Archive for Computer games

7 July, 2008 | No comments

Stinky grumps: The Sims 2 and “The Obsession Legacy”

I'm so sorry about not having the next blogs of Episodes 5 or 6 of The Next Food Network Star. Recently the power went out, then some nasty incident forced us to live without the Internet for a whole week. I wasn't able to put up any blog last Monday. I'll try to put up a compilation of my thoughts on the last two episodes.

In the meantime, here's a little story: Once upon a time, a princess called Lucy got bored of her posh life, so she downloaded The Sims 2 on her posh computer and loved the ordinary peasant Sims and their lives. But since her daddy gave her a TV and the Harry Potter books, she became a crazy Trekkie and Potterhead who also was a fangirl of a really lame action TV series about terrorism called 24. In her rabid fangirly rage, she booted up the Internet on her computer, learned about the Legacy Challenges for playing The Sims 2, and started her own legacy with Sims named and looking like her favorite characters from her obsessions, naming it... The Obsession Legacy. (rim shot)

She was so vainglorious and obsessed with certain characters in the series she loved, she made many Sims that looked like her and now one of them is married to a Sim based on Remus Lupin.

I never watched 24. A TV series about terrorists never appealed to me. All I know about it was that this guy was supposed to pretend to be dead for 24 hours(the name of the series is based on the 24-hour time period of faked death) and there were a lot of explosions and car chases. Yawnsville.

I have watched episodes of the original Star Trek and The Next Generation, and read about characters from the other two series(Deep Space 9 and Voyager) - I know who the Borg are and how they threatened the Star Trek universe, so I have some experience there.

The most experience I have is with Harry Potter, as I have read all seven books and seen all the movies, two on DVD, three in theaters.

So, what do you get when you turn Sims into characters like those from those three series? Hilarious chaos.

You see, the Legacy states(but I may be wrong) that you are forbidden from dictating your Sims actions. These virtual dollies must act under the randomized control of the computer AI. While the Sims of Sims 2 are far more intelligent than their ancient predecessors, they still tend to go and do stupid things.

For example, in Chapter 37, Lucy whines about the autonomous reaction Sims do whenever a fire breaks out - they run to it and scream and flail in horror, while the ashy fire decimates their needs like hygiene and energy. I have sigged her rant in a forum that dedicates itself to Legacy challenges.

A legacy is where you start with a Sim, marry them off and make them have three or more kids and raise them to adulthood. Then you pick which kid is the heir, move the other children out to the SimBin, and start over, rinse and repeat until you hit the quota number of generations.

The Obsession Legacy is an Alphabet Legacy, meaning that the quota is 26 and each child in each generation is alphabetically named with names starting with that letter. "A" generation babies are named Alice, Ashton, etc.; and B-generation babies are named Betsy, BooBoo, etc

The founder and any family members can remain untill they die from old age or are kicked out.

I applaud the hard work, Lucy. I'm just sure you started this last November, but this story is great. It's sadly also unfinished, as she tends to play through the game to a point, pausing for photo moments.

Go to the address I gave in my last e-mail. No not that one! The other one! Go and vote if the vote opens.

Also be sure to read the Legacy story, if only for the crazy dialoge, chapters you can skipp, and what not.

7 July, 2008 | No comments

ENTERTAINMENT: The Sims

To begin with, I don't usually just sit down and play computer games for hours and hours at a time. I used to, but I rarely do anymore. But for the past few days, I've been really into the Sims 2 again. I'm not sure why. I go on these Sims binges where I just can't seem to get enough. Then I get kind of tired of it and don't play it for months. I'm sure that won't change.

What I usually do with my characters is play me and Ky. I very rarely play anybody else. I usually play as Ky for a while, level him up a little bit, then create me and play as me. Then I put them together, two struggling people with no money, and have them get married. Then they have babies right away. This is usually what causes my downfall.

But this time, I maximized both me and Ky before I got them married so that we'd each have a bundle of money to bring together when we got married. And it worked! We each had about 200,000 Simoleans when we got married, which gave us a net total of 400,000. Yay for math. And, I know it's really sad, but we got pregnant almost right away and had twin girls! I'm so happy! LOL

Anyway, to make a long story short (too late), I like the Sims. And what's even better is that they're coming out with the Sims 3 in 2009. I can't wait! It sounds like you can customize your Sim a lot more, and you can actually walk around in their neighborhood and visit neighbors' houses and stuff. It sounds neat. It's on my birthday list next year, if anybody is interested! :D

6 July, 2008 | No comments

Mary King’s Riding Star

Title: Mary King's Riding Star
Alternate Title: Riding Star
My copy was bundled with Equestraid 2001as part as the Let's Ride: Championship Collection (jewel case). I think the box version was also bundled with Three Day Eventing from Relish Works.
PC Requirements: P100 (166 rec), 16 MB RAM (32 rec), W 95/98, 150 MB hard drive space, 2 MB SVGA video card supporting "Direct Draw" with 16 bit resolution, Direct X 6.0, sound card, Windows 98/2000/ME/XP (not sure about Vista)

The Game
Discipline: Eventing
Horse Care: Yes - brushing, oiling hooves, cleaning stalls, filling water buckets
Difficulty: Fairly easy
Customization: Very little - choice of 8 (I think) preset horse/rider combos
Levels/Modes: 3 levels I think. 10 events/3 modes of play (3 day event/individual event or discipline/multiplayer to 4)
Thrills & Spills: horse bulks, riders does fall forward only!
Graphics: 2D, 4 very clear gaits (no variation),quite simple, not the most realistic (e.g. no posting etc), overhead view only, no inclines

Overview/Review

Riding Star is my first PC horse game and it is one of the easiest. It is a slight step up from that online show jumping game. If you're horse crazy, you will be entertained with it although if you're any good at video games, this will be done in no time. Being older, it works great on old computers and doesn't require any thing new. The rider does fall off if you forget to jump which is quite entertaining...and the dressage is fairly easy. It's cute. The game also features an annoying British announcer.

Free Demo
http://www.kidsdomain.com/down/pc/ridingstar.html

5 July, 2008 | No comments

Sims 2 Free Time Patch Problem and Off-Whack Screen

It's been months since I played a computer game (if I don't include the hour or so I spent with the Spore Creature Creator Demo that has encouragingly shown that my ThinkPad might be up to handling the full game).  I decided to update my Sims 2 with the latest Free Time patch. This crippled the program's initiator but gladly, this is a known issue and was fairly easily resolved via this procedure --->

http://www.simprograms.com/?p=654

I re-encountered the bizarre graphics problem where the game screen is set off-centre. As my Refresh Rate was already at the maximum setting of 75, I had to mess about with the ATI Panel controls. I ticked the box for "Composite Sync". I don't know what it means - but the game picture is now correctly positioned......and there's STILL snow on the ground in Pleasantville.

5 July, 2008 | No comments

Free Computer Games

Free Computer Games
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Max_Bellamy]Max Bellamy

Online computer game providers often promise free computer games. But not many game providers offer free computer games. Game manufacturers often use the term free computer games to attract the attention of the buyers. Here we discuss some methods to download free computer games. The simplest way to get free computer games is to download the free game demos. Almost all computer game sites offer demos of their computer games. The demos are quite similar to the original computer games. The computer games now cost you more than $40 per title. So, from the buyers’ perspective, it’s always beneficial to download the demos first to get a feel for the games. Keeping the buyers’ viewpoint in mind, the computer game manufacturers offer free game downloads. Thanks to free computer games, buyers can check out the games.

The demand for free computer games are always on the rise. That’s why leading web portals such as MSN and Yahoo have started offering an extensive range of free computer games. Free computer games offer the opportunity to try the games before you ultimately decide to buy. The free computer games are mostly time-bound. The games expire on a certain date. During the trial period, the buyers can get a fair idea of the full game version. That’s why people prefer to check out the free computer games before they buy.

However, while downloading free computer games, you should keep some facts in mind. You must download free computer games only from those sites that are authentic. The game development companies you are targeting must be certified. This way, you can ensure that the free game downloads are free from bugs and viruses. As a buyer, you should not compromise with the quality of free computer games. [http://www.i-ComputerGames.com]Computer Games provides detailed information on Computer Games, Free Computer Games, Online Computer Games, Kids' Computer Games and more. Computer Games is affiliated with [http://www.e-ArcadeGames.com]Online Arcade Games.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Max_Bellamy http://EzineArticles.com/?Free-Computer-Games&id=204329

4 July, 2008 | No comments

Retro Computing by Flaim ;-)

[wp_caption id="attachment_109" align="aligncenter" width="200" caption="A classic Amiga 600 computer - some say it killed Commodore. Looks innocent to me ;)"][/wp_caption]

In the world where everyone forgets about old computers and glorifies the humongous power of multi-core processors and extreme graphic cards with gigs of memory, producing enormous amounts of heat and eating up tons of energy, I still have a small hidden hobby - classic Amigas.

Amiga? What the hell is that?

In the mid-eighties a well known personal computer producer Commodore (r.i.p) started a series of 16/32 bit computers and named them Amiga ('female friend' in spanish). They made a number of models and finished production in the early nineties (went bankrupt in 1994 and sold out to Escom which then went bankrupt too [1997]).

Amiga 1000 - the beginning

The first model introduced in 1987. The computer was fitted with a 16 bit Motorola 68000 @ 7.16 MHz processor and 256 or 512kb of Chip RAM (could be increased up to 9MB with fast ram). The computer was sold in a desktop case with a keyboard and was a huge leap between 8bit computers thanks to it's OCS chipset (which could render 32 colours to the screen and supported a HAM-6 mode for displaying and editing photos) and PAULA sound chip - a stereo sound chip which could play samples (in 4 channel modules) smoothly.

Amiga 500 and 500+

Amiga 500 was the first Amiga computer built into an all-in-one chassis (with keyboard). It based on Amiga 1000 - still having the OCS chipset and the Motorola 68k processor. Introduced in 1987 as a low end, home version of Amiga 2000 model. Amiga 500 had 512kb chip memory expandable to 1MB with a memory card. The 500+ was an improved version of Amiga 500. All previous models based on Kickstart (eeprom) version 1-1.3. (and AmigaOS / Workbench - 1.0 to 1.3). When released - in 1992/93 the new Amiga 500 Plus had a totally new Kickstart 2.0, a new 2.04 Amiga OS version and a completely new chip called Full ECS- which could do 32 colours (or 64 in a special mode using colour variations) and a ham-8 mode supporting up to 4096 colours simoultanously (Deluxe Paint - a famous Amiga graphic software used that mode to edit photos and draw pictures!). The + sported 1MB of chip ram which could be expanded to 2MB in the same way as the A500. Both models had an expansion connector for external devices (i.ex. a hard drive or a turbo module, sampler and so on).

Pro Amigas (2000,3000,4000/T)

While the home market got A500 and A500+ models, Amiga also thought about pro-users. They were producing desktop computers - more exandable, equipped with more memory and better processors (next generation of motorolas). I won't be explaining more about them because you can read it on Wiki but they were still classic Amigas (you call them classic because they are still on classic motorolas and not PPC processors)

Amiga 600 / 600HD

This model was introduced in 1992. It was generally a ripped-off Amiga 500+ in a smaller case without the numeric keypad. It also lacks some expansion possibilities. Had 1MB of chip ram (expandable to 2MB again), the same processor and a Full ECS chipset. Additionally iyt had a type1 pcmcia slot (now you can attach a compact flash card reader to it , a memory expansion SRAM module or a 10/100 ethernet card). The HD version had a newer Kickstart version (but still 2.0) so it could run with an internal 2,5'' hard drive. This computer killed the Amiga company - was more expensive than the A500/Plus models and got a very bad feedback from the public. Not even the great Amiga 1200 could help the company to survive after this disaster. Nevertheless it's a small lovely box for which parts are extremely rare and hard to find (making them expensive) nowadays.

Amiga 1200

A completely new design. It had a new microprocessor (Motorola 68EC020 @ 14mhz), 2MB of chip ram and a really great new chipset - called AGA. It could display 128 colours natively and was way faster than the previous ones. The 1200 , in addition to the a600 pcmcia, had an expansion slot. Everyone could install a turbo card in it to expand the computer (turbo cards with better motorola and powerpc processors are available). New software was also introduced. They fitted the Amiga with a 3.0+ Kickstart and a new operating system , Amiga OS 3.1. The 1200 was continued after ESCOM took over Amiga. It lived a long life and many upgrades to the computer are still available (even new and packaged). You could also fit the A1200 mainboard to a normal desktop case (they even sold the ESCOM 1200 in a Tower version) and fit more expansions - like a graphic card.

Other Amigas

Commodore released a console named CD32 with a built in CDROM drive and a joypad. The CD32 was based on Amiga 1200 (with AGA and 68020 processor). With it's cool black case it's a really nice addition to every collection.

They also produced a stylish black (desktop with a remote) Amiga CDTV. Basically an Amiga 500 with a CDROM drive instead of the floppy. The first media center PC in the market I guess... rare one too.

My Amiga

I currently own a cool looking Amiga 600 (still white after all this time) with some self-made additions :)

Currently it holds:

- stock Motorola 68k processor,

- Chip Ram expanded to 2MB,

 - Kickstart upgraded (eeprom switch) to 2.05 with hard drive support and boot,

- A IDE44 to compact flash adapter inside the chassis with a 256MB compact flash card formatted to amiga fast file system. The computer boots the OS from it (Workbench 2.1 currently),

- WHDLoad software (for running old disk games from the hard drive - cool thing to have - needs much resources so it's difficult to run most of the games on the slow and small A600),

- loads of old games installed and ready to play (and they look way beyond cool on my Bravia LCD TV ;))

Some Pictures of my hardware:

[wp_caption id="attachment_111" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="The interior - you can see the CF card adapter."][/wp_caption]

 

[wp_caption id="attachment_112" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="First run of the almost finished Amiga - a success!"][/wp_caption]

 

[wp_caption id="attachment_113" align="aligncenter" width="363" caption="First boot from the Compact Flash hard drive"][/wp_caption] [wp_caption id="attachment_114" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="..and the first game executed with WHDLoad ;-))))))))))"][/wp_caption]

Planned Expansions

There is only one processor expansion you can add to the A600- the Apollo/Winner 620 (or 630 the faster version) Turbo Card. Available is not a good word for it because it's expensive and almost impossible to find. The card fits a faster processor (up to 40mhz) and can handle up to 32MB of RAM (old SIMM) which is visible to the system as FAST RAM (extended memory). This would give me the ability to run almost every game designed for the A600/A500/A500+ from the hard drive - without using the floppy drive. The Amiga would run faster as well (considerably).

I'm currently waiting for a 4MB SRAM type1 PCMCIA expansion card (again - quite rare). It expands the Amiga 600's by 4MB of extended memory (a.k.a Fast Ram). Unfortunately this memory used via the pcmcia port is very very very slow (despite its' name ;-)) but it is an alternative to a rare and expensive Apollo Turbo Card....for now.

 The Outro :)

It's still a lot of fun to use those non-accelerated, single-slow-core, without GB's of memory, machines. If you only know what and how to do. Most of the Amiga software is available easily now via sites like LemonAmiga.com (games) and others (you have to remember that most of the software is still under licenses so you have to buy it to use it!)  You can use Winuae emulator to set everything up before placing on a real Amiga so it gets faster and without any stress. The hardware didn't survive those 15yrs+ in a too good condition unfortunately - so it's good to have some skills in electronics to fix all the minor problems (some cable replacments, not working diodes, jammed floppies and so on). Anyway, still a good time killer and a great 'toy' for boring parties with friends who are fed up with PS3 and XBOX games...just run Superfrog or Lotus and GO! :)

FLAIM

3 July, 2008 | No comments

Dungeon Runners is worth a look

In our latest Podcast, Episode: 005, I talked about the free to download, but now purchasable game, Dungeon Runners.  Junkfoodtony and myself really enjoyed this game and best of all its free.  The game plays a lot like any other dungeon crawling games.  Hack and slash your way through dungeons to get the good loot and progress your toon as you level up and take on tougher challenges.

Even if the game is free, it boasted some impressive graphics and best of all the game play was there.  To make it stand out from a crowd NCsoft chose to poke fun of the genre itself and make the game very humorous and tongue in check so to speak.  Hit the video to check out some game play footage.

The newest retail version of the game is a great idea for a lot of people and provides quite a bit of benefits over the free version:

• Game includes 6 Months of Premium Membership Access, which normally costs $5/month. The marketing geniuses at NCsoft® think that’s a pretty sweet deal. No Credit Card Required!
• Access the new Bling Gnome sidekicks, that help you collect loot and ‘process’ your gold. Available only with the boxed version of Dungeon Runners.
• Throw off the yoke of other MMO’s - mix & match from the ever-growing list of skills and powers to create your own custom class.
• Undertake hundreds of missions and quests to rid the world of bad guys and icky monster things.
• Gather in public meeting areas, then adventure in randomly-generated dungeons at your own pace. Turtle or rocket through at breakneck speeds - hey, it’s your neck!
• Die a shameful death as a n00b in the kiddie dungeon. Or become a legend - basking in the limelight as your powers, equipment and influence grow.
• Dungeon Runners is continually expanding to include new maps, new monsters, new powers and new features. Plus, whatever else they come up with, Woohoo!
• …oh and somebody put Exteel™ in the box.

All in all this game is worth a look.  Go download the free version and check it out.  If you like it then keep playing, but if you really want the good stuff you gotta fork over $5 dollars a month, which in reality is extremely cheap. The video below is for the 'Bling Gnome', one of the newer cooler things in the retail version of the game. The video is pretty hilarious to make sure to check it out.

Bling Gnome Trailer (embedding this video wasn't working at the moment?!)

-written by roughneck2426

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3 July, 2008 | No comments

Cambrian Games

A garage gaming outfit (i.e. one guy) with a penchant for abstract forms.

2 July, 2008 | No comments

Clinical Play - Computer Games Used for Healthcare

The BBC has an interesting article on using computer games in healthcare:

Video games get into shape

By Margaret Robertson
Game consultant

I've had my share of gaming injuries.

Alongside the calluses and cramps that extended play sessions can produce, I've suffered Tempest-induced Dry Eye, and only narrowly escaped a tendon inflammation brought on purely by the Dreamcast controller's right trigger.

I've never broken a bone (don't scoff - some have) but these days I'm more careful.

For long Guitar Hero sessions I employ a second person whose job it is to massage some feeling back into my arms between bouts, and before loading World of Warcraft I take a few steps to RSI-proof my desk, one of which, surprisingly, is to convert the stationery drawer to a mousemat.

I'm not too offended, then, by the unhealthy reputation games have developed - I know too well the migraines, backstrains and nausea they can cause.

And I know too that the thousands of hours I've spent on the sofa make it harder to be sceptical about gaming's role in rising obesity levels.

Thanks, however, to active games like DDR, Eye Toy and Wii Fit, that reputation is starting to change.

Virtual pain

It's becomes clear that games can have a positive effect on health, whether by helping to improve kids' fitness levels, or by being used as physical rehabilitation tool for the elderly.

Virtual Iraq is based on the game Full Spectrum Warrior

There's little doubt, too, that gaming's power as a motivational and education tool, will increasingly come into play, with products like Nike+ and games like Fatworld helping players towards a healthier lifestyle.

But while it's one thing for games to shake off their unhealthy aura, it's quite another for them to be seriously considered as medicine.

Increasingly, however, it's clear that they should be.

It's nearly a decade now, since the first research was started into the idea of using virtual reality games as a form of pain control for burns patients, and in that time a solid body of evidence has built up, with patients reporting a 90% decrease in the pain they experienced when using the system during the game.

Researchers at Manchester are also finding that virtual environments can be very useful for treating patients suffering from "phantom limb" experiences following amputations.

Just as interesting is new work going into examining gaming's potential for treating psychological problems.

The US Department of Defense has funded three separate programmes investigating the use of virtual reality systems to help treat some of the many Iraq war veterans who return home with post-traumatic stress disorder.

One, Virtual Iraq, is based on the game Full Spectrum Warrior, itself funded by the military as an infantry training tool, indicating how entwined key areas of public spending are becoming with games.

I'm confident that in the end, games will cure, not cripple, me Margaret Robertson

Virtual Iraq provides a safe environment for patients to revisit the sights and sounds they associate with their trauma, gradually allowing them to normalise their reactions to them in every day life.

Over the last decade this approach has also been used successful with Vietnam veterans, and victims of the September 11th attacks.

Games don't only come into play in such catastrophic circumstances, however.

Clinical play

They are also being used to treat migraine, based on research into neurofeedback treatment techniques.

Patients use sensors attached to their scalp which read brain waves to control a spaceship on screen, and while the exact mechanism still isn't well understood, the system seems to offer a real step forward for drug-free pain control for sufferers.

And, as software tools like Beating The Blues become available on the NHS, it likely won't be long before you find yourself coming home from the doctor's with a prescription for a game rather than a course of pills.

It's also increasingly likely that soon your doctor won't just be prescribing games, but being trained by them, too.

Games like Pulse!! use an FPS game engine to provide a virtual clinic for training doctors and nurses to deal with the injuries caused by large-scale natural disasters or on the battlefield, and research has shown that surgeons who frequently play ordinary videogames make more than a third fewer mistakes in simulations of laparoscopic surgery than those who don't.

Games are already finding a role at every point along the healthcare chain - training doctors, providing treatment for patients, and strengthening preventative medical efforts.

So while I'm still asking for troubling playing Mythos till three in the morning with a spine like an ampersand, my nose three inches from the screen and a red-hot line of pain from my left-mouse-button-finger to my elbow, I'm confident that in the end, games will cure, not cripple, me.

Link

1 July, 2008 | No comments

Kid Icarus! Kid Icarus! KID ICARUS!!!!

Kid Icarus is easily my favourite character from Captain N - as you can probably tell from my home page banner, although I never got very far in Kid Icarus in Angel Land. And - Janey Mack! - he is back back BACK!!! I knew it was my lil Kid from the moment I saw him on the cover! *sigh*

Welcome back, Kid! Mega Man woulda been cool in this, I wonder why they didn't include him, too?

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