What I am playing (and taking part in) since March 2010 is Eve Online.
Perhaps one of the most advanced online games deviced. Maybe one of
the nicest looking too. At the very least the only one science fiction worth
mentioning.
I have had accounts on the server way back to 2004. But Have taken a
break several times. The last time was in 2008.
But Eve is more addictive than crack so we all come back sooner or later.

Tags: Eve-Online

Sooo....
After the huge shamble called ”Halo Wars” I’m very glad to hear about a couple of news items on the horizon. First we have the ”Halo ODST” in September 2009. A Halo FPS (thank god) but without the cheif and cortana this time. It places it self just before the second Halo game, on the time line.
After this, sometime 2010 comes ”Halo Reach”, of wich I do not know much at all. As far as I know it connects to a new book series that takes place during the time of the forerunners (basically a mother of a prequel). Both I’m looking forward to

Tags: Halo, Xbox360, Misc

Once up on a time there was a independent software delveloper that was famous for it’s good policies towards customers. They had made several good games that contained no copyright, DRM or any crap to scare off gamers. They took good care of all paying customers.

Not long ago they made the game ”Sins of a solar Empire”. A 4X game that played more like RTS. It looked good and played equally good.

No DRM, no crippleware and such crap. You had to use your serial to download patches from the game website. That was it. Excellent initiative. The game sold VERY well indeed.

But around version 1.05 and later something happened. I’ve not been able to find out what for sure. But Stardock launched their online platform (think Steam) ”Impulse”. Suddenly games and software was encapsulated in some strange way. Also you had to have IE7 and .NET 2.0 event to install the main platform. And if you did not you could not install or download new expansions OR patches any more. Gone was the download option via the game web site and suddenly it became irritatingly difficult to upgrade.

And I thought to my self: Well another game developer who can not keep it’s viritual hands off the products they sell. They simply want to controll all avenues of download and this allways complicates and restricts access of the buyer/gamer. Without exceptions.

So this game is nothing I support anymore, or any other title of theirs for that matter. If they keep meddling like this, I simply keep my hard earned money. I will still play SOASE but only up to version 1.05, and I will never buy the expansions.

”Impulse” sucks major crap. It is buggy like you would not belive. Many have huge problems with it. You also have to install IE7 and .NET 2.0, which is a HUGE no-no if you want to keep a slim gaming rig with as few installed things in it (except games naturally). Not even Steam demands any thing else but the main platform software.

So this is the saga of Stardock. Once a customer friendly developer. Now a simple DRM hugging peddler of computer software. R.I.P

Tags: Beef

At the end of February I got my (long awaited) copy of the spanking new ”Halo Wars”. This is an Xbox360 exclusive title and it does not involve Bungie at all, despite being a game taking place in the Halo Universe.

I naturally did not quite trust that Halo would lend it self well to the RTS genre, being a long time excellent FPS series. But never the less I was looking forward to the ”prequell” position of the game story, taking place some 20 odd years before the first Halo game. So let the saga of Halo Wars begin:

I got the special collectors version. Expensive as it was it came in a nicly looking metalbox. A thinner printed paper box was next to it, containing all the extra materials. This extra stuff was as follows: One hardcover comic book about the very beginning of Halo Wars: Genesis. Nicly written and well worth the read. Also a rubber tag (nice looking) and six collectors card presenting the different heroes available in the game.
The game it self is on one DVD disc. The box felt hard and heavy. In reality it felt like it contained much more compared to reality. But it goes well with the Halo 3 box which is in the same style.

The game boots quickly and you get a nice looking start menu and upon enbarking on the campain you get a very nicely rendered intro movie. In fact all in game movies are of high quality and highly watchable.

So how is the game to play? Does it play well as an RTS?

Well the answer to those question is ”good” and both ”yes” and ”no”.

The graphics are very nice. It flows well and much details and animations are visable. All in all it looks quite good. The sound is good but I’m sorry to say it has a LONG way to go before reaching the hights of previous Halo games. This fact also severly reduces the mood in the game.
The play mechanics are fairly good. But quite a bit repetative. Much more so than previous games. As an RTS the player is much more removed from the action, sitting in a outside position above all the action and not in the thick of it at the front. So obviously at least I felt not nearly as ”swept off my feet” by the game. Many small details constantly reminded me of the fact that the world was a construct. This also reduces the mood.
Also several levels are quite stupidly constructed. Even on easy they take som doing to get through and some even have timers so you have to reach the goals in time (god I hate stuff like that).

The controls are good. Much better than perhaps any other try in this genre before. But still not good enough compared to regular mouse and keyboard. And not even close to precise. So a good try in this department but not a full point goal. Often you find your self hopping around the game area and fumbeling to gain control. Very often it all comes down to building as big of an army you can and then mow down the enemies and hope it is enough to win. And then you have to fight the less than stellar path finding of your own units (which is crap when many units on the same area). Yawn... :-O

In the end you know a game have trouble when the only reason you stand the game play is to get to the next ingame movie.

I sadly conclude that I would rather have payed to get all the in game movies put toghether into one long movie, maybe with a few action game sequences to string it along. This would have been much more entertaining and taken quite less time to watch.

As it stands I will probably not see all the story in this game since I can not bring my self to play all the levels. Either to hard (even on easy) and meaningless and repetative.

And where is the bloody superb mood the other games had?

What a sad thing this is. I hope some one will put up all in game movies on the net someday.

So I can get something out of this massive waste of money. Do I have to say: Don’t buy this - even if you are a fan of the Halo mythos....

So sad....so very sad!

Tags: Review, Halo, Xbox360

The excellent development platform ”Unity” now have reached version 2.1

If you are thinking about creating games on mac and want to reach Linux,
Windows AND Mac users - then look no further. This is as good as it gets
without going broke and investing in new gaming engines and such.
And better yet, if you can code you can create in Unity!

So go get a Mac and get cracking at it - what ARE you waiting for?!

Tags: tools, Crossplatform

Earlier I have written (several times) about this fantastic little indy game.

This is simply a small update to mention some of new things:

1) The game is now updated to version 1.22

2) From the 21:st of August the game can be purchased at Valves ”Steam”

3) I’ve now playtested Tank Universal in Boot Camp on my nice new iMac, and
the game runs just fine. So good news all Mac users - now you have no
reason not to buy this game, especially since you also can use Steam in Boot Camp.

All good news

Keep the ball rolling Phil!

Tags: Misc, BootCamp

I have been testing a new version of earlier mentioned game "Tank Universal".
This time it's version 1.2 that is waiting to be released.
It took med many hours spread over two days (and sessions) to complete all
levels. And this time it is three more compared to earlier version. But there are
many more tweaks and add-ins this time around. Skirmish mode, better and faster
graphics and much, much more. Around 26 new and improved items according
to my test log. My impression very positive!
If this tickles your imagination then read my earlier post about the game and
hop over to it's website and download the demo of version 1.0.
Do NOT forget to register it if you like it, it deserves it !

Tags: Misc

Now and again you find true jewel. The indie scene containing it's many shareware and
freeware titles is a fantastic source of these gaming gems.
A couple of years ago I stumbled upon a game called "Fate". At it's core it is a smaller
more colorful fantasy version of Diablo. Random generated levels, monsters which gives
a huge replay value. You can basically run around in these dungeons killing monsters
forever. It looks and sounds fantastic. The controls are simple without taking away choice of
tactics from the player.
Since I discovered this game both me and others have played it constantly. The thing is that
despite the fact that it's quite repetitive after the ten or twenty levels, it still manages to serve
you new cool weapons, spells, monsters and a nice increase of difficulty levels.
So for some reason you come back again and again. Like any good game should aspire to
offer.
As long as you do not install it on a windows vista system and keep away from the many mods
the stability of the software is very good.
So at a price of 1/4 of a full commercial game, you get a almost never ending fun and mayhem
until the end of time. THAT is the true wonder of indie shareware games in my book!

Home site

Wikipedia - about the game

Tags: Review

Since many years back I have been checking out Blits Basic forums around the net.
Most notably their own developer showcase forum. Now and again you see cool stuff
at that place.
Late last year I found the title "Tank Universal", which is what it sounds like.
You play a tank driver in a 3D "Tron Esque" world. The perspective is in third person
and the turret is controlled independently from the tank it self. This takes some practice
to get used to. It can be turned off so stop screaming
At the game web page you can download a demo. It's a BIG download so you better have
nice connection.

It does however not stop here. The game has not only one A-story but also a very clear
B-story. Both interlinked at special points in the game. This is also the first of several
parts, so the stories does not rely end at the end of the game.

The game it self is broken up in several levels. Some with tank, other on foot.
The goal is also different depending on the stories.
Also the physics absolutely rules! You can very much take potshots at enemies from
very long distances. And objects move when hit and from the weapons recoil. Yummy!

One thing that is VERY obvious is the beautiful environment you as a gamer take
part in. I mentioned the old classic movie "Tron" earlier. The colors are bright neon and
both particle effects as well as general 3D is brilliant. Some of the levels are so nice that
I actually forgot to defend my self.

The levels themselves are nicely made. The game balance is quite good.
Some are harder than others (much so to some). Others you transport your self from A to B.
But personally I enjoy the different types of pace you experience in the levels.

When taken in to account that this is a game title made by only ONE person,
and also created in Blitz Basic 3D (which only supports DirectX 8.1) you can
understand my excitement!
The only sad part is that it's windows only. I would have loved to run this
on my new macbook

To put it simply: this is THEE best blitz basic game I've seen so far. :-O
And it is one great indie game full stop! Worth to register no question!

So jump to the game web page (link below and in the portal link section)
and look at the terrific pictures. Download the demo, read the forum and enjoy!

Just a quick end note:
The author of the game is presently improving the game in many ways.
So hopefully a better and cooler version of this first parter comes out later this year.

Link

Tags: Review