Time Unknown (Entries tagged as games)

Immersion

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 02:06:59 +0200

Immersion might be just about the creepiest thing I have seen for some time.

The ugly game that could

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 16:48:07 +0200

Marbles is an unusually ugly game when it comes to graphics, but my how fun it is to play! I thought that I had already experienced everything marble games had to offer but it turned out gameplay was surprisingly fresh and addictive.

The swirling lumps of marbles made me think about organic molecules, which was kinda cute.

You can download a free trial of Marblez to try it out yourself for an hour.

I've heard claims that at least some Big Fish Games work nicely under Wine, but I have not tried them on Linux myself yet.
I'm not paid to feature the game, but if you choose to buy it after the trial, I do get a percentage.

Interesting games

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 21:46:08 +0300

Today I found a site of annoyingly interesting games. What's annoying about them is that they are for Windows, not for Linux. I wonder if they could be ported... with his permission, of course.

Story time

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 21:47:04 +0300

Like knives dragged across the skin is a quite strange little story, much recommended to any card gamer.

Supernatural adventure game

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 09:26:57 +0300

The tv series Supernatural would work really well as a classic adventure game. One would need to talk to people, get items (like salt and gasoline) and use them to defeat evil creatures and spirits. I think it could be truly great! Pity it is unlikely anyone will make it.

Stepmania for the upper body

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 12:57:49 +0200

Sure, Stepmania is very good exercise for your calves. It can also be used as a part of an upperbody workout.

1. From Options, choose "Holds - No jumps"
2. Grab 3kg dumbbells. Lighter or heavier ones are fine too.
3. Choose a beginner difficulty song (Yes, really!)
4. Do a right hand biceps curl every time you step with your right foot, and a left hand biceps curl for every left foot step.

Repeat steps 3 & 4, just change the biceps curl to some other arm movement, such as triceps kickback, or arm raise. Continue until your upper body workout is all done.

Virtual villagers

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 20:10:00 +0200

As a part of my birthday present I got a copy of the Virtual villagers game. (The whole present was 12 game coupons for Big Fish Games and despite the games being for MS Windows, there was much rejoicing.) It's quite addictive. I wonder how the AI of the villagers compares to the AI of Norns in Creatures 2. At least the villagers wreck less havoc than norns on a bad day and do not try to eat an elevator.

Wow!

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 10:02:35 +0200

Yesterday I for the first time finished a computer game in one go. The game was Atlantis Sky Patrol and its co-operative mode hooked us immediately and when 60min trial ended we did not want to stop. The levels felt a bit like a rollercoaster ride moodwise, they were colourful, fast paced and fun. The game offered a very nice mix of instant frustration and feelings of success. It also felt like it was new. Most games nowadays do not have that innovative feel to them.

101 marble filled levels and many hours later we were done. I think I'll soon replay it in a single player challenge mode which is harder than co-operative mode. The game has also a competitive mode but I am not sure how that one works.

The makers of the game have also very many other games which I'm now a tad nervous to try. See, the ones I have tried so far have been so much fun! What if I want them all?

Looking for Open Source music with Stepmania steps

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 22:25:37 +0200

Do you have a band? Would you be willing to make some of your music free (as in Free Software or Open Source)? Could you make Stepmania steps for some of that music? I'd be very grateful.

The thing is, Stepmania is not yet in Debian because there is no game files for it. I'd love to package it but I'm not good at making steps nor a musician.

Dreamfall disappointment

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 10:41:51 +0200

The sequel of The Longest Journey, Dreamfall was quite a disappointment for me. At first I was shocked by the non-traditional interface but after getting used of it, that worked rather well for 3d. However, the game is not a pure adventure game but has combat and sneaking and puzzles are mostly not puzzles at all as you are usually told exactly what to do and where to go.

Story was nice but ended suddenly without a proper conclusion. Voice acting was still good and the faces of the characters well made.

As whole Dreamfall made me mourn for the end of the adventure game as a commercial genre.

Newbie dance pad considerations

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Sat, 04 Nov 2006 10:48:00 +0200

There is more to dance pads than the "soft or hard" angle. In soft pads a firm thick foam is a really nice thing even if it costs a bit extra. Then there is the number of puttons. Most pads have 4 or 8, but unfortunately you need 9 to be able to play both Dance and Pump in Stepmania.

IFComp season

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 09:13:11 +0200

IFComp 2006 is now open for judging. As always, many of the games are a bit boring but there are probably again some gems in the mix.

Käytettyjä PC-pelejä

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Sat, 23 Sep 2006 15:00:53 +0300

Tilt-pelikauppa Helsingissä ostaa jo myy myös käytettyjä PC-pelejä. Sorruin Bard's Taleen jota nyt pelataan miehen kanssa yhdessä.

Sound levels in games and dvds

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 15:57:00 +0300

In many games you can adjust effect, music and often even speech volumes. I find myself hoping there to be a separate volume setting for gun and explosion sounds caused by the player. Those can be currently annoying loud at the effect volume level required to hear enemy steps and other more interesting sounds.

Similarly, in DVDs having a separate volume setting for speech would be a charm. Probably technically not doable, though.

Tools for making adventure games

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 12:13:00 +0300

Adventure Game Studio seems to be perhaps the easiest free (unfortunately free as beer, not free as freedom) tool for making adventure games but the editor part of it does not exist for Linux.

Visionaire also looks good... better even, as that one is hinted to run nicely on Linux under Wine. Perhaps the games will as well. It's not free in either sense of the word but 20 euros is a small amount of money. There is are demo games which I have not tried.

The screenshots of Wintermute also look yummy, but somehow I do not think it will work under Wine.

Advent is actually under a free license and is made to work on Linux. That matters, at least to me.

Wikipedia also has links to other adventure game engines.