Today's Most Viewed Games Tagged 'Windows, DOS' on The Great Games Experiment Today's Most Viewed Games Tagged 'Windows, DOS' on The Great Games Experiment http://www.greatgamesexperiment.com/css/logo.jpg Today's Most Viewed Games Tagged 'Windows, DOS' on The Great Games Experiment en-us Privateer: Ascii Sector
]]> 18 Sep 2007 02:03:29 Rap attack: 2pacalypse now
]]> 18 Sep 2007 08:21:38 The Incredible Machine From Wikipedia: Incredible Machine Article
The general objective of the games is to create a series of Rube Goldberg devices: arrange a given collection of objects in a needlessly complex fashion so as to perform some simple task (for example, "put the ball into a box" or "light a candle"). Available objects ranged from simple ropes and pulleys to electrical generators, bowling balls and even cats and mice. The levels usually have some fixed objects that cannot be moved by the player, and so the only way to solve the puzzle is carefully arrange the given objects around the fixed items. There is also a "freeform" option that allows the user to "play" with all the objects with no set goal or to also build their own puzzles with goals for other players to attempt to solve.

Created at Dynamix by Jeff Tunnell (Director, designer) and Kevin Ryan (Programmer, designer)
]]> 18 Oct 2006 03:40:21 Mechwarrior 2 31st Century Combat

You are the genetically engineered Clan Mechwarrior. The Clans are invading the Inner Sphere. Join either the Wolf Clan or the Jade Falcon Clan as they pursue their own agenda against the Inner Sphere and other Clans. Take your advanced Omnimechs into battle against all comers. Win high warrior ratings (by using less mech or smaller mechs than needed, completing objectives, etc.) and you'll get chance at a promotion trial where you face superior odds in an arena. If you win, you advance in rank. If you are very successfully, you can make it all the way up to Khan, leader of the Clan!



Ghost Bear's Legacy

From beyond the firery ruins of a bitter war between Clans Wolf and Jade Falcon, Clan Ghost Bear emerges from its icy refuge to retake the Legacy that was stolen from it.

You are a MechWarrior in Clan Ghost Bear and must help return the Legacy home. Can you do it? Or will you die in battle as so many have before you?



Mercenaries

Activision's followup to Mechwarrior 2, Mercenaries puts you in command of a small company of 'mechs whose only loyalty is to money. As there is a brutal war between 2 tribes underway, your goal is to cash in by doing tough jobs for both sides.

Buy and equip your 'mechs, hire pilots, and fight in a wide array of campaigns against rebels, pirates, the Clans, and even other houses of the Inner Sphere. In the Merc mode you will have to keep an eye on stocks of salvageable material, and use this to designate which Mercs are built next, while Story Mode plays like a straight-ahead action game. Internet options include play with up to 15 others around the world.
]]> 21 Nov 2006 06:23:17 X-COM: Ufo Defense Turn-based strategy game that seamlessly combines two different elements- tactical squad battles and resource management.
]]> 22 Nov 2006 04:38:58 Day of the Tentacle One day, Purple Tentacle and Green Tentacle are out for a walk when Purple Tentacle decides to drink toxic waste. The waste causes him to grow arms, become evil, and eventually take over the world. It is up to Bernard, Hoagie, and Laverne to travel back in time and turn off the Sludge'o'Matic before Purple Tentacle can drink the ooze and become evil. Because Dr. Fred used an imitation diamond in his time machine, it breaks and sends Hoagie 200 years in the past and Laverne 200 years in the future. You must get everyone back to the present and save the world!
]]> 26 Nov 2006 01:03:10 Street Rod Street Rod is one of the finest dos racing games of the late 80s. It allows you to tune up and trick out your 50s or 60s era ride and then drag or street race them for money or pink slips. Beef up your cars to eventually challenge the King and his black Corvette.
]]> 27 Nov 2006 01:51:54 Syndicate Controversial at its time of release ('93), Syndicate is a violent, real-time tactical game with cyborg agents performing missions all over the world ranging from political assassinations to abductions and rescues.
]]> 01 Dec 2006 02:15:43 Quest for Glory 3: Wages of War The third game in Quest for Glory series is set in the Africa-like world of Tarna, where you travel with your new liontaur friends you have met in the second game. Shortly after your arrival, you learn about the conflict between the liontaurs and the neighbor Simbani village, populated by the leopardmen. It is now time for our hero to become a skillful diplomat and to prevent an upcoming war between the two nations.

The gameplay system of "Wages of War" is the same as in the two previous games. The game plays like an adventure, with puzzles to solve and characters to talk to, with the additional of RPG elements: combat (action-based) and character development. You can play as either a fighter, a thief, a mage, or a paladin, and raise your skills directly after battles or by performing various actions. Graphics and interface underwent a major change. This is the first 256-color Quest for Glory game, and the first one to utilize the new, icon-based interface.

(from the Moby Games QFG3 page)
]]> 05 Dec 2006 11:32:14 Liquid War Liquid War is a unique multiplayer wargame. Its rules are truely original and have been invented by Thomas Colcombet. You control an army of liquid and have to try and eat your opponents. A single player mode is available, but the game is definitely designed to be multiplayer, and has network support.
]]> 07 Dec 2006 08:09:39 Dark Legions A beautiful mix of strategy and action.
]]> 09 Dec 2006 07:53:55 Marshmallow Duel An addictive deathmatch over molten marshmallow. Play with friends.
]]> 10 Dec 2006 09:51:02 Another World Another World, known as Out of this World in the US and Outer World in Japan, is a 1991 cinematic platformer designed and developed by Eric Chahi. The graphics and box art were designed by Chahi, while the music was composed by Jean-François Freitas.

While not a great commercial success, Another World was innovative in its use of cinematic effects in the graphics, sound and cut scenes, with characters communicating through their facial features, gestures, and actions only. This cinematic style granted Another World cult status amongst critics and fans.

The protagonist of the game is Lester Knight Chaykin; a young, athletic, red haired physicist. Lester arrives at his high-tech underground laboratory during a thunderstorm, and continues to work on his experiment using a particle accelerator. Right before the particles reach their intended destination, lightning strikes the lab and interferes with the accelerator causing the unforeseen teleportation of Lester to a barren alien planet.

The player can control Lester using the keyboard or gamepad using four directions buttons and two action buttons: one for main actions, and one for jumping. Depending on the player's current position, movement, and status, the main action key performs a variety of actions including attacking and interacting with Lester's environment. At the start of the game Lester can only kick to attack, but later he can acquire a gun. While the movement keys normally make Lester run, the game also features sections where the player must swim, roll, or drive a vehicle. The player only has one life, but there are multiple checkpoints he can return to by entering the relevant pass code given at each one.
]]> 10 Dec 2006 09:53:52 Transport Tycoon Deluxe In Transport Tycoon Deluxe you control a transport company, where you try to make as much profit as possible by transporting people ad goods by road, rail, sea or by air.
]]> 18 Dec 2006 09:13:33 Liero Liero battle game between two worms armed with heavy weapons of all kinds. It is capable of both single player action against the computer or against a friend in a hot seat game. The game was created in 1999 but still has a strong following by dedicated fans.
]]> 22 Dec 2006 03:57:10 Lure of the Temptress Lure of the Temptress is a fantasy point-and-click adventure game with comedic elements released in 1992 by Revolution Games. It was released as freeware in 2003.
]]> 29 Dec 2006 05:27:57 Maniac Mansion At the start of the game, the hero, Dave Miller, finds that his girlfriend, Sandy Pantz, has been abducted by Dr. Fred Edison, and sets out to save her, with two of his friends. The player could select the friends from a group of six, and the game would play somewhat differently depending on which friends were selected.
]]> 30 Dec 2006 08:02:38 SimCity

History

SimCity was first developed on the Commodore 64 in 1985 by Will Wright. It gained much of its popularity after it was released on the PC and MAC in 1989. It spawned a legacy of "Sim" games, some successful, and others not so, that are still enjoyed by players today. Sometime after the release of SimCity 4, SimCity Classic Live was made available by EA games to registered members.


Game Summary

SimCity is a city simulation game. The player plays the roll of god and mayor, building a city from the ground up. This requires careful balance of expansion and budget management. Players can change everything from taxes to education funding. There are no legal restrictions as well, players may levy huge taxes, as well as drop police funding down to 0 in order to raise money, but they also must deal with the effects of their actions. SimCity also has a number of disasters that can occur in your city, ranging from fires, to nuclear melt-downs, even alien invasions. SimCity uses a top-down view.

Purchase Details

The game is no longer in production. You may be able to find copies on amazon or Ebay, as well as your local used games store. Also, you can play SimCity Classic Live for free.
]]> 31 Dec 2006 09:30:39 Ancient Domains of Mystery Ancient Domains of Mystery is a roguelike, where the players quest is to stop the forces of Chaos which are invading the world of Ancardia.
ADOM has ASCII graphics, like most other roguelikes, and a fixed overworld, while all dungeons are randomly generated.
]]> 01 Jan 2007 03:57:24 Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego There is a popular line of educational software mystery games based on Carmen Sandiego. Each game of the series has a particular theme and subject, where the player must use his or her knowledge to find Carmen or any of her innumerable henchmen. This series was originally produced by Broderbund, but it is now produced by The Learning Company.

from wikipedia.com
]]> 15 Jan 2007 07:29:55 Lemmings Lemmings, a computer game developed by DMA Design (now Rockstar North) and published by Psygnosis in 1991, was one of the most popular computer games of its time. Several games magazines of the time awarded the game maximum review scores.

Psygnosis, also known for the Wipeout series, had its greatest success in Lemmings. Famously, the concept for Lemmings came from an animation created by Mike Dailly over a lunchtime, to prove a point about how small a character could be on screen. [1]

The game was unique and based around a concept previously untried. In the original Commodore Amiga version, there are 120 levels, and on each level, the player must guide a group of up to 100 lemmings (or 80 in many versions, such as DOS and Windows) home by giving individual lemmings various commands. The "lemmings" of the game are small, green-haired humanoid beings that mindlessly walk en masse into any danger in their path, following the popular myth that real lemmings behave in a similarly suicidal fashion.

Of the numerous sequels the only one to achieve the success of the first was Lemmings 2: The Tribes, which added twelve specialist tribes of lemmings, each with their own type of level and specialist workers.

The game briefly gave rise to a new genre, described in magazines at the time as the "save 'em up", a joking reference to other popular genres like beat 'em up and shoot 'em up.


Source: wikipedia.com
]]> 15 Jan 2007 07:43:50 Kings Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow Sierra's King's Quest series is responsible for not only kickstarting the 3D adventure-game genre, but putting the company on the map. In the heyday of adventure gaming, when Sierra made most of the greats, it was King's Quest that paved the way for the Police Quests, Space Quests, and the Quest for Glory games. But originality wasn't even the series' greatest achievement. Over the years, the games continued to improve (until they stopped improving, that is), reaching their absolutely finest hour in the sixth iteration: King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow. King's Quest VI was infused with the best aspects of all the previous games, including a backstory derived from the series' rich canon, a strong tie into mythology and fantasy, and the combined effort of two of the premier designers in adventure gaming, Roberta Williams and Jane Jensen. This clever, beautiful, and unique adventure game is truly one of the best games that the genre has ever had to offer, and reminds us sadly that adventure gaming may be dying rapidly, but it's never going to be forgotten.

Though the games were originally text-driven, King's Quest V and VI abandoned the earlier mechanics in favor of a point-and-click system. Instead of having to adhere to a strict vocabulary in order to interact with the environments and the people around you, you were given the option to use an item, look at, touch, or speak with anything on the screen. You wouldn't be able to write dirty messages and get admonished by the clever auto-response box anymore, but it did make the games more accessible, and it did mean that you wouldn't have to spend any time attempting to rephrase yourself in order to accomplish something. King's Quest V also marked a huge drastic visual change for the series, including the abandonment of the looping map (now you couldn't go south to appear back at the top of the screen), support for 256 colors, and the use of rudimentary motion capture based on real actors. All of these techniques, which were developed for V, were improved even further in VI, including the addition of a fully 3D animated introduction.

Of course, it wasn't just the appearance that made King's Quest VI stand out from its predecessors. The story in this game, and the puzzle solving elements, though always strong, were practically flawless in this game. The beginning picks up virtually where King's Quest V left off, and the young Prince Alexander is dreaming of the girl he met during his father's previous adventure, the lovely Princess Cassima, who's from an island nation so remote that nobody knows where it is. Thanks to the Kingdom of Daventry's magic mirror (the hardest working mirror in video gaming), a glimpse of the young maiden is revealed to Alexander, and he runs off to find her. Though the game is a traditional boy-meets-girl, boy-pines-for-girl, boy-wins-girl back love story; the tale is told in such an interesting, outstanding, and sometimes downright humiliating way that it holds much more appeal than typical damsel-in-distress stories. Alexander and Cassima don't always behave like typical heroes and maidens, a pleasant and expected result from having two female authors on a video game script.

The characters that Alexander encounters along the way run the gamut of personality. From the bickering chessboard queens to the lost dangling participle who asks Alexander "where are you going to?" to the residents of the underworld that like to jam out to "Dem Bones", every NPC whether friendly or hostile offers a little bit of flavor, and often a very big clue as to what's next in store for the adventure. The game's puzzles require the perfect balance of creative thinking and knowledge of ancient mythology that makes them simultaneously challenging and rewarding. Of course, almost most notably, the game offers a number of optional puzzles including two entirely different endings, depending on whether or not you choose to turn young Alexander into a drag queen so that he can get closer to his true love. But the heart of the story leads players through familiar storylines like the tale of Beauty and the Beast, the Minotaur and the Labyrinth, and less familiar plotlines like encountering mysterious druids or going head-to-head against Death himself.

The result of the epic collaboration of Gabriel Knight author Jane Jensen and King's Quest creator Roberta Williams is one of the wittiest, most heartwarming, and entertaining adventure games of all time, one whose puzzles will embed themselves on player's memories far beyond the time that anyone remembers that this game was released on floppy discs. -- Carrie Gouskos
]]> 15 Jan 2007 09:31:48 Phantasmagoria Made during the height of the "interactive movie" boom in the computer game industry, Phantasmagoria is notable for being one of the first adventure games to use a human being as an on-screen avatar. Actress Victoria Morsell spent months in front of a bluescreen filming the hundreds of actions players could direct her character to perform. The game was released on seven CDs to accommodate the massive amount of video generated by this process. Today it still stands as a record of sorts for the largest number of media cuts used in a game, though several other games including an adventure game based on The X-Files television series have matched it in the sheer number of CDs used. However, if it were to use modern day video compression codecs while keeping the same resolution, the game could probably have shipped on as little as one or two discs. On the other hand, however, the seven discs were used to highlight the seven days, during which the story takes place - the game could easily fit about five discs, even without the advanced video compression. Also, it is worth mentioning that large portions of data were repeated on each CD, to avoid disk swapping when playing the game.

The game script was about 400 pages long, four times the size of a regular movie script, and an additional 100 pages of storyboards set the style for the over 800 scenes in the game. The game required four months of filming alone and over 200 persons were involved in the production, not counting the Gregorian choir of 135 persons that was used for parts of the music in the game.

Source: Wikipedia Article
]]> 14 Apr 2007 12:45:09 Angband Angband is a dungeon-crawling roguelike computer game derived from Umoria (a C port of a game called Moria). It is based on the writings of J. R. R. Tolkien, in which Angband was the fortress of Morgoth. The current version of Angband is 3.0.6, and is available for all major operating systems (including Unix, Windows, the Macintosh, and DOS).

The game revolves around the exploring of a 100-level dungeon, in which the player seeks to amass enough power and equipment to ultimately defeat Morgoth. A new level is randomly generated each time the player changes levels, which gives Angband great replay value: no two games will be the same.

Angband is notable for spawning many derivatives. A family tree of around sixty (around a dozen of which are active) variants of Angband exist, each often greatly differing in purpose and depth of changes. The best known variants are OAngband, ToME (formerly PernAngband) and ZAngband.
]]> 25 Jan 2007 06:11:06 Sword of Jade Sword of Jade is a full-length RPG which took over six years to complete. It's a story of those who choose not to give up on their dreams, and those who do, and the epic struggle for the world that the two groups engage in.
]]> 28 Jan 2007 03:11:25 Redneck Rampage This game is a first person shooter of the old era where you are sent to save the world from rednecks and alien babes with machine guns in their bossoms.
]]> 28 Jan 2007 12:29:53 Wing Commander I Set in the year 2654, Wing Commander tells a tale of mankind's struggle for survival in a ferocious war between the Human Confederation and the warmongering Kilrathi Empire, a fierce bi-pedal feline race.





"You're a starfighter pilot, the best of the best, but nothing in your training prepared you for action this hot. Deep space dogfights against Kilrathi aces are deadly, and the future of humanity is on the line each time you fly!


Wing Commander puts you in the middle of the most intense starship action you've ever experienced outside of a movie theatre. But in Wing Commander, you're the star!"





The majority of the game takes place within the cockpit of various space fighters. Depending on how well one performs while in action, the player may find themselves on the winning or losing path thus altering the plot accordingly. Medals and the respect of your wingmen are gained if performance is exemplary, in turn leading to a more effective attack wing. In between space-flight missions the player is free to roam the legendary carrier "TCS Tiger's Claw" and have conversations with their fellow crew mates, learning more about the horrors and triumphs of the bloody war that is now being fought.


When Wing Commander was released in 1990, the in-game graphics and space-combat engine were a step above all other products during that period. The game was even one of the first to use the new Sound Blaster for PC's, adding to the already cinematic feel of the game.


The strong script and characters which has been a staple through out the series are the primary reason why the Wing Commander has gained such a strong following over the years. That combined with movie-like presentation and strong gameplay has made the venerable Wing Commander a classic among gamers and critics.





Want to learn more about Wing Commander? Visit WCnews.com or Wing Commander Universe.
]]> 11 Feb 2007 07:47:45 Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares Master of Orion II is like Civilization. Rather than take over the world, you focus on the galaxy, taking worlds instead of cities. Pick or create your own race, pursue technologies, employ strategic fleet deployments, and engage in extremely advanced diplomacy.

Various paths to victory.
]]> 02 Feb 2007 04:54:21 Chip's Challenge Chip is willing to do anything for Melinda the Mental Marvel, more than anything, because he wants to join melinda's exlusive computer club, the Bit Busters. Finally Melinda has offered him membership, but on one condition! Chip must find his way from one end of Melinda's magical clubhouse to the other, picking up cosmic computer chips along the way.
]]> 06 Feb 2007 07:49:36 Putt-Putt Joins the Parade Putt-Putt Joins the Parade is one of the first games made by Humongous Entertainment. The game puts kids in control of Putt-Putt, a car living in Cartown who just wants to join the parade. It isn't as simple as just driving right into it, however. He must first get a balloon, a pet, and a carwash. He will have to earn money by being responsible and helping other cars around the town out. The game is intended for children 3-8, and it teaches them lessons as well as entertains.
]]> 06 Feb 2007 05:16:43 Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos Developed by classic developer house Westwood Studios, Lands of Lore is a role playing game (RPG) that was originally released for the PC back in 1994! Since then it has won numerous awards and received much acclaim. At the time, it was one of the biggest and most detailed games available. It took full advantage of the new CD-ROM format with full voice digitization including voicing done by Patrick Stewart portraying King Richard.

The game interface is superbly done, by far the easiest and smoothest I have ever played. Many RPGs tend to have complicated interfaces that take hours of learning to master. But not here, simply click on the sword or magic symbol to use it. Other features include a compass, and a very nice auto-mapper which is a necessity in such a huge world.

Unlike some RPGs, Lands of Lore places more emphasis on adventure and less on the complexities of character and party selection. This allows you to be able to get into the game quickly without squabbling over the unnecessary details in some games, like the color of your pants.
]]> 08 Feb 2007 02:06:11 Loom Loom is a strange and beautiful adventure game set in a feudal past. The hero is Bobbin Threadbare, a weaver. In the world of Loom, everyone belongs to a guild. Apart from the weavers, there are sheperds, blacksmiths, glass makers.

When Bobbin embarks on his quest, he has no inventory (very unusual in an adventure game), he will solve problems not with items, but with "drafts", spells consisting of four notes of music. These drafts can be written down in the beautiful Book of Patterns that is present even in later jewelcase editions.

Loom first came out 1989 on floppies with EGA graphics and a 30-minute audio prologue on tape. The next year it was ported to Mac and Amiga. While the black & white Macintosh version is rather interesting, the color ports are rather crude. 1991 saw a new DOS CD version with VGA graphics and CD music.
]]> 08 Feb 2007 02:11:49 Fatty Bear's Birthday Surprise It's Kayla's birthday tomorrow, and her stuffed animal Fatty Bear wants to throw a surprise party for her. Guide Fatty Bear around the house to help him get everything ready. He has to find ingredients for a cake to make it, get presents, and set up party decorations. In addition to the adventure and puzzles, there are games to be played as well. These games include bowling, piano playing, and dress up with Fatty Bear.
]]> 08 Feb 2007 05:13:00 The Dig When a giant asteroid headed directly for Earth is discovered, a group of five scientists are sent to take a space shuttle to the asteroid and plant explosives on it knock it out of its course, and prevent it frome ver reaching Earth.

The team is made up by Boston Low, a retired astronaut, Dr. Ludger Drunk, an archaeologist and geologist, Maggie Robbins, a reporter and linguistics expert, Ken Border, the shuttle pilot, and Cora Miles, NASA technician and political candidate.

But the mission turns out to be far from what they expected.
]]> 09 Feb 2007 09:21:31 Lands of Lore: Guardians of Destiny Imagine a world of intense beauty and mortal danger where your slightest move can trigger cataclysmic events, miraculous escaped or lethal battles. See magical cities rise out of great oceans. Enter the mysterious caverns of the Dracoid ruins. Discover gruesome altars and witness secret ceremonies never before seen by humans. This is the world of Lands of Lore: Guardians of Destiny.

Set in a reactive environment, this real-time, role playing/adventure game features animated 3D high resolution graphics developed by Westwood Studios.

This incredible world is now ready to be discovered. The question is, are you ready for it?
]]> 09 Feb 2007 06:49:30 Alone in the Dark Jeremy Hartwood, owner of Derceto has died recently. As either Edward Carnby or Emily Hartwood, explore the now abandoned mansion to discover why Jeremy committed suicide and what terrible secret lies within the walls.

Derceto is widely reputed to be haunted by an evil power. The case is quickly dealt with by the police and soon forgotten by the public. The player assumes the role of either Edward Carnby, a private detective who is to find a piano in the loft for an antique dealer's shop, or Emily Hartwood, a woman who also is to find the piano only for her because she believes a secret drawer in it has a note on which Jeremy explained his suicide, and either character goes to the mansion to investigate. As they enter the house, the doors mysteriously slam shut behind them, but they just continue up to the attic and nothing else seems to happen.

Trapped with only your wits to continue, this is survival horror at it's very beginnings.
]]> 10 Feb 2007 02:09:12 Stonekeep As the Stonekeep crumbles, your character Drake escapes to safety to learn that the castle's inhabitants have become undead. You return several years later for revenge. The sunken city of Stonekeep is now inhabited by monsters like throgs, snakes, and sorcerers.

This first-person 3D RPG involved treking through these dungeons and fighting monsters in real-time. The interface is almost completely mouse-driven.

- Digitized speech is use through the whole game, and NPCs and monsters are shown in full motion video.

- Stonekeep features an elaborate Magick system where four types of runes are inscribed onto a spellcaster: Mannish, Fae, Throggish, and Meta.

- Stonekeep's mythology revolves around a variety of Gods associated with planets of the solar system.
]]> 10 Feb 2007 03:03:10 The Last Express Paris, 1914. The world is on the brink of war and your life is about to change forever.

You are Robert Cath, a young American who is urgently summoned by his friend Tyler Whitney to join him on the train departing the Gare de l'Est, Paris, 24 July for Constantinople.

Arriving late, you are overcome with the heavy feeling of danger. Something has gone terribly wrong. Before you can grab hold of your senses, the adventure overtakes you, and you are plunged into a world of suspense, romance, international intrigue, and murder.

The Last Express allows you to move freely through the rich and detailed 3D environment of the world's most luxurious train, circa 1914, during its final European crossing prior to the outbreak of WWI.

Gameplay involves interacting with characters, exploring objects, engaging in action sequences and uncovering multiple story threads--with your perspective shifting from 1st person to 3rd person for maximum dramatic effect.

The fluid, constantly-changing way the other characters react to you--and the fact that the train moves relentlessly onward--creates a sense of real-time suspense and unpredictability beyond that of a traditional adventure game.

Information gained is used to piece together a series of interrelated puzzles which advance you through the story. If you are clever enough, you ultimately discover the shocking secrets of The Last Express... before it's too late!
]]> 10 Feb 2007 05:40:35 Streets of Sim City Streets of SimCity is a 1997 racing and vehicular combat computer game published by Maxis. The novelty of this game stemmed mostly from the fact that the player could race cars around cities that had been created in SimCity 2000. The game is in full 3D, which was a departure from Maxis's normal fare. It is one of the few games in the Maxis series that Will Wright did not work on, and the last Maxis game to be developed and released without supervision by Electronic Arts (which acquired Maxis in 1997 and assisted development of Maxis games thereafter). Despite features such as being able to load cities from SimCity 2000, the game was known more for its bugs, including unexpected crashes, issues with vehicles stuck in buildings, people walking backwards and being able to drive through trees.

The game is known to be the black sheep of the "sim" line, since it in no way actually simulates driving with precision. It instead focuses more on the goals of blowing up other enemy cars, winning races, evading cops, and hitting the occasional cow. The game can be controlled with a keyboard, a joystick, or a gamepad. As a result, the game was mostly only popular with SimCity 2000 users, which like SimCopter, allowed players to explore SimCity 2000 cities, created by themselves or otherwise. There is also a network mode in which players can play deathmatches with up to seven other individuals.
]]> 13 Feb 2007 02:12:45 Dune Dune, by Cryo Interactive, was the first attempt of making a commercial game based on Frank Herbert's Dune universe.

Dune blended adventure with economic and military strategy, and is considered by many the most immersive Dune computer game. Loosely following the story of the novel, the game casts the player as Paul Atreides, with the ultimate goal of driving the Harkonnen from Dune, while managing spice extraction, military, and later, ecology through the native Fremen tribes. As the player progresses, his troops are equipped with weapons from "krys knives" to atomics, tap into Paul's latent psychic powers, and get acquainted with such characters from the book as Chani and Liet Kynes.

The game, seen always through the eyes of Paul, is a mix between RTS and adventure gaming. While the basis of the game is the strategy component, dialog between characters and a linear plotline give the game more depth than most strategy games. The player is also required to do some miniquests involving talking to characters and traveling to locations, which adds a small adventure game element.



(loosely edited text from wikipedia)
]]> 13 Feb 2007 06:52:47 Wing Commander II Released in 1991, Wing Commander 2 is a sci-fi space simulation that is a continuation of the storyline that was told in the original Wing Commander.






"Ten years ago, you were the Hero of Vega Sector, idol of millions - the starfighter pilot who single-handedly turned the tide of a major Kilrathi invasion. Then something went wrong.


You were disgraced, court-martialed and transferred to a backwater outpost. For years, your lightning-quick reflexes and instinctive dogfighting tactics went to waste while the Kilrathi killed your closest friends on the front lines.


But Mankind still needs a hero, now more than ever before. And you're still the best pilot in the Galaxy. You've got just one chance to prove yourself, just one chance to keep the Terran homeworlds from falling to the massed armada of the Empire of Kilrah."



Think you can handle it, flyboy?"





Again most of the game is spent flying missions in space for the Confederation in the continuing war effort against the fearsome Kilrathi Empire. When not flying missions, the player is also able to explore the "TCS Concordia" and talk to fellow crew-mates. A greater emphasis has been placed on storytelling, which gives the player a greater scope on the people fighting this war. The mood is darker than the original, mainly due to the fact that the Humans are in fact losing the war.


Wing Commander 2 bettered the original in every regard, from the updated graphics engine to the detailed script. It is considered an all-time classic within the gaming world.








Want to learn more about Wing Commander? Visit WCnews.com or Wing Commander Universe.
]]> 18 Feb 2007 11:05:29 Dracula's Shadow This is a Castlevania fan game based off of Castlevania 2 : Simon's Quest. While the gameplay and structure is very similar to that game, the levels, world layout and objectives are almost entirely different. The game improves on the original formula by allowing you to control three different characters, mix potions, perform item crashes and more. In addition to Bloody Tears and the other songs from Castlevania 2, there is wealth of new music created for the game. Much of it is remixed songs from previous Castlevania games, although there are also entirely new tracks that would not be out of place in an official Castlevania adventure.

Please note that the Castlevania series, which this game is based, belongs to Konami. The author has such a disclaimer available on his webpage as well.
]]> 19 Feb 2007 01:19:38 Zombie Master
]]> 22 Mar 2008 01:30:08 Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri is a science fiction first-person shooter, squad combat computer game developed and published by Looking Glass Studios (known then as Looking Glass Technologies) in 1996.

The game is set in the year 2327 â€â€
]]> 01 Mar 2007 08:10:08 Flight Unlimited Flight Unlimited is the first of the Flight Unlimited series of General aviation Flight Simulator games created by Looking Glass Studios. It focuses mainly on Aerobatics. It was released in 1995 for DOS and in 1996 for Windows 95. Notable features are the pioneering physics system, landscapes and FBO interface. It was one of the first games to use 3D elevation mesh and photo-realistic images to create realistic terrain representing small areas of country in the USA and France. It supplies challenges in the form of aerobatic lessons and hoops courses, where it is required to fly through virtual "hoops" in the sky against the clock.

The physics system was innovative, as it was possibly the first flight sim game (at least in the home) to use the idea of fluid dynamics. Instead of the control inputs directly affecting the plane, the controls affect the control surfaces on the plane, with the flow of air doing the rest. For example, in an older game, pushing forwards on the keyboard or joystick would directly make the plane pitch down (relative to its orientation), as though a 'magic hand' was rotating the plane. In Flight Unlimited, pushing forwards on the keyboard or joystick tilts the elevators, and the flow of air over the tail and elevators causes the planes orientation to change accordingly.

Rather unusual (for the time) is the FBO interface. It allows the player to walk around a room in 3d and select objects to access functions in the game. For example, a whiteboard allows access to the lessons, while a world globe allows the player to go to other world locations.

The game has a demo recording facility very similar to that in the X-wing space combat simulator. Recordings can be saved and played forwards or backwards, at various degrees of speed. Camera views can be changed, as in normal flight, and at any time, the player can 'eject the tape', and play the game from the current point of the recording. The game comes with several recordings, some of which show a range of manouveres, while others show how 'not' to fly a plane.
]]> 01 Mar 2007 09:36:06 I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream "I Have No Mouth, And I must Scream" is an adult adventure game based on Harlan Ellison's short story of the same name. The original story was written in one night during 1966 and went on to become one of the 10 most re-printed stories in history. It also won a Hugo award in 1968.









"More than a century before the story opens, a supercomputer called AM had already destroyed the entire human race save for the five protagonists. Before AM's present incarnation, there had been three separate American, Soviet and Chinese supercomputers, each programmed for fighting an increasingly complex global war against its two opponents. However, the computers evolved and connected to each other, gained sentience and subsequently annihilated all humanity. AM feels its own creation was an act of unimaginable cruelty because he possesses so much power and can do so little with it, and therefore possesses an extreme hatred for humanity. The machine's hatred combined with its godlike power resulted in the destruction of the human race, save for the five individuals whom AM trapped and then artificially sustained at their current ages indefinitely, solely for the purpose of tormenting them forever."
Source: Wikipedia





The game is played as a point'n'click adventure and has a unique story delving into the tormented souls of the remaining five people on Earth - Gorrister, Ellen, Benny, Nimdok and Ted. After the successful completion of each adventure a showdown with AM himself will occur. The game is incredibly well conceived and has had much input from the original author. The script, visuals and audio all add to the incredible atmosphere and help maintain the eerie and frightening premise that is laced with the horrors of insanity, selfishness, rape, racism, paranoia and genocide.


The script for the computer game differs slightly from the original to allow for the transition from literature to the interactive medium and was again penned by Harlan Ellison. Ellison even lends his vocal talent to the game, voicing the super-computer/super-villain "AM".
]]> 03 Mar 2007 12:34:57 Iter Vehemens ad Necem Fellow adventurer, turn back while you can! For here begins the roguelike Iter Vehemens ad Necem, a Violent Road to Death. If you choose to travel along it, you will dive into countless exciting adventures to gain items of great magic, attain powerful equipment made of mysterious materials, bathe in the blessings of mighty gods and recruit loyal allies of various shapes and sizes. Unfortunately, along the way you will also often be dangerously injured, poisoned, catch numerous diseases, lose several limbs and transform into manifold different kinds of pitiful creatures in the darkest depths of hostile dungeons. And, at the end of the road, you are bound to perish in a most gruesome and painful way. Don't say we didn't warn you.

Iter Vehemens ad Necem (IVAN) is a free graphical roguelike game, which currently runs in Windows, DOS and Linux. Unlike most roguelikes, which use ASCII graphics, IVAN uses an SDL-based tile graphics engine. This allows much more information to be displayed in the level map. For example, when the player or some monsters wield a weapon or wear armor, it's normally visible on the map. Also, several types of fluids (such as acid, blood, vomit, etc.) are visible on the map. This makes it possible to track a wounded monster by following a trail of blood across the dungeon.

IVAN employs an advanced bodypart handling system. In battle, one loses only if the head, torso, or groin is destroyed. If one's arms or legs take too much damage, they become severed, and the player will merely become disabled, and unable to wield a weapon with that hand, or have to bear greater burden. Many monsters can lose body parts as well. There are several ways to replace or reattach a lost limb, such as drinking healing potions or praying.

Another unique feature is the handling of materials. Each item, including body parts, has a material associated with it. There are several ways to change materials, such as scrolls or praying. For example, a hardened leather body armour may become significantly stronger if transmuted into a meteoric iron one. As this applies to body parts, one could harden a severed limb into stone or metal before reattaching it, thereby gaining a massive strength boost of strength at the cost of dexterity.
]]> 03 Mar 2007 08:58:46 Frontier: First Encounters First Encounters is the sequel to Frontier (1993), which itself was a sequel to the seminal 1984 game Elite. The game was created by David Braben’s company, Frontier Developments. Many fans of the game refer to it by the shortened title of FFE.

Like Frontier, First Encounters features realistic Newtonian physics and the ability to land on planets. It has graphics that are an improvement over Frontier (the main difference being Gouraud shading) and, as well as employing the same open-ended gameplay of its predecessors, it also features a storyline concerning an alien race called the Thargoids.

Like the other two Elite games, it has been re-released as shareware and can be freely downloaded from the Elite Club site.

Being a DOS game, First Encounters has difficulty running with Windows XP or Windows 2000 machines, although the official site does offer solutions to get the game running. A recreated game engine called JJFFE allows playing the game on Linux, Windows and DOS.

First Encounters plays much like its immediate predecessor Frontier: the game is a combination of trading, fighting and a variety of other activitiesâ€â€
]]> 03 Mar 2007 01:23:22 Earth 2140 As its name suggests, Earth 2140 takes place in the year 2140 AD. Previous wars have left much of the Earth a nuclear wasteland, forcing most of the world's population into underground bunkers. Tensions rise between the Earth's two major factions, the Eurasian Dynasty (ED) and the United Civilized States (UCS), as both sides vie for the world's steadily dwindling resources. A UCS raid on an ED base is enough to ignite the rivalry into full-scale war as the ED fails in its bid to control Mexico and the UCS counterattacks Scandinavia, Great Britain, France, and the Iberian Peninsula.

Two little known expansion packs were released for this game:
Earth 2140: Mission Pack 1
Earth 2140: Mission Pack 2 - Final Conflict

A package named Earth 2140 XP was released in August 2006 , it included the game, both expansions and was redone to work under Windows XP.
]]> 08 Mar 2007 09:25:43 Pong Ultra Play with 3 game modes, either 2 player, 4 player, or solo as well as either for score or against time. The game also features 8 unique music tracks, a fully functional map editor to create new maps, 16 bit color, slippery paddle control physics and joystick control. New maps can also be downloaded from the web with a tournament mode supported to unlock new levels, on top of the several included levels.
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