Tag: Games

From Kerbin to the Mun

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EirfDhevvs

My latest Kerbal Space Program project (CODENAME: Munraker) is a basic Mun shot with a mid-stage lander behind fairings, like Apollo 11.

Kerbal Space Program is a wonderfully addictive game that allows you to build, fly (and hopefully not crash) rockets and spaceplanes with little green kerbal astronauts.

The game features physics that allow you to get elbow deep in orbital physics, while also offering a number of mods and plugins from the KSP community to help give any skill level pilot a great time blasting off into the inky darkness outside of the planet Kerbin.

For more about the game, visit kerbalspaceprogram.com

Gaming Like it’s 1999

There’s a thread going on the QuatertoThree games forum about “PC games that are a decade old this year.”

1999 was a strong year for PC games, as evidenced by this short list compiled in the thread:

  • Counterstrike
  • Everquest
  • Freespace 2
  • Jane’s F/A-18
  • Jane’s USAF
  • Planescape: Torment
  • Quake III
  • SWAT 3
  • Starfleet Command (I & II)
  • System Shock 2
  • Team Fortress Classic
  • Tony Hawk
  • Unreal Tournament
  • X-Wing Alliance

There are plenty of memories for PC gamers in that list. Unreal Tournament was a personal favorite of mine, as it was something of an underdog before release. Most of the gaming community thought id Software’s Quake III Arena was going to completely dominate the online multiplayer FPS market that year, but Epic Games really surprised a lot of people by having so many unique (read: non-deathmatch) game types available for online play.

It was also a time where 3D graphics cards blossomed as Nvidia and ATI finally took the market from 3dfx. The Voodoo line of cards were eyeopeners when they first appeared, but the company just didn’t keep up with the changing demands of the industry. At the least, I was happy to see their proprietary Glide API lose ground to Direct3D and OpenGL.

Yes, it was a very good year for PC gamers.

Homeworld Revisited

Homeworld

Some feelings of gaming nostalgia over the holidays led me to reinstall the PC game Homeworld on my system this week.

For a game that’s nearly 10 years old, it holds up very well, and ran with little issue on my Vista 64-bit system.

The game has a great, epic feel, with haunting music and cinematic cut scenes, which made for a very satisfying play through. Although some critics originally complained about the slow pace of the game, I always loved the tension that came from huge space battleships firing volleys of laser death across the void at each other.

Fallout 3

Nearly every free hour I’ve had since the the release of Fallout 3 has been spent wandering the post-apocalyptic wastelands portrayed in the action-RPG game world created by Bathesda.

I absolutely did not expect to be as swept up by the amazing atmosphere and story created by the developers, yet I would often find myself staring at my computer screen late into the night, wishing for just a little more time to explore one more undiscovered area in the game’s barren and war-torn landscape.

In many ways, the highest compliment I can give to the game is that it makes me look forward to re-entering it’s bleak world as soon as I get home from work.

Fall Xbox 360 Update: Full Games for Download

The UK website CVG is reporting that the scheduled December 2nd release of this fall’s Dashboard update for Microsoft’s XBox 360 will include the ability to download and play full games for the original Xbox.

The service, dubbed Xbox Originals, will be available to Xbox Live members for 1200 Microsoft points, which translates to about $15.