Archive for February, 2008

29 February, 2008 | No comments

GameZebo: DragonStone Review

Young Baldric's in love... with the King's daughter no less. And she loves him, too. However, as with any chivalrous tale, Baldric can't marry her on the spot. A heroic deed must first be performed to qualify him as suitor. Thus, the king has sent him on a quest to recover a special artifact, the DragonStone. To win the princesses' hand, Baldric must retrieve the relic and return victorious.

29 February, 2008 | No comments

Jay Is Games: The Perfect Shot

The Perfect Shot is an action game of skill and finesse created for our 4th game design competition. To play through each of the game's 20 levels, just throw the ball to the goal. It's a ball-tossing game that uses a bit of gestural input to give this entry a bit of english over the others in the field. The result is a game that is well-polished a lot of fun to play.

29 February, 2008 | No comments

Guilty pleasures of a mouse potato (how to get cataract and ct syndrome)

The time i learned how to use computer, i got hooked into computer games.

From the PC Gorilla and Pong of the DOS environment to the present-day MMORPG games.

Under Windows 5.1, I used to like Sokoban, a challenge in problem-solving and logic. Then there was my first shoot-out game in Wolfenstein. I played this game during lunch. It is also on this game that i learned how to use "cheat codes" to enjoy the Difficult level.

Under Windows 98, i played a LAN game called Command & Conquer (C & C) , the original one. I was wondering then why my IT colleagues are quiet after lunch and huddled in their PCs. They were playing LAN game against the Engineers. But then, my boss noticed that the network goes down during lunchtime. Eventually, he discovered the reason and promptly ordered a sweep-delete of the game in all PCs with a stern warning.

On internet cafe gaming, i played Ragnarok, Gunbound, PangYa and MUOnline. I like GB and PY because I can play without buying top-up cards. The cards are only for points and gears. I also played Battle Realms and Age of Empires. I tried playing Starcraft but i founf the game slow and boring.

A friend showed me PC Halo, and i got hooked. I played from 9 PM till 4 AM and finally finished the game. Too bad the Halo 2 & 3 were for Xbox only.

These days, i have only two hardcore games in my laptop: Rise of Nation and Red Alert 2.

Rise of Nation (RON)

RON is like an improved version of AOE. I use cheat codes to speed things up and put the Game Level to Very Difficult. But hey, i only use the codes when the enemy has reached the third level ahead of me. I like to 'tease' my enemy by almost annihilating it, maybe leave 2 cities. Then I will pull back my troops and allow the enemy to re group and recapture some of my cities. Sometimes it takes me 3 hours to finish the game. The game starts from hunting village and progress thru various stages. You have to cultivate foods (crops and fish), gather timber, find some resources and build mandatory buildings like Trader, University, Church, and Library. You will also build defenses like Infantry, Cavalry and Towers in strategic corners of your village. Then you check for research on various industries to upgrade to next level. Things get hot when you reach the Information Age. By this time, you have to mine for minerals, pump oil and mechanized your army.

You are allowed to build 8 cities only. But you can add more as you conquer the enemy's cities by  overwhelming air and ground assault. When the enemy is down to one city, then game is over.

RON also allows for use of nuclear weapons, but with negative consequence -- Armageddon or Mutual Assured Destruction.  You or the enemy can unleash nukes up to 7 attacks. After that, game is over as either party managed to annihilate each other by nuke attacks. That is why i only use around 3 shots of nukes and then rely on my airforce and tanks to assault the enemy.

Red Alert 2

I like RA2 because it is a fast-pace game. I never use cheat codes here. I use to have the Yuri's Revenge expansion pack, but it eats too much of my small HD space, so i settled for plain RA2. I like to play with two enemies, Easy Enemy and Brutal Enemy. Under Yuri's, I can create teams and colors and i make sure i have a Yuri on my side. I then set the enemies to Random.

On RA2, i always choose America for its paratroopers. The toughest enemy thus far is the Soviet and Cuban forces. I find the Kirov airships and the suicide truck bombers as most annoying to handle. I like it fast-pace and most of the times i get defeated in less than a minute.

If I want an even play, I select only one Brutal Enemy. After setting up the Main Cosntruction Yard. I build one Power Plant. Then Barracks. I then click on machine gun nest, while building an Ore Refinery. While these two are building, i create soldiers and dogs. After the machine gun and Ore Ref, i build an airforce field so i can generate Rocketeers. I also order for anti-aircraft gun.

Now, depending on the  enemy distance (battlefield chosen), i may have enought rocketeers and paratroops to ward off initial attacks. There were times that my Construction Yard and War Factory had been destroyed, with only barracks, Ore Refinery and Airforce base left. If the enemy stops sending air raids, there is an even chance of defeating it by encircling enemy camp with sufficient ground troops to prevent enemy forces from counter-attacking my vulnerable camp. Preventing their ore miners from getting minerals will also weaken the enemy position.

But these are not the only games I play.

 I also played these Gamehouse and Popcap games like TextTwist, Bookworm, Bejeweled, Dynomite, Zuma, and Soduku. I also have this Kasparov Chess game.

I have 53 Popcap games but only installed Zuma and Bookworm.

Zuma is lethargic color-coded shoot-out game. You need to hit colored balls in three's and prevent balls from falling into the trap by hittin combination-chain shots to hasten the destruction of the balls. It was my Lebanese friend Johnny Elias who introduced me to it. Before long, we were competing on who can get to higher levels. Ah, well, Johnny was stucked at Level 9, while i succeeded making it to Level 12. 

I like Bookworm so much i spent my whole day-off just to break the 1million points. I did finish 6.3 million points with carpal tunnel (CT) syndrome and back ache as reward . As you can see, all ten list of Action player is all mine. I like the Action Game because it is faster. The Classical is meant for first-timer as the tiles burn slowly.

My annoyance in Bookworm is that when i tried to submit online my score, Popcap did not reflect it..

.

My Sri Lankan friend, Ranjith, introduced me to this addicting shootout game of Air Assault. At first, i dismissed it as no-brainer. Later, i found myself competing with my housemates on who can finish first the entire game on Normal level. I was never able to make it past first level in Lagos. It was in Enugu i finally was able to find time (again, my Saturday day-off) to finally beat the game and finish it.

Be careful, these games can cost you your job. Or your health.

29 February, 2008 | No comments

WoW

So.

Umm. (fingers tapping nervously)

Confession coming…

I think my teenager is addicted to an online computer game.

Begin the excuses: He lives with Dad. I have no control over his computer time. He is practically grown; he makes his choices now. At least he is not watching TV?

When I call Sweet boy, he is always on the computer. He and his friends play World of Warcraft together, linked online. He has made it to level 42. When he visited last, he downloaded the game on to my laptop and plugged himself in. Watching over his shoulder, I noticed that while it is violent (yes, very) it does seem to have some spiritual elements to it as well. Am I fooling myself that that matters?

The current cover story of Williamette Week, “Drug of Choice,” details the damaging results of computer game addiction. I hurriedly read the article, searching for signs in Sweet boy. I didn’t find any.

He has always tested me around the question of violence. Flashback to 1994. He is running in our front yard in Austin, Texas, his long curly hair streaming behind him. He has a stick in his hand and he is pointing at our family dog. “Bang, bang, “ he says.

“Are you sending energy to the Jara doggie?” I ask.

“Shoot her. Bang bang Jara.”

Where did he learn this? We don’t watch TV. Our friends are pacifists with hair wraps and hairy legs. He goes to a peace-filled Montessori preschool.

Flash forward to 1996. He walks in the door from kindergarten bragging, “I ate meat today. I like meat! I am only going to eat meat now.”

We were vegans at the time.

1997. He starts wearing a buzz cut, long curls gone forever.

2003. His favorite movies are Kill Bill and The Ring.

You get the picture. He is his own person. He likes to laugh about his mom being a hippie. I had this non-reality expectation of raising a child in a respectful home, committed to non-violence. I thought he would be just like me. No, actually I thought he would be an even more conscious version of me.

What I have learned is that when we raise children respectfully what we get is someone who is uniquely their own person with strong personal values and a lack of fear about asking (demanding) what they want.

Is he violent? No. Socially, he is tender, kind and incredibly polite. He just likes to play violent video games, knaw on hotdogs and listen to music that makes my head explode.

I think that is just fine. Right?

28 February, 2008 | No comments

Free Game News: Late for Date

Late for Date is a Turkish Room Escape game available in both Turkish and English. “You have finally come to the end of a busy week after doing some overtime on the Friday evening.

You were planning to go out with your friends and watch a new movie. You left your work place with your friends for the elevator. You forgot something and decided to go back upstairs. As the elevator doors opened, a cloud of smoke went off the control panel.”

The elevator is now out of order and the exit door is locked!

Have fun!

28 February, 2008 | No comments

Free Game News: Date Escape

Date Escape is a new Japanese Room Escape game by the same author of Let’s Go Out, Happy Valentine’s Day and Girl Escape. Just like with the previous games, Date Escape is all in Japanese, and the language barrier seems to be a problem in this game. Have fun!

28 February, 2008 | No comments

Game Producer: 8 More Writers Wanted

I’ve been getting couple of guest authors to contribute to GameProducer.net and there are a few posts coming in the nearly future. Since people have enjoyed these article (based on the comments), I’ve made the bold step to invite a few more guest writers to contribute.

I will keep writing a few times per week, and giving bit longer articles now and then, but I also want to get more professionals on the board to share their opinions.

GameProducer.net has an established audience of close to thousand daily readers, and it provides a solit platform to share insight on game production. This is not a paid position, but a chance to get some credentials to your resume.

There are just a couple of requirements in case you want to contribute:

• You need to actually know something about games production: You need to have produced games. I’m not after book-smart people, I want to hear from people have experience in doing games. You don’t need to have built the first greatest game ever, but you do need to have experience and willingness to share your lessons.
• Write one or more articles per month: You don’t need to write all the time, but getting at least one article (500 words long or so) per month would be sufficient. Anything more than that is fine too as long as the articles show quality.
• You know how to write in English: I don’t expect 100% solid grammar, but you need to be able to write proper English.

Rest of the details will be discussed when you apply.

That’s pretty much it. If you are working on some game company (or own one), feel free to contact me. If you know somebody who could be interested in writing game production or game business articles, feel free to ask him to contact me.

There’s 8 open spots right now (out of 10), and after that I’ll be closing the offer at least for some time to see how this goes.

If you are interested, please send me some writing samples and tell me bit about your gaming industry experience.

If you liked this entry, feel free to visit GameProducer.net to read more similar articles.

28 February, 2008 | No comments

Jay Is Games: Haxed by Megahurtz

Making interactive Web art is a dangerous business. When you dabble in the language of games, you risk the wrath of gamers, who despite their lip service to "innovation", are often terrified by anything really experimental. So one possible MO for developers trying to smooth out this prickly transition is to make something like Haxed by Megahurtz, a game so cracked, so exuberant, so imbecilic it could not possibly be trying to outsmart you. Hating it would be like slapping a candy raver—part of you might want to, but it's easier to just go with the flow and accept her offer of Sweet Tarts and a back massage.

28 February, 2008 | No comments

Casual Gamer Chick: Flash Game: Robot Territories

You are a great robot that needs to defend their territory in the action packed flash game Robot Territories. Players defend their territories with guns that are your robots hands. The robot is swarmed with a bunch of different enemies such as ground troops, tanks and helicopters.

Each level has different objectives. The robot needs to survive long enough to kill all of the troops advancing towards it. Players also have to make combos as they are killing the troops advancing towards them. The way to make combos is to shoot the unit while it is in the air. Players shoot at the troops and they will bounce into the air and if you can shoot the troop again on its way down you get a combo. The levels require you to make a certain number of combos before you can pass the level.

Another challenge is to get a certain combo multiplier. Some levels require a multiplier of 3 while others require a multiplier of 6. The multiplier is basically how many times you can hit the unit as it is falling down. Each time you hit the unit it bounces back up in the sky and the player has another chance to hit the unit as it comes back down. Basically, you need to bounce the unit on your bullets the number of times of the multiplier. In other words, if your combo multiplier is 3, you need to bounce the unit off of your bullets three times.

The levels are challenging to kill all of the units that come at you. There is a constant stream of enemies coming at you and those enemies are shooting at you and they have pretty good aim. The later levels throw more and more powerful troops at you and it doesn’t take long before you are taking a significant amount of damage and that is never a good thing.

I thought Robot Territories was really fun to play and it got my adrenalin pumping as I was trying to defend off all of the enemies coming towards me. I am not a huge shooter fan, but thought this game was different from other shooter games I have played and I found Robot Territories really fun. If you are into shooter games or even if you find action games fun to play, check out Robot Territories.

28 February, 2008 | No comments

GameZebo: How Madame Fate got her voice: an audio post-mortem

Mystery Case Files: Madame Fate was one of those games that raised the bar for production values in hidden object games, thanks in no small part to the contributions of SomaTone Interactive Audio. (Who could forget Madame Fate's distinctive lilt, or the ambient sounds that brought the carnival atmosphere to life?) SomaTone's co-founder Kane Minkus takes us through the process of creating the game's distinctive soundtrack in Gamezebo's first audio post-mortem.

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