Archive for September, 2007

29 September, 2007 | No comments

Supernova 2: military power

I’ve yet changed another part of the game. Initially I thought of simply putting some default ships when a new battle starts, based on the values of the resource management screen. However today I realized that this would be crap, since everyone has some preferences in term of tactics and ships. So I’ve removed the options screen button, and put a military one

( the options will still be easily accessible hitting the ESCAPE key during the game )

So what does the military screen do? it lets you manage your fleet. You have up to 64 slots that you can use to assemble your fleet, building one ship at time. This way even the money factor will come into play: beside the mineral resources (metals, etc) needed to build a specific ship, you’ll also need money to pay for the costs (think about the workers, energy, etc). So each ship will have a resource and a money cost, adding more strategy to the game. Later, if I’ll add a custom ship design update, things will be even more interesting

Then when you attack you’ll be able to place X ships (with X is a value depending on your current “maximum unit” value) on the battlefield, choosing from all the 64 ships you currently have in your fleet.

28 September, 2007 | No comments

Computer Game History Analysed

I really am too busy to blog much right now, on the account of having to put together a rough test version of Karta Machiton. But I do have the time for a short observation, inspired by Ville Vuorela, who graciously gave me some rather interesting pointers on computer game types as a comment on my earlier post about the games I consider significant. He outlines a solid model of how conforming to audience expectations is a key to commercial success in computer games. (Perhaps not the only key, but I'm ready to believe that it is a commonly followed and routinely successful principle in making games that sell.) The idea of tug-of-war between the publisher's and designer's intents is outright fascinating, I'll have to think about that in more depth; as both principles A and B are obviously important, there might be some merit to having both defended separatively, even if I'm usually suspicious of compromise as a design tool. More

28 September, 2007 | No comments

Para as Horas Vagas

Nunca fui muito adepta aos jogos online, talvez por receio, falta de tempo ou de saco mesmo. Agora revi meus conceitos e aderi a uma nova forma de relaxar (nova pra mim, claro) - baralho online. Achei um site brasileiro, simples mas bem legalzinho - Megajogos Online. Lá eu posso jogar buraco, sueca, truco, poker, dominó, damas, xadrez...Basta baixar o jogo, que é pequeno, fazer a inscrição gratuita na conta premium e jogar. Dá pra jogar de bobeira ou nos torneios semanais, onde a cada jogo vc acumula pontos na rodada. Tem um chat bem simples na mesa, para se comunicar com a galera que joga com você - mas não pode falar sobre as cartas do jogo, claro - e tem uma espécie de messenger, para adicionar os amigos que vc faz.

Pra quem gosta de cartas, é uma boa pedida. Só ligar o wmp, preparar uma cervejinha, uns petisquetes e curtir. E quem quiser me achar por lá, só procurar pela graarantes. ;)

28 September, 2007 | No comments

How to post a letterbox on geocaching.com

On the AQ boards someone asked about how they could increase traffic to their letterboxes. Here's one way that you can definitely pick up traffic and also increase awareness of letterboxing in your community. Use google maps and geocaching.com

Get the starting waypoint using google maps:

My example: Klondike Drive, Fairbanks, AK 99709, USA

1. Go to google maps and
2. Do a search for Klondike Drive Fairbanks AK.
3. Click on the "link to this page" link. It's located just above the map on the right hand side.
4. You will get this url: http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&q=Klondike+Dr,+Fairbanks,+Fairbanks+
   North+Star,+Alaska+99709,+United+States&ie=UTF8&cd=7&
   geocode=0,64.837240,-147.877150&sll=49.891235,-97.15369
   &sspn=25.369388,59.765625&ll=64.838192,-147.877135&
   spn=0.008156,0.029182&z=15&iwloc=addr&om=1
5. Notice in the url that you get the latitude longitude coordinates. The numbers are 49.891235,-97.15369 49.891235 is the North coordinate (i.e. the latitude) -97.15369 is the West coordinate (i.e. the longitude)
6. Write down the coordinates. You'll need them to post the letterbox on geocaching.com

Important update: I haven't posted a new letterbox in awhile, not since the Spring of this year, so I forgot a very important point. You not only need the waypoint for the starting point, you also need the waypoint for the location of the box. This is required so the reviewer can check to see if it meets guidelines (at least .1 miles/161 meters from another cache, not on prohibited property, not in close proximity to active railway tracks or military areas). You could in many cases, still get the location of the box using google maps. The coordinates for the box location are not posted when the letterbox goes live, they are just needed for reviewing purposes.

Posting your box on geocaching.com:

1. Now go to the geocaching site http://www.geocaching.com and set up a free account.
2. Next go to the Hide and Seek A Cache page.
3. Then click on the fill out our online form link.
4. Fill out the form and when you get to the 'Coordinates' section choose Decimal Degrees from the drop menu and put 49.891235 in the north coordinates box and 097.15369 in the west coordinates box (you don't need the minus sign)
5. In the "long description" it would be a good idea to let geocachers know what a letterbox is and that you do not want trinkets left in the box and add "Please do not take my stamp, leave it in the box." Here's an example of what I write - the message has served me well.

This is a letterbox, there are no trade items.
BYOI: bring your own ink.
Recommended colour: black

I have placed my hand-carved stamp in each of the boxes. Bring your own ink (Crayola washable markers make great ink tools if you don't have an ink pad).If you carry a letterbox "passport"/journal, use the letterbox's stamp to stamp your passport. If you have a signature stamp, please stamp the log book.If you do not have a stamp, leave a drawing (stick figure drawings and happy faces would be just fine, you do not have to be a Picasso or a Da Vinci, or a sticker or a fingerprint or pawprint, or try a nature print using a leaf or flower as a nature stamp, and sign the log. Stamps are cheap at Michael's and scrapbooking stores or make your own with an eraser and an exacto knife. Join the fun!Please, don't take my stamp!

Note: It's also very important to put a note in your letterbox. Not all people read the cache page carefully so they'll need another reminder when they open up the box. Here's the note I leave:

Please leave the stamp in the box. No trades. If you carry a letterbox passport, take an impression of the letterbox's stamp. If you carry a signature stamp, leave an impression in the logbook.

Once you submit your letterbox it'll take about 3 days to be reviewed and approved. Then it should only be about a day before you get your first finder.

26 September, 2007 | No comments

Halo 3 - Official 90 Second Spot

Check out this inspiring commercial for Halo 3. You can just feel the emotion, the intensity, and the desperation flowing out of the video composed entirely of still shots. The music matches it nicely, giving it a great atmosphere, it instills a combination of horror, restlessness and hope.

26 September, 2007 | No comments

One Game.

Online games, online people. Online FRIENDS? Good question. I'm a wary person when it comes to meeting people online. Im not an avid online game player. I only got immersed with online games because my friends wanted to try it. I never thought that I would one day actually talk to and make friends with people from the virtual world. I never thought I'd meet people I would one day soon consider family and friends even closer than that of my Real Life friends. Some people that you can honestly say, even if we haven't met, I know that they care immensely for me.

All-night conferences. Jokes. Laughs. Sadness. We've shared all that and so much more. This kind of relationship that I thought I would never get to experience. It is something so profound. Something I thought I would never get from this kind of communication medium.

Ely: My little sister. My shobe. All laughs, boy-talk, girl-talk, everything.

YoungJae: My younger brother. My sioti. Never fails to amuse me. My family who I help do homework with. More like me doing his homework.. But I love helping him. ^^ It makes me feel like a real older sister.

Jinkuu: Someone who never fails to make me happy each day. My first ever online friend. The first person to gain my trust. He knows virtually everything about me.

Ricecake: Happy-go-lucky. Someone you can talk to when its too difficult to approach those that you know by heart so much. There are just those moments in your life when you wish to talk to someone who just wouldnt have a bias opinion on anything.

Paulo: Someone who understands and accepts. For that I am grateful. The first person.

XY: That someone you want to be there for you. You feel like you just need to be her friend, someone she can talk to, who's always there.

Soujee: Never a dull moment.

Takumi: The man to talk to when you need advice on cars and more cars.

And to you. You know who you are. Special. Always special. Thank you.

MY POD family.

ONE CLUB. One FAMILY.

*HUGS*

and Ming.. You're not here.. because you're not an ONLINE friend... XDD REAL LIFE is more like it.. ^_____^ but a REALLY close one.. ^^ i miss you ming.. >_<

special thanks to Jinkuu for making the graphic.. ^^

26 September, 2007 | No comments

Check it out.. bingo keeps getting better!!!

I got big news for all online bingo players like myself….  I am delighted playing at iwonbingo.com is like a big family there…  the chatroom is great and they have a new better way of being there for you….  They  will call you and help you out with anything that you can possibly need from their site..  they  will explain whatever or just talk to you … They are always trying to change the site to a better one based on what we (the players) want…  and they are always changing the prizes..  more cash!!!!  Check it out and let me know what you think!!!...  And they are giving out free cash and bonuses all the time!!!!!!! 

24 September, 2007 | No comments

Sports Entrepreneurs SQA on-line Football Store Game

This is an on-line business game based on how to successfully run a 'virtual' sports store, concentrating mainly on the season-long fortunes of Scotland’s senior football clubs. The Scottish version, backed by clubs including Aberdeen, Celtic, Dundee United, Hearts, Motherwell, Rangers and Partick Thistle, is based on the pioneering work of The Small Business Company (TSBC) in New Zealand.  TSBC are involved in the trailblazing Scottish game, the first new version to be developed anywhere outside New Zealand.

Over 11,000 pupils from some 280 schools across Scotland have already signed up for this exciting game that aims to teach business and enterprise skills.  By running the sports store, students can learn what works in business and what doesn’t; experiment with different tactics to see the impact of their decisions; and learn what it is like to run a small business.  Given the support of Scotland’s clubs, students can also choose to have their 'virtual' store decked out in the colours of their favourite team.

24 September, 2007 | No comments

the dungeons.

margaret berger: "robot song"
[audio=http://willamina.wordpress.com/files/2007/09/margaretberger-robotsong.mp3]

So, like I said the other day, my boyfriend (MC) and I have been together over half a year now. One of my most recent projects involves trying to understand his favorite hobby better. The boy loves his old-school quest-style computer games. I just thank God he hasn't been hoovered up into that massive multiplayer void known as World of Warcraft.

I'm interested in learning more because I love him and learning about what makes the people you love tick is inherently important and revealing.

And then, admittedly, I'm doing this partly just to be perverse. I've been a book-nerd all my life, but also someone who always shied away from hardcore computer activities---aside from that brief period in high school when I was on the Prodigy BB for fans of The Cure most of the time when I should have been sleeping. (Spooky, if you're out there, Seagirl says hi. Thanks for the mix tape.)

The more I learn about gaming, the more I realize how guy-centric it is. The games themselves, the marketing, the people who make them. Women may be huge buyers of certain games like The Sims---which I've seen derisively referred to as the grown-up version of playing dollhouse---but it still seems like the industry hasn't even begun to pursue a huge potential market in earnest. Time to step up, guys. And girls too. Without qualified female applicants, all the good intentions in the world won't make much of a difference.

Admittedly I know little about this topic, but I'm going to find out more. Part of me wants to get a job in the industry just to make a point . . . and not just any job, mind you, but one of the most stereotypically "guy" jobs. Like Computer Programmer, for instance.

Just have a few things to take care of before I start applying:
1. Play some computer games.
2. Learn how to program.
3. Learn how to program computer games.

But what's life without a few improbable goals? I'm great with foreign languages, on the pro side. On the con side, logic was the one class I had to drop in college.

In the meantime, as part of my Understanding the Inner Workings of MC campaign, I am reading Confessions of a Part-Time Sorceress, which explains Dungeons & Dragons from a female perspective. A lot of the quest-style games played on computers now are really just extensions of D&D, as far as I can tell. Since it seems to be some kind of Mother Ship, I have decided to go straight to the source.

Anyway. The book has a conversational, sassy tone, lots of pink, and festive illustrations. And actually, aside from the fact that the author overdoes it throwing around fashion label and celeb references in a bid to retain her (shopaholic?) reader's attention, it's all starting to make a little more sense to me. Groovy.

Don't sign me up or anything just yet, though. Small steps.

24 September, 2007 | No comments

Hard-core female gamers hooked on Halo 2

But when it comes to the competitive gaming set, women such as the PMS Clan are still a minority.

Elizabeth Williams (from left), Kellie Freeman, Mandy Paez, Natasha Hinwood, Dianne Bonfiglio, Kristen Alexander and Nikki McCoy prepare for this weekend's Major League Gaming event at Walt Disney World's Dolphin Resort. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda, Orlando Sentinel / September 21, 2007)  [READ MORE] 

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