My name is Mike Olsen, I am one of the creative directors on The Godfather II (GF2). In this post I am going to go into the details of the crew / family's significant role in GF2.

If you remember in The Godfather I, the crew played a small, but important role of assisting you in combat. They were trusted, but expendable Associates that were used to lend a hand on key jobs be it helping you take down a large venue or perhaps rob a bank, but when complete they would take their payout (or sadly, die) and you would part ways. In The Godfather II (GF2) the crew plays a much bigger role as they not only offer that much needed additional firepower, but they are also your means for gaining access to locked areas, and (through my play experiences have more often than not managed to) most importantly keep you out of the hospital and jail.

GF2 not only takes the crew mechanic to the next level, but it also introduces the new feature of building up your own family. This time around you will recruit, promote, customize and in time perhaps even "remove" members of your family as you progress through the game in an effort to take over all the crime rings. Your family in many ways is a measure of your success in GF2 as they are detrimental to your victory.

You see, in GF2 you start off as a Don and therefore are in control of your own family. Early on you are appointed only one Soldier slot, but in time you will have a full organization working for you. The GF2 world is sprinkled with recruits eager to join your family, but when recruiting YOU decide who best compliments your family's needs and fits your play style. When choosing who to hire your men you?ll need to know that each recruit comes equipped with three important assets: his Specialty (or in rare cases, multiple specialties ? more on that later); his Background; and his initial Weapon License.

Specialties: There are six specialties that recruits can train, each with their own advantages. A typical recruit is adept in one of the six, but as you explore the GF2 cities, keep an eye out for those more powerful Associates with two (or more) specialties. These guys are a rare, but extremely valuable commodity to your family.

Arsonist: An arsonist is a master of fire. By setting flame to propane tanks, bars, hedges, and other flammable objects, he can create a diversion, take out a large number of rivals or get you into inaccessible areas.

Bruiser: A bruiser is your muscle. His strong arms can help you break down doors, intimidate witnesses, and even one-hit shank enemies from behind. And during a bare-knuckled fight, nobody else compares.

Demolitions Expert: A demolitions expert brings the heat. If a strong door, garage or concrete wall is blocking your path, he can bring it down. More importantly, he can set charges to a building's gas main. When they go off, the building will completely shut down.

Engineer: An engineer has every tool for the job. His blowtorch can cut through fences, letting your crew slip inside unnoticed. He can also cut a building's power, shutting down the lights for a stealthy attack while also preventing anyone from calling reinforcements.

Medic: A medic should be part of every crew. When he's around, falling in battle isn't the end of the world. Given enough time, he can revive you and your other family members.

Safecracker: A safecracker is your key to big money. Every building has a safe stuffed with valuable loot; only a safecracker can get you in. He can also pick some buildings' locks, and help you break into bank vaults.

Backgrounds: There are over a dozen backgrounds that give your crew personality. Ranging from the ladies man (who ogles the passer by's and isn?t afraid to stop and have a drink at the bar) to the big talker (who in time might get on your nerves so much you?ll want to stick a gun in his mouth ;) ).

Weapon Licenses: Each recruit comes equipped with an initial firearm and a max weapon license. Their weapon license determines what level gun they can equip which makes a huge difference in their effectiveness in battle. There are few recruits with level 3 gun licenses, but it's also important to know that you can play as your recruits online earning "honors" which is another way to increase their gun license level.

Now that you?ve got your first recruit, it's time for war. When in battle, you can bring up to three men with you at a time. While in your command they will follow your lead (stealthy, melee only, guns blazing) or you can direct them with a simple command to "go to" a specific location (i.e. to enter a room, guard a door, go around one side of the building while you flank from the other, etc?) or perform their specialty (i.e. crack a safe, kick down a door, bomb a building, etc?). Your crew will protect you at all costs, they will take cover on their own and attack when you are damaged or provoked, but will always follow your orders when you give them direction. However, your control doesn?t end there. Your crew is versatile as not only can they accompany you live on your own jobs, but you can also send them "off screen" (via the new Don's View controls) to attack, defend or even bomb rivals venues. You can send some of your family members to attack in one city while you and your other crew members conduct business in another.

As you progress through the game, you will unlock new family tree slots allowing you to promote your existing recruits and fill in your empty slots with new made men. Recruits initially join your family as Soldiers, but promoting them to Capo and then ultimately Underboss brings with it its own advantages. When you promote one of your trusted lieutenants he not only gains additional hit points he is also able to train another much needed specialty. But the customization doesn?t end there. Just as you are able to upgrade your player's stats and weapons, you are also able to upgrade each individual recruit as well. Investing your money will prove valuable as you can increase their effectiveness in health, shooting accuracy, H2H damage, even how long they stay injured in the hospital or in jail to name just some of the attributes / perks.

Now a little pro tip for all of you thinking about pre-ordering GF2 (which I highly recommend for the following reason). Tommy Cipolla (shown here) is a dual specialty (Arsonist, Medic) recruit that will show up at the Corleone compound (only if you pre-order) and can be hired as your FIRST recruit. However it doesn?t stop there. Not only does he have two specialties and a few more hit points, but he also comes equipped with a level 2 shotgun, a level 3 gun license AND just to the right of the Compound exit is a burnable hedge which Tommy can burn down granting you access to the level 2 Sawed Off Shotgun right out of the gate! This in conjunction with Tommy's medic ability to revive you if you should fall in battle will make taking over NYC a breeze. Oh and BTW, after recruiting your demolitions expert I?d also recommend getting a safecracker early on and robbing as many safes as you can get your hands on. This early cash can be used to upgrade your guys before you get into the next city.

Remember to always keep an eye out for those highly valued "multiple specialty" recruits (we just finished placing these guys last week) and to invest your hard earned cash to promote and develop them. Be careful though. Don?t invest too much too fast as later on down the road you may find a recruit who proves to be a better fit for your family and you might be forced to remove a guy that you?ve put a lot of money into. There's only one way out of the family?death. You might find that at some point marking one of your men for death and putting a bullet into the back of his head is best for you and yours, but remember, "it's only business!"

ea the god father ii gf2 playstation 3 xbox 360 pc

As some of you know I'm very into theatre. I'm not really an actor. I do more crew type stuff. Earlier this past November my school performed Sarah Plain & Tall for the annual fall play. I was the Technical Director for this show. I was also drafted to play a minister for the last two minutes of the show... Marrying my girlfriend ( Sarah ) off actually. I have stage fright, so this was kinda big for me, although I had no lines. :)

Well, our show was judged like it is every year by the Illinois Theatre people (can't think of the official title). Last week the director got a call saying we were invited to perform Sarah Plain & tall at Illinois State High School Theatre Fest at University of Illinois. This is a big thing for my school. This is the first time we have been able to bring a full length show down.

So, January 10th I'm gonna be performing the show at the Foellinger auditorium at U of I. Holy freakin' balls. The auditorium holds 1750 people. My schools holds 550. Its going to be a big change. This Sunday I'm going to the campus to check out the stage and its technology and setup.

So, just thought I would spread the good word. I'm freakin' excited about it, and January NEEDS to get here faster.

Btw, in the picture, I'm the minister and the young woman playing Sarah is my girlfriend.

other musingsthoughts sarah plaing and tall theatre university of illinois

This blog made 05 december 2008

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Well, this whole thing definitely hasn't been as bad as I thought it might be!

I ended up getting to my appointment a bit early, which didn't matter because they ended up getting me into my actual surgery earlier because of it. I had to sign some release forms (just so I couldn't sue them if they killed me by accident!). After the lady left with the forms, a nurse came in to give me my IV. The needle tube thingy that they stick into your arm for the IV is huge! Needles don't bother me, but I actually had to look away because of the size! At first she just gave me something to relax, but she didn't tell me when she was putting the actual stuff into the IV to knock me out. I remember the surgeon coming in and I talked to him a bit, but I can't really remember what I was saying because the medicine was coming into affect. I think I was trying to tell him that I've had two surgeries with him like five years ago, but I couldn't really talk and the last thing I remember was mumbling 'sorry' because I couldn't concentrate on what I was saying. The next thing I knew I was waking up. I had been under for a while, an hour I think... so by the time I was aware of what was going on, I had actually been 'awake' for 20 minutes. I suppose they have to monitor you as you wake up to make sure everything is alright. The person who was coming to get me wasn't there yet, so they brought me to another room to lay down for a bit. While I was there the surgeon came in to tell me that everything went great and that if my pain didn't start going away in the next couple of days, then I'd have to go see him.

Once my ride arrived, the nurse went over what I should/shouldn't do, and gave me a syringe and extra gauze, as well as my prescription. Oh, and she also gave me two of my teeth in an envelope. Those things are huge, I was actually sorta surprised. Then I left, with some help of course... you are sort of woozy it for a while after being put out haha. We went to get my prescription which unfortunately took an hour, so by that time the aesthetic was beginning to wear off! Once I got home, taking the medication was a real pain... I couldn't feel my face at all or my tongue, so I kind of had to sip water through a straw, look in the mirror to make sure I actually had enough in there, then tip my head back and put the pills in. It definitely took a few tries! Then I went to sleep and have been sleeping until not that long ago.

My mouth seems to be doing quite well right now. At first it was hurting a lot, even with the narcotics, and I had to keep an ice pack on the side of my face to help with the swelling. I went through tons of the gauze, but right now I don't even need it anymore! It hurts a lot of I try to talk but other than that it's good. I can't wait until tomorrow when I can warm foods such as soups and scrambled eggs, because right now I'm stuck drinking protein drinks and cold stuff.

Thanks for all your comments yesterday guys, I appreciate it. Looks like you were right about the whole thing Art. :D I heard that your mouth heals faster if you were put out for the procedure, so I guess that's true. My wallet is sobbing because of how empty it is now, but I should be getting some of my money back because I have benefits, so that's a relief. I'm just glad to have everything over with, and not having to worry about wisdom teeth ever again.

musingsthoughts

Re: So what does Japan think of Faith from Mirror's Edge?

Lydia says:
oh my God I wanna go over there
and seriously find those people
and kill them
YOU DO NOT DESERVE TO LIVE ON THIS EARTH WITH NORMAL PEOPLE
that would be my words



:)

playstation 3 xbox 360 pc musingsthoughts

Okay, so I'm still going with basic html text until I get into the swing of things. Learning CSS and other stuff is now on my to-do list.

So I was sick for the past 2 days and decided to just call in for a third day. Just a day of rest and relaxation that follows cleaning my apt and possibly getting to do laundry. Sniff testing isn't my most fond thing to do before deciding to throw on an outfit.

So I'm an overthinker. Whether it's good or bad, I don't just take one aspect of something, but I run it through my mind again and again to try and get a better understanding of it all. Well the one thing that's been bothering me is that I have this will to just get up and move where ever yet I have this feeling of being tied down to where I am currently living. Almost like an excuse that isn't really there is keeping me from leaving. Blah, enough about that though.

So holiday season. I don't even really feel like hanging out with family. I have the income, but I just don't think the barrage of questions and probing from distant relatives is really going to be a good thing. My dads side of the family has a way of making you feel worthless unless you were a part of something huge or great or monumental. I guess after I did disaster relief for 3 solid months, became homeless after and got back on my feet isn't enough for them. It's like, "Okay, now what do you got?" So unless I join the military and become Rambo or thwart a hijacking of an airplane, I don't really feel the need to sit in a room with people I am constantly justifying myself to. So the holidays? They can be someone elses thrill. Just as Thanksgiving. I already know my family has no real means of holding itself together except for greed and spite. And the same people that wouldn't even lend a hand or offer support when I was living on the streets for the worst half of a year are not ones I feel like I pretend to miss.

So what are some of your holiday wishes? Mine are to just get the rest of 2008 over with as easily as possible.

other

And it's hit everyone in the face simultaneously, or something like that. I dunno, I confuse myself. =/

Anyway, we know now the teams we're up against-

Ultraviolet Catastrophe

Team NUBS

Random Dudes orez and Nightwing got over MSN, except for LOD-squa who we PMd, also we are awesome and kale sucks (and is our cheerleader) / The Flying Squirrels / The Pantsless Marauders/ The Punching Bikinis AND STRAWBERRY FOOTROT OH GOD
(Yes, that is their name. =| )

The Benjamin Steamboat

The 1831 Team

Team Oceania

Team Cool Lightning Igniting Tigers Clan

And of course us. There are plenty of formidable opponents on each team- djminkus777, Rust, Silver Mirror and Wyvern Knight Zero are all NeoDuelists, (Neoduel is my Event), but luckily they're all on one team so I won't have to face them all! I'm completely new to Neoduelling, so we'll see what happens.

I also see quite a few Graphic Artists out there. Still, they're no match for our two. :)

Favourites to win are the Tigers. Let's give them some competition! >=D

neoseeker related

I don't know whether i'm imagining it, or maybe it's just around my area, i'm not sure, but has anyone else noticed that there are so many of these things around. Once a week (at least) i'll see a group of screaming sixteen year olds with their heads (or hands, or both) hanging out the windows shouting and screaming with really loud, crap, music blaring from within. I really find it hard to restrain myself, as seeing a pink limo seems to set off some kind of rage sensor i have and i feel the urge to throw stuff and shout abuse at it and it's occupants. The picture i've used is misleading, as the pink limos i'm refering to are like a 30ft high and 400ft long hummer. I hate to think how much these people are paying to look like complete idiots, when they could probably just walk down the street and look like an idiot for free.

Okay, so that was pretty much just going to be my post right there, but then i saw an advert on TV just 2 seconds ago that pisses me off aswell. I think it's a UK advert, so you wont have seen it in the US, but it's an advert for the new Renault Megane. The advert can be seen here.

"Remember when you said you'd never buy a Renault?"

The rest of the advert is good, it's that line that annoys me. If there was a time when i said i'd never buy a Renault, would it not be better to not remind me of that in your advert. Also, chances ar that releasing an updated version of an old car isn't gonna get me to change my mind and buy a Renault. I'm more than likely to turn around and say "oh yeah, i remember when i said i'd never buy a Renault, meh." Again, this could just be me, everyone else could find it marvelous.

I want more of this!

musingsthoughts

So I recently got a new iPod nano.

It's yellow like I wanted it to be and it's awesome. Fun and awesome.

But whenever I go on iTunes, there's so much to choose from. I need help with only $10 (US dollars) left, I need to choose songs wisely. And yes, I said songs. I don't want any more videos, because the two classic SpongeBob SquarePants episodes I got took up a lot of room.

So please help, you Neoseekers. (P.S. I listen mainly and probably only to Rock, Pop, Country, etc. Just not Rap or Techno.)

other technology

For those of you who have adidly been following Platinum's metagame avidly, you've evidently noticed Shaymin-s popularity rising. Having base 127 Speed, 130 Special Attack, a 60% chance to drop your Sp. Defense, as well as "out wall" the walls definitely makes Shaymin-s the most prominent threat in Platinum metagame. Thoughts on it being banned? Although smogon will be making the final decision in the end (with voting already underway, please Beej, vote against keeping it :(], I figured we may as well discuss this.

ds musingsthoughts gaming related shoddy battle pokemon

Re

musingsthoughts

Well, GTA4 for PC has already been released, and I've been at home with a brother absolutely obsessed with it. I don't think he can handle the fact that he'll have to wait off a few more days until he'll be able to finally play the game. I for one am definitely looking forward to the game, with the PC Video Editor looking absolutely fantastic. We've already thought of some ideas of what kind of movies to make.
Obviously our laptop's aren't going to handle the game too well, so we've opted to use our better desktop to try. More or less it's going to see a lot of down time with GTA4.
Without even owning the game, I would definitely recommend it. GTA is one of the phenomenal titles of our generation and we must take a hold of it. BUY IT NOW!

pc musingsthoughts gaming related

Hello fellow Neoseekers!

As I sit here, I cannot help but dwell on the fact that in 15 hours or so, I shall be having four of my teeth surgically torn out of my face. Okay, well really it's not that gruesome! The time has come for me to get my wisdom teeth removed. Finally I might add, I made this appointment nearly five months ago. I'm not too nervous as I have had two mouth surgeries before where they have removed teeth (yay, the joy have orthodontics and all things that come along with it!), I'm just more so cringing at how empty my wallet is going to be after the procedure. I've already stocked up on soups and puddings and the like for the assuredly painful days that are to follow. The oral surgeon told me that the top of one's mouth heals quite quickly, it's the bottom which causes you all the pain. He took a look at my xrays and luckily there is no chance of them hitting the nerve during surgery that runs along one's bottom jaw, but my teeth are close enough to it that the swelling will put pressure on it and my lips will be numb for a while. That sounds like a barrel full of fun!

So, I'd like to hear about your wisdom teeth experiences if possible. How long did it take for your mouth to feel in decent shape again? What sort of medication did they give you (yes, I am curious about that! :o).

I hope that one day humans will evolve to no longer need wisdom teeth, because they are pointless and make wallets cry.

By the way, I switched back to being pink again. I just adore pink too much, plus the protesters attacked me. I'll leave purple to Quierta from now on!

cute meraid musingsthoughts