AlPha_GoD's Discussions

I had been working with the ChromeBook as a traditional laptop, but with so many tabs open there are times when a little more real estate helps. Instead of a 12.1-inch 1280 x 800 display then, I now have a 27-inch palette running at its full 2560 by 1440 resolution.

Don’t worry, my iMac will still get used as a Mac. When I cut videos, record podcasts or want to tinker in some apps or practice my Python scripting skills, I’ll use my iMac for sure.

Since the Chromebook is a laptop, I didn’t expect to use it as a desktop. However, I wanted to see how well the device worked with an external monitor. The Chromebook has a DisplayPort++ interface, so it should work with nearly any external monitor. I bought a cheap cable from Amazon and now use my 27-inch iMac as a monitor when working in my home office.

Chrome OS works great on a large screen and keeps me going with the distraction-free experience but with more screen real estate when needed.

My iMac and ChromeBook just hooked up. And I like it!

Create, explore, and expand !

Aliens play the role of the barbarian tribes from the last few Civilization games, as an entity that's not exactly "in it to win it." But they'll mess with your early game plans all the same, utilizing better cunning and more imposing units than their old club-wielding counterparts.

It's a brave new world, with new lands to chart, resources to harvest, and goals to pursue. But it's also as cynical as the old one, where most actions serve competitive ends, and even the most cooperative and well-maintained alliances will be shattered by necessity towards game's end. 

Beyond Earth's combat suffers from some balance issues though, and that's curious for a game that leans so heavily on proven systems. Cities are comically easy to take--most melee units fare much better at city capturing, and you can often halve a city's defenses in a single attack--resulting in situations where cities tediously trade ownership turn after turn. The fragility extends to the units themselves, many of which die in a single hit. By consequence, a small standing army is less tenable than it was back on Earth, and I find myself less invested in the fate of any one unit when it can be snuffed out by an orbital strike at any given moment.

So basically, stick with Civ V until this one gets a Gold Edition with all vastly improving expansions included.