Thursday’s games are two puzzles, (plus an additional game that I was initially asking for help with, but managed to figure out after I'd posted this). One of the games is very innovative the other not as much, both have some excellent fun factor for any discerning gamester.
Sorry I’m a little late posting these. I had to prepare myself for an important meeting with my solicitor together with the team of specialists that will be supporting me in my compensation claim against the woman who disabled me and the hospital that neglected to treat me for a broken back. I’ve also had a problem with Firefox this evening. I wasn’t able to get access to the internet (despite my router and modem working). I kept getting a message that Firefox had encountered a problem and was unable to open. I tried rebooting the computer to no avail. I only just found the shortcuts for Mozilla in the start menu about half an hour ago and discovered a Firefox safe mode which thankfully worked. I've never had this problem with IE. I only swapped over to Firefox because of that security problem several weeks ago when Microsoft recommended that IE users temporarily swap to Firefox. I have been quite taken with some of the innovative plug-ins and the download manager in Firefox; but I think I’m going to revert back to IE after this because it's really interfered with my evening.
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Afterlife: 57Mb
This is not the DOS based Sims game ‘Afterlife’; a game that enabled you to create alternate visions of heaven and hell, but a relatively new puzzle game, Initially the game downloads as a 4.4Mb file which is an installer. On clicking the installer icon the actual game will start to install which is a 57Mb download to your C: drive.
The graphics are a little basic (but only by today's standards), but are absolutely fine for the type of game you'll be playing. I found It quite easy at first, but it steadily got more difficult as I progressed. You do need to control the balloon constantly, otherwise it falls to Earth quickly. The following is copied from the web site where I downloaded it from:
OK, so the storyline is a little far-fetched - you take control of the cleverly-named Rickard Bronson and must save the planet from an afterlife in hell using nothing but your hot air balloon - but Afterlife actually provides you with hours of fun. It can take a little while to master your craft but the controls can be customized and after a frustrating couple of first levels, the game turns into an action-packed romp through the dimensions of hell.
Afterlife isn't going to win any awards for its graphics, and the blocky ghosts and badly-rendered fireballs aren't exactly scary. However, there's a decent soundtrack of music composed by the software developer with lots of tunes that can be hand-picked by you. It's a highly original adventure game, that if you have the patience to practice at will become something you can come back to time and again.
Operating System.................... Win95/98/98SE/Me/2000/XP/Vista
Download Link:
http://afterlife.en.softonic.com/
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Mightier: (12.18Mb)
I’m jumping into reverseOrders territory here, (not that we have any restrictions on posting games from any source we find), but couldn’t resist posting this very unusual game called Mightier that’s already been nominated for an innovation award at the Independent Games Festival (IGF) this year. It’s a free full version download and can be downloaded from the author’s site.
From my limited time with the game I found that you could either scan in a drawing that yu'd previously prepared after printing the codes that are generated for each level; or use the in game drawing pad to solve particular puzzles. You are given a coded sheet that tells you how high each platform you draw should be. The trick is to be able to transpose the codes into suitable platforms for the in game character to be able to retrieve certain objects from the scenario. Some object are quite high off the ground, so you must build suitable stepping stones that you can jump onto. If you don’t place the stepping stones/platforms in the correct order you will be unable to retrieve the objects.
This is definitely worth a play if you love puzzle games. You’re effectively making your own, but in a really easy way. Check out the video for some in game footage.
The following quote is the blurb I copied from IGF’s announcements pages; it implies that you are required to use pen and paper as well as a scanner. This is not necessarily true, though doing so adds to the fun of the game. I think it's an ideal family game. Using the tools available adds an extra dimension to the game. When you install Mightier, it will automatically detect any screen capturing applications which can also be utilized in the game.
Quote
Step away from the computer! Welcome to Mightier, the action puzzler that pulls you away from the screen to solve puzzles by hand with pencil and paper.
Using a color printer and web camera, the game prints puzzle pages for you to draw on, then captures the results when you're done.
Video:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=xHMUWG9W9oo
Download Link:
http://www.ratloop.com/?games/mightier
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The following game, called Smokin Guns is based on the Quake engine. You don't need quake installed to play this game It appears to have a single player campaign included, but all I seem to be able to do is watch and not actually control the characters. I’m posting it just in case it does work and I’m just not reading it correctly. It’s definitely got a multiplayer aspect to the game and there’s an editor to make your own maps. There’s also a community that post maps over on the smoking Guns website:
I’d be interested in anyone’s experiences with the game, especially the single player campaign.
Smoking Guns (334Mb) With additional optional files that you can download from the developers site.
Video:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=hsJnt8AGeWI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fegpqX2h73k
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Download Link:
http://smokin-guns.en.softonic.com/
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Edit:
After I posted the above I went back into the game and looked at the selection of characters and saw one was called Human, lol. I selected that as one of the characters in my team; (you're basically playing a cooperative game with 'you' and a load of bots, but instead of you getting another human player you get one team of all bots and your team that comprises you and up to five bots. Check out the options menu because there's quite a lot of configurability to this game. You can also play it as a multiplayer game with other 'humans').
Once you've set the game up, click on Esc to bring up a menu to the top left of the screen. Click on play and you're in game. There's a function similar to the one you get with all the Unreal Tournament games and America's Army, where you can start as a spectator and zoom around the map as though you are flying. It's a good way of familiarizing yourself with the layout of the area you will be using as the fighting arena. There's several map types to select from, all of which look pretty good especially for free. To be honest it looks just as good as Call of Juarez a Western Shooter I was given last year fo my birthday, but it's not quite as extensive. There's more to be had by following the link to the developer’s website (linked to above). I should have saved this one for another day because I think the first two games are okay on their own. I only posted it because for some reason I was confused as to how to get the single player game to work. Now it's too late, lol. Ah well, plenty more where that came from. :)
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reverseOrder is back tomorrow, then Wizzard takes over next week. I will have another 3D space related game for you (on the lines of Elite, but with far better graphics) next time it's my turn as well as some other games that were supposed to have been posted earlier this week; until then, happy gaming. :)
I've just got Mirrors Edge today, but haven't had the time to even install it. (I only ordered it yesterday and got it in 1 day and 1 hour. Not bad for a postal service. :) I'm going to check it out before I turn in and see if it's as innovative as some say. I liked the 2D version that I've posted about in the browser emporium, though you can also download it (I've posted a link in the browser section for it). It was the free 2D flash version that got me interested in the DVD based PC version, which incidenatally comes with the soundtrack to the game as well.
I'd like to thank pavid for the help finding some of these games. I've actually forgotten which ones he found, so I apologize for not acknowledging them to you. You know my situation though regarding my memory.
