manufacturing [whatever are available under different map conditions] to fill my stockpile and beef up my treasury… Game over… Restart mission… over, again and again.

It was past 5:00 a.m. the next morning when, Hah, I finally marched what survived of a formidable army, bigger than what troublesome Richard had ever sent out, in through the shambles that used to be his castle, and finished him in his Keep. [After several routed attempts, actually] No mercy, just returning all he did to me. Ah, what a great day!

I realized I forgot to eat for lunch and supper. I must have consumed more than a dozen cups of coffee, though, extra sweet for  needed energy in times like that. And I felt sore in my eyes for no sleep.  Also, I felt a little pain at my elbow that must have been caused by too much mouse work [I got the joint badly sprained in my younger years actually]. But most of all, I forgot to build any castle, or should I say finished the one that I was supposed to build! I taught Richard how modern mobile warfare are. [I learned  mostly from him, actually, improving on his tactics.]

I could have learned the game the easy way if I had entered Castle Builder which said Build peacefully, with just the camels for company. [In fact,  the next day, remembering all my ordeals, maybe feeling a little chicken, I did just that. But to my horror, before came the camels were herds of lions that devoured everyone so that I could not do anything until I have somehow learned to get rid of the lions first! How have I done it? Because nobody was left except me, I went out of my keep and chased and beat up the lions myself! [I was devoured in my first attempt, of course.] And that was just the start of an addiction that lasted about a month.

Nice game really. There are more to it. A good grasp of history, of early development of nations, of basic political-economy or its earlier forms, by the creators of the game. Too complicated for young children. Less complicated and more realistic [no magical powers by characters] compared to Dota, Frozen Throne which is currently most favorite of Filipino gamers. Parental guidance may be necessary.

I would recommend Stronghold Crusader for Filipino politicians and bureaucrats – especially the types that see, think,  speak, and act like Filipinos going abroad to find work is a good thing.

Our best minds and hands are going abroad, Sire, Ma’am. Good. It means dollar and more dollar remittances pouring back in. It is a sign of national progress! It sounds the same as people getting out of the castle to tend to the farms and mine pits, bringing in the goods to the castle, but… God bless the Filipinos with these twisted minds at the top!