Epic Inventor, A free Terraria Inspired Game [Game Saturday]

I had lots of fun playing Terraria with a few friends of mine in cooperation. The game let you build, explore and conquer a hostile environment. Much of the game’s appeal came from the fact that you started with nothing but a small axe. Your first task was to gather enough resources to construct a workbench and house to protect yourself from the environment and night. At night, zombies and other creatures appeared that tried to hunt you down. Eventually you became stronger and started to explore deeper into the world.

Epic Inventor puts you in the same role. You start with a simple stick and some bread to recover hitpoints. Your first task is to gather enough resources to build a workbench and other goodies that aid you in the exploring.

Unlike in Terraria, you cannot interact with all world elements. The background trees cannot be choped down for instance. You need to find the smaller resources lying on the way. You move your character with WASD, collect resources and interact with the environment with E and jump with Space. A left-click uses the item in the active slot. This can be a weapon like the mighty stick you start with, or bread that regenerates health points when eaten.

New players will find the game to be rather difficulty in the beginning, as they have to start gathering resources, fight monsters that spaawn in endless waves and understand basic item creation mechanics to build better items. A good getting started video has been posted on YouTube.

A good tip for single player gamers is that you can configure your robot friend to automatically attack monsters. Please note though that your robot needs to be charged eventually which effectively removes the robot from the screen for a while.

The game, on the positive side of things ships with a functional multiplayer mode that you can play with your friends. Fans of Terraria or Minecraft will definitely like Epic Inventor for things that it has in common with the other games. The game is fully portable and only available for Windows at the time of writing.

Interested players can download Epic Inventor from the developer website.

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© Martin Brinkmann for gHacks Technology News | Latest Tech News, Software And Tutorials, 2011. | Permalink |
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Minicraft, Minecraft in 2D [Game Saturday]

Minecraft is one of those games that does not try to persuade gamers with lots of eye candy and stunning visuals. The game’s mass appeal can be attributed to its game play mechanics and freedom that it gives its users. Markus Persson, the developer of Minecraft recently stepped down as an active developer of Minecraft leaving the game in the hands of dedicated developers.

He developed the game Minicraft for the Ludum Dare 48 hour competition. Minicraft is more or less a browser based 2D version of Minecraft (or the comparable game Terraria).

In short; the game is all about resource collecting, building and fighting in a 2D environment. Your first task is to collect resources to build the workbench. Better tools can be built when you have the workbench at your disposal. The first resource that you come upon is wood, but you will later on discover other resources like stone to create different kinds of items.

You move the player with the arrow keys, use c or space to attack or collect resources, and x to open the inventory and to interact with objects in the world.

According to the developer, the end goal is to “kill the only other sentient being in the world, making sure you’ll be alone forever”.

Minicraft is an excellent game considering that it has been developed in 48 hours of time. Grinding, that is repetitive resource collecting and killing of zombies, makes a huge part of the game. This may not be to everyone’s liking.

Regardless of that; Minicraft and Terraria players will feel at home right away. They are also the likeliest candidates to spend lots of time in the game.

Here is a video of the game

Minicraft is a Java based game. It is available as a web browser version or download version. The latest Java Runtime Environment is required in both cases. The source code and a small development journal are also available on the Ludum Dare website.

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© Martin Brinkmann for gHacks Technology News | Latest Tech News, Software And Tutorials, 2011. | Permalink |
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City Siege 3 Jungle Siege [Game Saturday]

City Siege 3, Jungle Siege, is the third installment in the popular City Siege series. The game is a Flash based game that gives you command of up to five soldiers to complete missions. The game itself is a side scrolling action game, a mixture of Cannon Fodder (tiny men, guns, kill all enemies) with side-scrolling platform games like Green Berets for the C-64.

You start with a poorly equipped soldier with options to purchase additional soldiers once you have completed your first missions. Soldiers are moved around with WAD, the mouse is used to aim and fire.

Mission objectives are displayed on the screen before a map starts. You’ll encounter bad guys, civilians and stars in most maps. Bad guys need to be eliminated, civilians and VIPs rescued and stars collected. Rescuing civilians results in additional money for successfully completing the mission, and stars are used to upgrade your troops.

Each soldier has a distinct weapon, some of additional abilities. This ranges from commandos who shoot a lot faster than your average soldier over spies that can avoid detection to jeeps or rocket launchers. Some soldiers may be more effective than others in certain levels. The Jeep for instance can pack a pound, but cannot nearly jump as high as the commando.

Each unit has a health, power and speed rating associated with it.

Soldiers that die in combat cannot be revived. This is exactly the Cannon Fodder mechanic that leaves you with inexperienced troops once your elite units die. The experience point system is basic at best. You can award points to soldiers who get higher ranks and more hitpoints in return.

Only one soldier can be controlled at a time. You can switch between soldiers of your squad with the 1-5 keys or a click on the individual unit. There is no option to control multiple soldiers at once.

City Siege 3 Jungle Siege is a nice game. It is not overly complex though and may bore experienced players after a while. You basically need to move your units from left to right all the time, kill every enemy you see and collect civilians and stars when you encounter them.

The upgrade system itself is mediocre at best. It would have been more plausible if units would get experience for combat missions or actions.

Playing around with the different unit types may keep you entertained for a while though. Collecting enough money to do just that on the other hand is again pretty boring, especially in the beginning.

Gamers who are looking for a side-scrolling action game that is not overly complex can play a round over at Armor Games.

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© Martin Brinkmann for gHacks Technology News | Latest Tech News, Software And Tutorials, 2011. | Permalink |
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Warlight, Risk-Like Game With Advanced Options

When I was young I loved to play the Risk boardgame with friends. The game, like many games from the United States (Monopoly, The Game of Life) was based on luck in the form of dice rolls and a tiny bit of strategy. Missions and cards added a bit of strategy to the game but it was at its core still all about chance.

Warlight is available as a limited Flash based version of the game that you can play alone against the computer, and as a web service that offers multiplayer matches, as well as custom maps and rules.

Interested users can play the Flash version of Warlight here to get a feel for the game, or visit the multiplayer start page to play against human opponents and / or computer players on custom maps.

An account is required to play multiplayer, but the values that you enter are not verified by the service (including the email address). The free account lets you play with up to six players (including you) on games that you create. Members, those that pay $29.99 for a lifetime membership, can create maps with up to 24 players and have additional options that free players do not have. This includes the ability to create tournaments, play in ladders, use the statistics window or use custom scenarios in games. For most, the free membership option should be more than sufficient.

First thing that you want to do after signing up is to click on Multi Player and then on Create Game. You have the option to play a template based game (with options to change the configuration), or create a custom game which basically creates a new template that you can save.

Warlight Multiplayer

Custom game allows you to pick the map that you want to play on against the AI or friends. The game offers hundreds of maps divided into groups such as real world maps, fictional maps or local maps. This ranges from the standard earth setting in various sizes to fantasy worlds such as Warhammer, Middle Earth or Skyrim to plain out crazy novelty maps that come in all shapes and sizes.

You can preview maps which is helpful as it displays the number of different regions of that map. The more regions the longer the game, basically.

The settings options allow you to customize the game. Here you can select if you want to play a team game or free-for-all game, the level of fog of war, how the initial distribution of regions takes place, how many bonus points players get for occupying a set of region and the game’s bonus card system.

All regions of the world, or only select regions can be made available to players during start. Some game modes allow players to pick preferred starting locations. It is then still a game of chance if they get that location, considering that other players may also want to start in the selected region.

Many different bonus cards are available. From the common reinforcement card to spy cards (which only make sense if fog of war is active) and diplomacy cards that enforce peace for a specific amount of turns. Players get card fragments when they conquer countries.

Friends, AI or open seats can be added to the game in the final step. You can invite friends to make sure that they can play the game with you. If you would add open seats instead, chance is that a stranger could join the game instead of your friend. On the multi-player tab, you need to invite at least one human opponent.

The game itself can be played as a realtime game or multi-day game. Realtime games have a time limit of 5 minutes per turn with all players taking turns at the same time to reduce the waiting period.

In each turn, players begin by adding new troops to the regions they control. Each player receives a set amount of troops that does not change, plus bonus troops based on the regions occupied and cards that have been played.

Players then move into the attack / transfer phase where
they can order their armies to attack regions or to move into adjacent territories.

The results are calculated once every player has ended their turn or the time has run out. It is then possible to watch the events unfold or skip to the end to see the end results.

Warlight is a great Risk-like game that offers a lot of variety thanks to hundreds of maps and customizations. If you like Risk, you will love this game.

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© Martin Brinkmann for gHacks Technology News | Latest Tech News, Software And Tutorials, 2011. | Permalink |
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PokerTH, Free Open Source Poker Game [Game Saturday]

I like to play online poker every now and then. For real money but no high stake games. Most poker sites on the Internet require an account before you can play using their software, even if you only want to play with play money. PokerTH is an Open Source Texas Holdem Poker game for Windows, Linux and Mac systems. It features a local play mode where users can play against the computer or friends on the same network, and an Internet poker game mode where users can log in as guests or with accounts to play against other human opponents on the Internet.

Regardless of the select game type, only play money games are supported by PokerTH. When it comes to local poker games against the computer, users can select the total number of players for the poker table, the starting cash, blind progression settings and a game speed.

There is no difficulty setting available, at least none that is configurable on the front end. Network games use the same configuration settings with the difference that timeouts for player actions and delays between hands can be configured as well.

There is no option to create a tournament online or change the game mode from Texas Holdem to another poker variant. A click on Internet game opens a log in screen where users can log in with their account or as guests.

The lobby displays all players and games. A click on Join any game joins one of the available games. It is possible to create games, even as a guest. Games can be protected with a password which is nice if you only want to play with your friends. The remaining settings are exactly the same as the local area network poker game settings. Game Type is listed but not selectable, at least not as a guest.

One of the issues in play money games are users who go all in all the time. This makes some games unplayable. It is usually a better idea to play against the computer or friends who take poker seriously.

Registered users are automatically added to an online leaderboard where scores, win and loss, percentages, trends and other stats are displayed.

A couple hundred players are usually online at any time of the day. That’s a small number compared to the big poker rooms with tens of thousands of players.

Still, poker players who prefer to play offline or in a lan may find that PokerTH is a very suitable program for that purpose. The latest version of the program and its source code can be downloaded at the developer website.

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© Martin Brinkmann for gHacks Technology News | Latest Tech News, Software And Tutorials, 2011. | Permalink |
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Abstract Wallpaper Customization from Wallpaper Abyss

Though customizing desktop wallpaper is by no means essential, many of us like to do it. Changing the mood of the desktop gives you repose and a personal touch. Windows 7 in particular is known for numerous customization options. This article presents another website which offers abstract wallpaper options to appeal to geeks and non-geeks alike. They also have many other unique images that other wallpaper sites do not have. Like all other desktop background options in Windows 7 and Vista, it is simple to set a rotation of wallpaper images and create countless collections. Change them any time you want. These images are simply beautiful and users will find them to be a welcome addition to their collections.

The site is http://wall.alphacoders.com/. It is free to create an account and all you have to do is select your screen resolution to get a perfect image fit.

Simply select from the list to find a collection. For example, this is one of the Abstract selections:

You then set the resolution size for your monitor(s). This is important because the image will not fit your screen correctly otherwise. If you do not know what your screen resolution is, open the Control Panel and in the Hardware and Sound category select Devices and Printers. Find your monitor and right-click then choose Properties. This should indicate the resolution. Sometimes the resolution of a monitor is not displayed in Properties. If you do not have the user manual for the monitor or you just can’t find it, Google the monitor type (like Acer B223W) and you will find the resolution on one of the top listings. Actually, there are several different ways to find the resolution. There is no need to go into all of that here, as it is not the subject matter for this article.

Once you have determined the monitor resolution (unless you already know), click on the appropriate resolution options offered by Wallpaper Abyss. You may also enter a specific resolution not featured on the list of available options.

The monitor used in this demonstration is 1680 x 1050, so that would be the selection on the list. Click the desired resolution on the list and the image will upload. Right-click the image and choose “Save as”. Name the PNG file and save it in a folder in your Pictures library. Have some fun perusing the multitude of different images and create a collection as large as you desire.

This is pure and simple desktop fun. We all need to take a break from the technical and give ourselves a bit of leisure. There are different images on this site than there are on Desktop Nexus, which is another site worth checking out. Not only are abstract, anime and comic book images, there are more conservative images for the less geeky users.

You will find this process engrossing and fun. Blow you co-workers and friends away with a personalized background assortment that displays your character and artistic savvy.

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© Melanie Gross for gHacks Technology News | Latest Tech News, Software And Tutorials, 2011. | Permalink |
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Corporation Inc [Game Saturday]

Your own company, how would it look like? That’s what you can find out in Corporation Inc, a free Flash based game that gives you the role of the company founder. It is your task to create office space, hire workers, do research and handle all the organizational tasks to keep your workers productive and happy, and the company profitable.

You begin the game with cash but nothing else. Your first task is to build Office space and hire some workers to start making money. But workers can only work if you got additional personal standing by, IT for instance to fix computer problems or janitors to clean up the mess when the workers go home.

The tutorial walks you through the first steps with the help of objectives that are displayed at the bottom of the screen. Completing objectives gives you cash and a new objective (e.g. build four office parts, then hire 20 workers).

You can hire supervisors to beat workers on the head to make them work faster, and researchers that research new game elements or improve existing ones.

New worker and building types become available later in the game. You will be able to hire accountants or HR to improve earnings and happiness, decor to improve happiness and transport to get your workers from a to b (to another floor).

You also need to make sure that you have enough restrooms and other types of room that your workers request. If you do not happiness may drop and workers may need to go outside to fill their needs (bathroom, eating, gym).

It is important to have the right ratio of all worker types available. This means that for every x workers you need a janitor, IT worker and supervisor. It is also possible to promote workers to make them more efficient.

The game plays in realtime. Your workers come in the morning and leave in the evening. You can speed up the flow of time using the slider at the bottom of the screen. Here you also find information about your organization’s happiness level, the time of the day and the total number of employees. Research is handled automatically by the game, but you can manually select the area that you want to concentrate research on.

Offices can be upgraded to speed things up, make workers happier and make them earn more money. Workers can be promoted or fired as well.

There is a lot to the game that you will discover while playing it. The game plays like a mix of popular games such as Little Computer People and Sim Tower. It is a lot of fun, especially in the beginning. The game plays like an open end game which means that you will eventually run out of things to do and fun. But that takes a while since you have got a lot to discover before you have seen it all in the game.

You can play Corporation Inc at Armorgames.

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© Martin Brinkmann for gHacks Technology News | Latest Tech News, Software And Tutorials, 2011. | Permalink |
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