CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

A couple of weeks ago, I was able to do a 12-mission series set in Gold Creek Village, in Nichols, in the north of Canberra. Time to Complete: It is possible to do this series in an hour at a brisk walk, however, if you glyph hack, capture, fully deploy and link it can take twice that time - and, if you are playing PokemonGo and spinning every stop, capturing each of the four or five gyms, and chasing down the wide variety of pokemon that you can find there, it can easily take you the three-and-a-half hours it took me. Complexity: This is a very straight-forward mission series with easily accessible portals, and hacking all that is required. It is a good way to get to know Gold Creek Village and become familiar with the wide variety of cafes, sculptures, and tourist locations to which it is home. Terrain and Location Notes:  Location Accessibility: Gold Creek Village can be reached by bus, or by car, and has ample free parking. Traversing the Mission Series: If you pa...

Finding Time to Play: When do I get time to play Ingress? Since I switch between it and PoGo on my morning walks - although I'll admit to giving this game priority for allowing myself to stop... unless I've run out of pokeballs and need to collect more. Generally, the goal of the (mostly) morning walk is to get as many kilometres covered in the 30-45 minutes I have for walking, before the real-world demands some attention, which means whatever pokemongoing or ingressing that happens has to happen without me having to stop. I do, however, allow 5 minutes of exceptions, such as capturing a gym, or portal, but, after that, too bad, what I find is what I'm stuck with, no matter how much I want to change it. Weekends, when I have more time, things are different and I get to stop more, but I must still hit a minimum of one hour's walk on the health app before I can go home and do something else - and, I still to impose a no-stopping rule when I need to get things done. ...

Missions in Ingress form an important part of my program to keep fit. I used them as an incentive to get out the door, and to stay out until I've walked the minimum time, or more. Usually, I find myself doing more because I want to complete either a series or a long single mission. Last Sunday, I completed this cute little series, called the GTC Wander. It's the cure series of dancing aliens forming a rainbow-flag pattern in the middle of the screen.  This one took me through the town centre of Gungahlin, which was very educational as I haven't visited for a couple of months, and the building that's been going on up there is phenomenal. The shopping centres have expanded, and a multi-level carpark has gone in, and the various construction works just haven't finished. Time to Complete: The average time for each mission segment is about 15 minutes, although I took between a half and three-quarters of an hour because I like to glyph-hack, capture, fully depl...