FLY SOUP

I'm playing Mass Effect Andromeda right now and while there are some similarities with previous ME games, Bioware have continued their trend toward partitioned open-world games which began with Dragon Age Inquisition (still my favourite game to date). The game is much less-linear than ME 1-3, offering literally hundreds of side and optional quests, giving the player more control over the order and manner in which events pan out. I'm not gonna lie. It took me a while to get into this game. After the first few hours I didn't really think I was going to enjoy this entry and nearly tossed it in. I'm glad to report I've moved on to happier parts of the game and now am enjoying it much more. I didn't want to write anything about my experience until I'd taken down one of the game's primary bosses (an architect) because I felt it was a little hard to comment until that point. Not my character but close enough - female with red hair. When I first c

Aurealis #99 is out and it features a discussion between a geologist and a geographer (aka yours truly and the incredible Russell Kirkpatrick) about maps in fantasy novels. I really enjoyed writing this article with Russell for several reasons: first, I love maps and used do produce them as part of my job. Second, I like Russell and respect his work, and third, it's a super-interesting topic What I didn't realise when I first spoke to Russell about doing a piece together, was the depth of Russell's understanding of the politics and social infrastructure behind the act of creating a map. My experience of mapmaking has been limited to: 1) reproducing my favourite faux-medieval maps from movies and/or books via a combination of pain-staking precision and ad-hoc half-assery; and 2) the production of geological, geophysical and geochemical maps designed to aid in the discovery of economically viable mineral deposits. The two don't naturally go hand-in-ha