Ah, bounty hunting. The age-old profession wherein one man of undetermined scruples ruthlessly stalks another like prey, eventually claiming him (dead or alive) and cashing him in for profit. What's not to like? Well, I guess unless you're the target. But if that's the case you really shouldn't have gotten yourself into that situation in the first place, chyeah?

At any rate, we at Real Men respect the profession and its constituents. Therefore we scoured the known list of bounty hunters (and no, we will not share it with you) to find the one man whom we felt best exemplified all the wonderful qualities of finding interesting people and owning them without remorse. So duck and cover from the sights of...

But barely. I know my updates have stalled completely, and I know that kind of sucks. It sucks for me too, because if I'm not updating it means I lack the spare time to do so. I've been getting pulled in every kind of direction lately, out of town multiple times, and forced to catch up on trivial work I've missed in the interim. The storm doesn't show signs of stopping for the next month, honestly. At this point I'll say don't expect any blog updates from me until May, but that doesn't act as a guarantee that there won't be any. I'll still be active enough to function in the forums.

I actually have a fair amount of content planned that I'd like to get up here, so rest assured I'm not abandoning this project by any stretch of the imagination. I just have to prioritize, and unfortunately DL.com doesn't top the list. Thanks for understanding guys.

Oy, oy, oy...

Long story short, the physical part of the domus ludorum is very likely to be sold in June, thusly ending our stay there. Because of that, Donnie and I have been scouring the area around the University's campus in search of a new place to live, a new place to game, and a new place to generally be awesome. Our search so far has not yielded any greatly promising locations, but we have a tour scheduled at 3, possibly another one later today, one tomorrow, and one Friday. Let it not be said that we are not trying.

Anyway, because of all that, most of my internet time has been spent on craigslist or any number of sites dealing in finding an apartment or house to rent. I hope that I can sit down to write up my Tips column for Masters of Orion later this evening (as that game is installed on my desktop at home), and proclaim the next game or genre of games that I will be providing valuable insight on.

If anyone know sites that are helpful for Donnie and I's endeavour, or just has some advice in general, the comments thread is for you.

Promising to deliver a Tips column on a parent's birthday and at the beginning of a holiday weekend was something that I'd like to call a Bad Idea. So, mea culpa on that one. With the craziness of that and related delays (along with my body punishing me for getting insufficient sleep during the week), I'll be posting last week's today and simply waiting until next Monday to post the conclusion of the series. If nothing else, that gives me more time to play the game that will be the centerpiece of next week's column, Masters of Orion.

And I'm getting off-topic. This week's topic is The Sims, and I'm hoping that the tips I give are universal enough to be applicable to both the first one and the newer version. Hopefully, at least. Tips on how to build a good house, get a job, attract the opposite gender, and start a family will all be listed below. Read on!

I'm late, I'm late, I'm late. I know all this, and I'm truly sorry. I was sick from Saturday night through part of Monday, and never got the time to sit down and get this thing all planned out. Because of that and some other issues this week, I'm postponing this week's Tips column until Friday afternoon.

After that, you can officially expect Monday updates from now on, as that day fits in my schedule much better than the weekend does.

See you friday!

Information is the currency that keeps the world rotating. Information, and the United States dollar. But mostly information. And all too often the information we receive is tainted by reporter bias or corporate influence. What we need is free and unfettered access to pure, true information. And when a man delivers that, we may call him Real.

Hey, I'm a little late again with my Tips column. I swear I have a good excuse though. You see, Super Smash Brothers Brawl came out yesterday, and I've been playing it a lot. Also, the area had about a foot of snow dumped on it friday and saturday so i did some playing in the snow.

Anyway. As promised last week, I will continue this foray into simulation games with SimCity 2000. I know some of you are asking "But Michael, why? What about 3000 or 4 or even.... Societies?

And do you know why?

Because that was my introduction to the series and still my favourite one, dammit. The fact that I've not played much 4 or any Societies has nothing at all to do with it. So read on for tips on how to build the best city possible in SimCity 2000.

Tonight I shall make into a sacrifice legions of orc, kobolds, and smattering of undead.

Why, you ask?

A great man passes from this world into legend. That man is Gary Gygax. The man who sat down playing a war game (which he had helped develop rules for) and thought that maybe playing as the individual soldiers and casters would be pretty cool too. And lo, Dungeons & Dragons came to be.

And the world's not been the same since.

EDIT: Rich Burlew, probably my favourite webcomic artist, has posted a tribute comic to Gygax, viewable here.

Hey everybody, sorry about the delay in this week's Tips column. My weekend was a little busier than I had expected, and I ended up with no spare time yesterday to get everything written up.

Anyhow, this week's column starts off a month-long look into simulation/planning games. This week is Roller Coaster Tycoon, next week is SimCity 2000 (old school, hells yeah), the week following will be The Sims (any version), and I will wrap up the series with an elaborate space sim, Master of Orion.

So read on, gentle reader, to find out how to make the best possible amusement park!