Many game buffs know the name of Isotope244, the developer of Acky’s XP Breakout, the, in my opinion, (particularly music-wise) best Breakout clone for Windows Mobile Pocket PC’s.
Their latest development is an Real-Time Strategy (RTS) game, Machines at War, promised to be released in a week and already having a public beta HERE.
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((Q)VGA Pocket PC / Smartphone)
(176*220 Smartphone)
I’ve thoroughly tested the game and found it, apart from some problems (of which I’ll later elaborate on), definitely better than the two other native (!) RTS games for the Pocket PC, Warfare Incorporated and Argentum.
(Here, I don’t count in the Age of Empires port; neither do I take emulation into account. Just keep in mind that some early RTS games like Dune II can be very well emulated under even free (!) MS-DOS emulators on the Pocket PC and Smartphone. See THIS for more information on all this. Note that there are a lot of other “ancient” home computer / console platforms with early RTS games too; of them, however, you’ll want to prefer mouse-based ones like the above-mentioned MS-DOS emulators, the Amiga and the Atari ST emulators. See my emulation-related articles for more information. You might also want to give a try to n0p’s Stratagus & Wargus port to play, say, Warcraft II.)
As usual, instead of publishing a full tutorial to the game (just start playing the title and you’ll very quickly learn how to play it), I publish several tricks & tips, mostly in the extensive Comparison & Feature Chart.
What makes this game good?
First, great news for MS Smartphone (WM Standard) users: it runs on all kinds of Smartphones – even on low-end, 176*220 ones. Regardless of the lack of the touch screen, it’s pretty much playable even on these platforms – particularly, if you have a Smartphone with a built-in QWERTY keyboard. If you define keyboard shortcuts (in which this title is exceptionally good at) for, for example, group assignment / recall, you can really quickly operate even without a stylus.
There are some welcome additions missing from even desktop-based strategy games (for example, deploying the same building multiple times with a simple stylus drag (or, on Smartphones, D-Pad + hold down left softkey) operation, parallel unit production in parallel factories with little stylus (D-pad + left softkey on Smartphones) usage, really good stats (see the “Stats” row in the Chart for some screenshots to see how freaking good they are) or the ability to select any number of units at the same time. For example, Starcraft, probably the best RTS of all times on desktop Windows, lacks all of these features.
It allows for grouping units – only Argentum allows for this (and, of course, Starcraft) – Warfare doesn’t. What is more, you can even use hardware buttons / keys to quickly access these groups – which is particularly nice with devices having a built-in keyboard, which the game makes full use of (along with the traditional Pocket PC / Smartphone keys like red/green phone buttons, softkeys, volume buttons, home / back buttons on the Smartphone and app buttons on the Pocket PC).
It has full keyboard / button redefinition support. In this respect, it’s FAR better than anything else.
Graphically, the game is MUCH prettier than Warfare. Explosions are great, so are trails. Damage done to the terrain is visible throughout all the game – no other PPC RTS game offers this (and not even Starcraft, of course.)
Last but not least, the developer is REALLY open to discussions and requests. This means the bullets listed in the “Bad” section below may soon be last year's snow.
The bad
Currently, there’s no multiplayer support; albeit, the developer promised he will look into implementing it if the game sells well
If you only have a 176*220 Smartphone, some of the texts / explanations will be pretty hard to read (see for example the “Tech tree” screenshots in the Chart).
There is (still?) no multiplayer support, unlike with Warfare (and, of course, Starcraft)
The lack of Attack-move is a real pain in the back (as is with the two other native RTS titles – see the “Attack-Move (instead of simple move)” row in the “Unit movement & selection” section). Hope the developer fixes this – I’ve been discussing this issue with him in several mails. Incidentally, there are no Patrol and waypoint functionalities (see the “Patrol?” row) either.
Also, the game, currently (the developer also promised he will look into this) lacks automatic moving to position and answering to fire upon an attack to a very closely placed, friendly unit. In this respect, both Starcraft and Warfare Incorporated are far better – unless the units in the former are explicitly ordered to Hold, in which case they in no way will leave their position to answer fire out of their range.
The comparison / feature chart
It’s available HERE. As usual, it’s a MUST to check it out. Also make sure you check out the (several) screenshots linked from the chart – I’ve made a lot to show examples of what I speak of.
As I’ve already explained the meaning of most of the rows in the chart, I don’t elaborate on it any more. If you don’t understand something or need help with a specific issue, let me know, though.
Quick note for QVGA (as opposed to 176*220) Smartphone users
By default, as of the current beta (I’m pretty sure the problem will be fixed in the final, commercial version), the game runs in 176*220 mode. To switch this to QVGA (and to use the standard PPC GUI), you’ll need THIS file. (Right-click to download as it’s an XML file – don’t left-click it!) Just copy it into the home directory of your game, overwriting the old one.
Verdict
Without doubt, this title is by far the best and most promising title. A must, particularly if you “only” have a MS Smartphone (that is, without any other real RTS titles). I really hope it does receive multiplayer support, attack-move functionality and a way to disable the default ‘hold’ setting for units.
UPDATE (06/30/2007):
version 0.91 out with a LOT of enhancements and bug fixes, most of them are in direct response to my suggestions. This means the majority of my grieves with the game (for example, the lack of attack+move mode) are no longer topical. Please see the list of enhancements on the product feedback page.
PPCT frontpage.
Related
This is the first “action” game from ConcreteSoft; their previous titles were all card games. Unfortunately, being a game of a, for the developer, completely new genre also means it has a lot to be desired. Read on!
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(A HTC Wizard screenshot is here; as can be seen, on slower devices, the game automatically decreases the view size.)
Availability
It’s available here for a whopping $19.99. It also has Symbian S60 and MS Smartphone versions. The former is really ($5) cheap; the latter $5 cheaper than the Pocket PC version.
There is a trial version, which is pretty limited: not only does it contain only one map, but also the game stops after two minutes. That is, it’s pretty impossible to judge the real merits of the game solely based on the demo.
Compatibility
It’s only compatible with WM5 devices. The demo can’t be installed on anything older.
It worked on all my VGA WM5 devices (HP iPAQ hx4700, Dell Axim x51v, HTC Universal).
On my QVGA HTC Wizard with the AKU3.2 KTamas/bepe ROM, first, it ran OK. When I couldn’t get out of a menu, I’ve soft reset the device; after that, the game wouldn’t start any more – only the title was displayed. An un-, and, then, reinstall didn’t help. After this, not even a hard reset did help – the game just wouldn’t start any more. I had to re-flash the entire ROM (now, switching back to Molski 2.26) to be able to install and, then, play the game again. (With the Molski ROM, I’ve also tested whether resetting the device results in the consequent inability to start. Haven’t encountered the same problem. That is, this problem may be AKU3.2 KTamas/bepe ROM related only.
Gameplay
An excerpt from the ad: “Build your buildings on a variety of landscapes and prevent opponents from doing the same. Use your grapple to grab building parts and weapons. Place pieces at acceptable locations and fire weapons at your enemies or their buildings; the green arrow indicates potential targets. If you have the most points when time runs out you win!
Take on computer opponents in single player mode and work your way through increasingly difficult levels to see if you can beat the high score or play your friends using Bluetooth enabled phones. See who can build the most buildings while taking down your opponent's in a race against time in one of the 3D worlds!”
I’d say it’s the best when played against human opponents. Against the computer, it can become pretty boring after a while – at least in my opinion.
Multiplayer
The title uses local native Widcomm-only Bluetooth support. Native means you don’t need to re-pair the devices before playing or set up a BT PAN between them. Local means it can’t be played through the Net.
On Widcomm-based devices, the main menu is populated with a Multiplayer option; this is not the case with Microsoft Bluetooth stack-based devices (HTC Universal and HTC Wizard screenshots), as with some other, Widcomm-only games like those of Infinite Dreams.
As far as multiplayer gameplay is concerned, the multiplayer originator only has the choice of choosing a level (as opposed to, say, 4Pockets' multiplayer games) before starting to wait for opponents.
The client, after having looked for servers, will list all the Widcomm-based computers in the vicinity regardless of their running a game or not. Then, after choosing the right one, the game will start.
I had no real stability, disconnection or lag problems playing over Bluetooth. The speed did decrease a bit and there was indeed a bit lag, but this wasn’t really serious.
Graphics
It’s pretty OK for a 3D game. It uses high resolution graphics on VGA devices. It, however, doesn’t take advantage of the 2700G accelerator in Dell Axim x50v / x51v models (that is, the “Compatibility: Pocket PC 3D Accelerator (Axim x50v/x51v)” in the ad only means “compatibility” but not “taking advantage of”. As with many other games, this can be pretty misleading for a lot of unsuspecting people.)
Music / Sound
There is absolutely no music in the game. The sound effects are scarce (only explosions and pick up/drop sounds) and not very good.
Summary
Pros
Runs in both Landscape and Portrait. In Landscape, it re-stretches the contents of the screen and, therefore, the text may be a bit misshaped compared to the Portrait mode
VGA resolution on VGA devices
Cons
WM5 only
Multiplayer-wise, Widcomm-only; this, effectively, makes it impossible to play multiplayer games on the vast majority of WM5 devices
No “Exit / Cancel” in many menus.
No music at all; sound effects are rare
While you can redefine buttons / functionality, you can’t use non-D-pad arrow buttons – they will invoke the original functions. If you un-map these functions in the system-level Buttons applet, you won’t be able to assign them at all – in the Configure menu, they won’t be at all noticed
Verdict
Well, this game still requires a LOT of work. First, implementing support for the Microsoft Bluetooth stack. Second, some in-game music would be welcome. Disabling in-game hardware buttons (so that they don't switch to the assigned application) would also be welcome.
Also, I think the price is way too high for a game like this. While you may consider the game amusing, IMHO, it’s a bit on the dull side and certainly wouldn’t pay 20 bucks for it.
Recommended links
Don’t forget to check out my other game reviews here. I also recommend the game reviews in the Smartphone & Pocket PC Magazine's Expert Blog by Ben Stanley, Al Harrington and Eric Pankoke.
The Definitive Multiplayer PPC Game Roundup - everything you will ever need to know about multiplayer games on the Pocket PC.
(Original heads-up news source: PocketGamer.org)
Thanks to great German multiplatform mobile gaming site PocketGaming.de, which were first to report on the latest “made in Russia” game Death Drive, I've also given a try to the brand new, great Carmageddon / Destruction Derby / Twisted Metal / Death Rally clone, which has just been released for the Pocket PC. That is, unlike what the title suggests, it's not a "plain" Carmageddon clone - it's just that the title length is limited and had only place for one title. That is, it's pretty much like Handy Entertainment’s Dreamway and Garga Games’ Ganxta Race on the Pocket PC - but all in 3D, unlike these 2D games.
The game uses the same Voxel technology used in, for example, the Comanche series, which, at its time (in 1992), was a real breakthrough on PC gaming with its (compared to alternative technologies) excellent speed and visuals. The speed advantage is present on the Pocket PC too - the game is pretty playable on, with today's standards, low-end Pocket PC's and has no problems on VGA devices either.
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The homepage of Gajon Entertainment’s new game is here (BabelFish “translation” here; a related article & comments (Babelfish here) and thread (both in Russian) ).
The company mostly develops for other platforms (most importantly, the PC and the PowerTV set-top box) and this is their first Pocket PC conversion. Despite this (and the fact that it’s free), it is a VERY mature product - actually, it's even better than MANY commercial Pocket PC games. This also applies to the English of the game – it’s all in English with no, say, Russian leftovers.
Availability
The direct download is here (original Gajon Entertainment page; may be slow to download) and here (very fast PocketGaming.de back-end).
Installation
Un-RAR (with, for example, WinRAR or the free (!) and highly recommended (its proprietary 7-zip compression is about 15% better than even the compression rate of RAR!) 7-zip) and copy the deathdrive_hires directory to your PDA. Execute DeathDrivePPC2003.exe inside to start the game.
Compatibility
It had no problems with my following Pocket PC’s:
WM5 VGA Dell Axim x51v (A12)
WM5 VGA HP iPAQ hx4700. Unfortunately, the D-Pad-based controls in the game can’t be redefined and the movement can’t be controlled by the stylus; therefore, on the hx4700, you’ll want to use an external Bluetooth gaming pad
WM2003SE VGA Fujitsu-Siemens Pocket Loox 720
WM2003 QVGA HP iPAQ h2210 (it was clearly slower on it than on the first three devices)
On my non-overclocked HTC Wizard, it was pretty slow. If you don’t plan to overclock, just disable the mirror, the engine sounds and the minimap in the Setup menu – then, it becomes pretty usable. With overclocking to 240 MHz, you don't need to do this - then, the game becomes pretty playable.
While the game is advertised as PPC2k2-compatible, it isn’t (there’s no PPC2k2-compliant executable). This is certainly bad news for PPC2k2 users.
Note that, up to now, I've received two reports of it not working on Samsung CPU-based models (HP iPAQ rx1950 , HTC TyTN etc) and haven't received any success stories on these CPU's. That is, you may too have problems with the game if you have a Samsung-based model.
Gameplay
Please read the above-linked Wiki pages to read all about it. It's a combination of the listed games
My personal remarks: Much as the game, at first, seems to be rather boring for non-Carmageddon / Desctruction Derby etc.-fans (including me), taken into account all the game / tournament options, weapon upgrades and so on, it becomes pretty fun.
Control
Unfortunately, it can only be controlled with the D-Pad and, if present, a dedicated jog dial. Unfortunately, it doesn't support SmartSKey, the great "make your volume slider of previous-generation WM5-based HTC phones to a jog dial" hack either, which is bad news for example for HTC Universal / Wizard users.
If you don't have a (dedicated) jog dial, you'll welcome the fact that the weapon key (the Action button, which can't be reassigned) is "sticky" and you'll end up having to re-press it few times.
Note that while some state it can also be controlled with stylus (just like GeorallyEX or Handy Entertainment’s Dreamway and Garga Games’ Ganxta Race, this is definitely not the case.
Visuals
For a free game, I’d say it’s excellent. OK, there’s no 2700G support or VGA hi-resolution, but you can’t expect much of a FREE game, can you? (Note that many state it's hi-res on VGA devices. This is not the case.)
The game uses (right-handed) landscape orientation; this can’t be changed (bad news for users of devices with bad landscape polarization or left-handedness).
Sounds & music
As far as in-game sounds are concerned: for a free game, they’re excellent. Probably the biggest problem is the engine sound: there are only two engine sounds for “slow” and “fast” speed; this can be pretty misleading when you don’t pay attention to the speedometer. Fortunately, it can be disabled in the Options menu.
Unfortunately, there’s no in-game / menu music.
Verdict
This game has set a new standard for freeware Pocket PC games and is a must. Go get it!
UPDATE (11/06/2006): some updates to the article; a link to the PocketPlayers.de review published in the meantime.
Game is kinda fun but how in heck do you exit it?
Press the Email button. If it doesn't work, try tohe othe rhardware buttons
does not start on my htc hermes!
sebi112 said:
does not start on my htc hermes!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1, Did you copy all the files?
2, did you try a soft reset before running?
yes i copied all the files a also did a softreset. when i start the game i just get a file called debug in the gamdirectory. nothing else happens!
Menneisyys said:
1, Did you copy all the files?
2, did you try a soft reset before running?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have completed thart first race so many times and I still get no points and no cash despite it saying complete. What gives?
sebi112 said:
yes i copied all the files a also did a softreset. when i start the game i just get a file called debug in the gamdirectory. nothing else happens!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you ask fellow Samsung (Hermes) users to test the game? It seems the game is incompatible with the Samsung CPU.
Updated version posted
UPDATE (11/17/2006): Jim Karpen’s related article may also be of interest.
Many users have reported (see for example this, this, this and this) it wouldn’t switch to next tracks in Tournament mode and/or wouldn’t add money to the account.
Some people (see for example this) say you must install it to the main memory to fix this problem.
I’ve thoroughly tested the tournament mode on my x51v in three cases (game copied to the root of the built-in storage of the device, the root of the SD card and a subdirectory on the card); all three worked OK with me.
However, if you do encounter problems like the above, try copying the game to the main storage of your PPC to see whether it helps.
Artemis almost perfect for it
Driving with the scroll wheel on the Artemis would be perfect if it weren't for the fact that the car turns the opposite direction you are turning the scroll wheel. I wish there was some way to change that! Otherwise, I guess I will just have to train myself as though I were backing up!!!!
sebi112 said:
yes i copied all the files a also did a softreset. when i start the game i just get a file called debug in the gamdirectory. nothing else happens!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
same behaviour in my htc tytn.
dont work
if somebody wants to know, the debug file created has the following data (without quotes):
" Log > open
(release)
"
HTC TyTN - Samsung CPU not supported
Folks with HTC TyTN/Hermes/O2 XDA/QTEK 9600 can commit suicide, because this game does not work on Samsung CPU processors. Unfortunatly author of this game is not able to cooperate with developers to fix this problem or even let us know which graphical engine is used.
I believe problem is in the graphic engine which is using specific processor instructions in ASM which are not supported by Samsung CPU
RealDice has specialized in producing Pocket PC and MS Smartphone multiplayer table / card games. In addition to PDAMill and some other developers (like pocketadventures.com), they should be the first game developer to check out when looking for multiplayer-enabled Backgammon, Chess, Domino, Mahjong, Texas Hold’em Poker and Sudoku games.
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I’ve long been planning a generic update of my last RealDice review published last May. Now that the developer has (for the most part) fixed the CPU usage bug I’ve discovered in the early versions and has also come out with some brand new titles (for example, the last one, Dominoes has just been released; it’s so new it doesn’t even have an official section on RealDice’s homepage as yet and is only accessible on third-party distributors like ClickGamer), I knew I can no longer wait.
Availability
Currently, five of the six RealDice titles are available on the official homepage of RealDice. Note that there aren’t direct links to (three-day) trial downloads in there; you must select the download type (there are, for Pocket PC’s, only two types of files to download: a QVGA and a VGA version; this also means you can safely use, for example, the Acer N30 (QVGA) version for all QVGA and the Acer N311 (VGA) version for all VGA devices, even for non-listed ones. For MS Smartphones, you’ll need to look up the closest relative of your model if you can’t find it in the list) by using the drop-down lists on the left.
Their latest title, Dominoes, still doesn’t have a page on its own and, therefore, must be downloaded from ClickGamer.
What's new?
First of all, the major problems have been fixed and, now, unlike with the earlier versions, I can already recommend these games particularly for VGA users and / or multiplayer fans.
As of the current versions (Backgammon: 1.39; Chess: 1.43; Dominoes: 1.12; Mahjong: 1.30; Texas Hold’em Poker: 4.24; Sudoku II: 1.13),
The good
The CPU usage of all the six titles was between 40 and 80% on all my test devices (in no case lower than 40%; ~70% when waiting for SIP input from the user (for example, entering a name)). This also means ALL the games are perfectly playable on all current Pocket PC’s, as opposed to earlier versions.
I haven’t had compatibility or, as far as the CPU usage is concerned, major playability problems on any of my WM2003+ devices (I’ve tested them all: iPAAQ 2210, WM5-upgraded hx4700 (2.01), Pocket Loox 720, HTC Universal, Wizard (AKU3), x51v (A12)) with any of the current versions.
The bad
While the CPU usage (of ALL current versions!) is definitely better than that of the initial versions, it’s still a bit high, particularly when you take into account the much lower CPU usage of some other games (and the lack of music). The RealDice folks may really want to look into further reducing the CPU usage of the title (by, for example, relying on operating system-level touchscreen / keyboard event listeners)
The game still uses its own on-screen keyboard for input. This solution is not only sub-par because of the high CPU usage and the lack of visible keypress feedback, but also because you can’t quick-edit the contents of the text input fields (for example, quickly position the cursor). Fortunately, you can enter information using a remote controller application (see the roundup here) if you are completely fed up with the shortcomings of the keyboard.
All these titles consist of one big executable file (and a small DLL file). This, unfortunately, also means a slightly longer loading time, particularly when installed onto a storage card / flash ROM (including the built-in storage on WM5 devices).
On VGA devices, the landscape mode (only right-hand landscape mode is possible, which is bad news for slide-out keyboard users) is buggy: the screen events are registered at wrong coordinates.
There is still no in-game music in any of the titles.
Both good and bad
The games are all central server-based. This has, as has also been explained in the Multiplayer Bible both advantages and disadvantages. Now that RealDice has also set up a (as with many similar services – for example, EverQuest on the desktop PC or Sphere on the 2700G-enabled Pocket PC, non-free; it costs $8 a month) online gaming community, you gain access to a lot of additional goodies such a community / central server offers; for example, advanced chat and messaging features, buddy lists and global rankings / ladder. See THIS for more info. (Note that you don’t need to subscribe to RealDice world to play standard multiplayer games! You'll only need it for advanced functionality.) Unfortunately, the lack of direct, internet / server-less multiplayer connection models is still a nuisance. Nevertheless, some games offer hotseat multiplayer capabilities (which is still much inferior to real local inter-PDA multiplayer gaming).
Verdict
I didn’t recommend the earlier versions of RealDice’s games. Now that the CPU usage has been fixed, this is no longer the case: make sure you check them out if you’re into the genre (table / poker games).
Other reviews to check out
The review of Texas Hold'em by great German language Pocket PC side PocketGaming.
Fortunately, the Windows Mobile gaming scene is thriving. It was just a few days ago that I’ve published the last gaming news article (available HERE; it was also mentioned in THIS PPCT frontpaged story); in the meantime, there have been two major, new releases. (BTW, as far as the games reported on in the last part are concerned, in the meantime, the bugs of Plasma Duel have been fixed. I also recommend THIS PG.org thread on Corsair, which I have also nominated for this year’s Best Software Awards contest.)
Sindbad: Return of Legend – a GREAT Prince of Persia clone – finally out!
I’ve already reported on the early alpha of this title. It was pretty much useless and unplayable. Fortunately, the final version is (almost) flawless and offers a REALLY nice and rich graphics enviromnent – definitely better than the home computers or 8-bit consoles of that age (early nineties) – it’s only the SNES version that is similarly rich. (See them HERE if you’re interested.)
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Unfortunately, there’s absolutely no in-game music, only (not really great) sounds.
It, as with the alpha version, is available HERE for WM2003+ -based Pocket PC’s (no MS Smartphones are supported, sorry, mostly because of the two on-screen tap areas).
Verdict: I heartily recommend the title if you’re a die-hard Prince of Persia fan and want to play through all the games based on the original game, but with brand new maps and excellent (albeit QVGA only, which is bad news for owners of VGA devices) graphics.
If, however, you “only” want to play the original Prince of Persia and find the (pretty hefty, if you ask me) price tag ($19.95) of Sindbad too big, you may want to go for emulating the original title (I particularly recommend the NES (for example, with SmartGear) and the MS-DOS emulation (with both n0p’s DOSBox port and PocketDOS); both are excellent). It’s not only free, but, as far as emulating with SmartGear is concerned, is much easier on the battery. (Sindbad continuously uses 100% CPU time even without you moving; this means heavily reduced battery life when compared to, say, the newer version(s) of SmartGear).
ConcreteSoft releases 3D Lawn Darts
This title is the second game of ConcreteSoft, the first being Constructo Combat reviewed HERE.
(main menu VGA screenshot HERE)
It’s a 3D darts game, with two special features: native Bluetooth multiplayer and camera-based motion controllability, the latter being the major (intended) selling point of the title.
I was unable to test the former (BT multiplayer support) because the trial version doesn’t support multiplayimg features at all (and I hate requesting review copies of titles I know I won’t write a 100% positive review of – you know, I hate biting the feeding hand). Therefore, I can’t even comment on the BT compatibility – whether the developer has implemented support for the Microsoft BT stack in the meantime (Constructo Combat didn’t support the Microsoft BT stack). Please, developers, DO provide ALL the functionality in your trial versions so that they can be tested before purchasing – or, for that matter, when writing a definitely unbiased review of.
As far as the camera-based, Wii-like control scheme is concerned, I don’t think it’s as groundbreaking as the developer claims. Even after a two times three-stage calibration (example screenshot), I’ve had problems with unreliable shots (screenshot). What is more, it’s only at throwing the dart that you have any effect on the direction of the dart, not later. This means, if the camera-based control works at all, it will inherently be more unreliable than the standard, D-pad-based control. That is, the camera mode, in my opinion, is pretty much useless.
It also has some bugs; for example, if you have a pair of stereo (wired or wireless A2DP) headphones, you won’t like the in-game music / sound effects to be played back in one channel (in the right piece of the headphones) only.
Finally, bad news for users of pre-WM5 devices: as with Constructo Combat, this game is completely incompatible with older operating systems. That is, it's not even compatible with the three-year-old WM2003SE operating system.
It also has strengths. For example, it’s one of the very few games to natively (!) support the MS Smartphone (WM6 Standard) platform (in addition to all flavors of the Pocket PC platform, including native, hi-res (!) graphics on VGA devices, just like in Constructo Combat). It even runs on 176*220, low-resolution Smartphones models – with some minor glitches. With menus (screenshot) and in-game screens, it’s OK as can be seen in the following screenshot:
With tutorial screens, however, it isn’t, as can also be seen in HERE and HERE.
The title is available for download HERE; the price of the full version is $19.95.
Verdict: I think you will want to check out the other darts alternatives first. There are many; most const half (or even the quarter) the price. Examples include, most importantly, Devil Darts, Patriotic Darts, JasonGoldman.com’s Dartz and Webfoot Technologies’ Darts.
Clickgamer 48-hour sale & other rebates
There are some interesting rebates at Clickgamer; make sure you check them out. You can get the following titles for half the price: the brand new Secrets of da Vinci, The Quest and Ballrush Aqua. Astraware Solitaire (links to reviews in the previous two Games News) is also offered with a 50% rebate. Finally, if you have a Dell Axim x50v/x51v and you still don’t have Quake Mobile Ultimate Bundle (review HERE), you may be interested in THIS 20% rebate.
Emulator news
This time, there are no new releases. I’ve, on the other hand, finished adding the missing emulators to the Emulators category in the Encyclopedia of Software & Accessories. While some emulators are still missing (for example, the latest native MS Smartphone ZX Spectrum and C64 emulators and some calculator emulators – their authors have still not registered them, which means I will need to do it myself. Please check back tomorrow or the day after for the final list), you can already have a good picture of what emulators (along with the Best Software Awards 2007 contest, of course) these categories will contain.
Emulation article-wise, I also recommend these kind words from Allen Gall, the Games Editor of PPCMag
As you may have noticed, I’ve started working on the Multimedia Bible, the premier resource of all info on multimedia playback, streaming etc. I don’t know when I get it ready. I’ll announce when the first chart versions are ready for public scrutiny.
After some 13-14 months of the 2.x -> 3.x series jump, the excellent S-K folks have just announced they will release a brand new, 4.0 version of SKTools, the, IMHO, best (albeit a bit overwhelming and, because of its capabilities and complexity, hard-to-discover) all-in-one systems management tool available for Windows Mobile. The new version will have the following new features:
- Cab Manager: SKTools can show all CAB,CPF,TSK files on device, show content (with full names, installation path, registry keys, shortcuts, _setup.xml), extract with full names, install to ANY location (full installation made by SKTools) for WM5/ WM6; SKTools can be associated with CAB files
- Replaced ROM Files: show which ROM files have been replaced by another version, show version and date of these files; the user can see if the "newest" file (the file having the latest time stamp) is, in reality, older than others and, therefore, remove it.
- Move Data: move application, folders, files to any location with automatic (!) registry and shortcut modification (and other data about files and their path)
- Storage Analyzer: show what files and folders (by types, attributes, ...) are stored on the device
The open beta starts next week (I already have a pre-beta); I’ll let you know when it becomes ready.
I’ve reported on LogMeIn Rescue Mobile more than two months ago. Now, a similar product, LogMeIn Hamachi has also been released, which – as opposed to ALL the other, similar tools – even the otherwise BEST Pocket Controller by SOTI – uses HTTP(S) tunneling for remotely controlling your Windows Mobile handheld from a remote desktop PC. This means any Windows Mobile device can be accessed, even ones behind firewalls and/or in NAT’ed networks (like about 60-70% of current mobile networks). See THIS and THIS MoDaCo threads for more info.
Spb has just released an updated version of their flagship, brand new product, Spb Pocket Plus 4.0, of which I’ve reviewed some modules HERE and HERE.
The dialup-sharing-over-Wi-Fi (which is of extreme importance with non-BT DUN and/or non-BT PAN-capable devices like, for example, Symbian smartphones (neither of them) or other Windows Mobile PDA’s based on the MS BT stack (no PAN support)) method (see THIS) has been GREATLY enhanced and automatized. See XDA-Dev forum member TalynOne’s excellent tutorial and tools HERE.
Moving to dialup and DUN: XDA-Dev forum member Technology has come up with a decent tool for making it work on the T-Mobile Dash.
CrazySoft released another puzzle adventure game
Their last “adventure”, “Lost in the Pyramid”, was a complete disaster. The new game is certainly MUCH better, albeit I’ve found some of the steps similarly illogical and/or plain stupid (for example, dying right away if you smash a tile; getting caught by the guards if you, for example, exit your prison through the window etc.). It’s still a far cry away from “real” (even emulated – see my emulation-related roundups and Bibles HERE) adventures like those of Legend Entertainment or Fade Team (Fade / Acedior), but you may want to give it a try nonetheless. Be warned: the trial can be played through in 10-15 minutes and I’m not really sure whether the full game is really worth the money. I’ll wait for either Eric’s or Ben’s reviews; I definitely won’t request a review copy (because I don’t really like biting the feeding hand, which, I think, may happen this time too.)
Therefore, just some remarks: The game is multiplatform and supports both VGA and QVGA on the Pocket PC. I’ve tested it on both VGA and QVGA Pocket PC’s, QVGA Smartphones and the Symbian S60v3 Nokia N95. With the latter two platforms, it’s pretty hard to control because of the lack of the touchscreen (and a sophisticated control system). At least you can use the 3…0 buttons to quickly access the inventory items.
UPDATE (11/03/2007): Oops, I’ve forgotten to tell you the name of CrazySoft game (see the last bullet above): Final Battle. It’s available HERE. You can already read a review of it for example HERE. Note that it’s a Symbian-related review. As Symbian has even less games (not taking Java MIDlets into account, where it’s much-much stronger, let alone the forthcoming N-Gage Platform, which, as of now, is slated for a December release) than Windows Mobile, the review is pretty much positive. I’m not absolutely sure it’d stand so well against the Windows Mobile competition, particularly if you take into account the platform’s (compared to Symbian, much better) ability to emulate platforms with tons of high-quality adventure games (for example, MS-DOS) and having native adventure engines like ScummVM (ok, Symbian (including even S60v3) also has it) and other interpreters like those of Magnetic Scrolls.
Some (VGA) screenshots:
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An example of the guard’s catching you
Smashing your hand 1 2
End of demo (again, the demo of the game is VERY short: I've managed to reach it in about 4-5 minutes after starting to play!)
Finally, as with their previous title “Lost in the Pyramid”, this game is also suffering from the same problem: it takes the operating system a lot of time to find the icon of the game. The CrazySoft folks should fix this issue as soon as possible.
UPDATE (later on 11/03/2007): Because of the insignificance of the release, I don’t devote a separate post/threads to the next game. Exosyphen Studios has released Hacker Evolution for the Pocket PC (no Smartphone version is available), following the May release of the desktop original.
(VGA screenshot; as can be seen, there’s no hi-res support)
Unfortunately, I’ve found the game almost exactly the same as their much older, but VERY similar title, BS Hacker Mobile Console, reviewed HERE. If you don’t believe they’re almost exactly the same game (except for the different colors and the slightly more on-screen buttons) just compare, in addition to the GUI, the built-in help to that of BS Hacker Mobile Console. See? It's, gaming-wise, is exactly the same as the older title. In addition, it is, as with BS Hacker Mobile Console, a much-much worse, much less interesting version of the original desktop Windows version - this is how a desktop conversion should NOT be done.
All in all, I in no way recommend this game, particularly not if you’ve already purchased the very similar BS Hacker Mobile Console.
More info / discussion in THIS PG.org thread.
Menneisyys sorry to "interrupt" you, but we are in SMARTPHONE area and we are looking for SMARTPHONE stuff, not PPC. So please post only smartphone related articles/news/posts.
This is not the first time I see cross-posted topics and PPC related posts on Smartphone area.
Thank you.
DSF said:
Menneisyys sorry to "interrupt" you, but we are in SMARTPHONE area and we are looking for SMARTPHONE stuff, not PPC. So please post only smartphone related articles/news/posts.
This is not the first time I see cross-posted topics and PPC related posts on Smartphone area.
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Several (of course, not all) bullets also applies to the MS Smartphone platform (serach for the word Smartphone); this is why I've also cross-posted this news item to the SP General forum.
UPDATE (11/13/2007): in THIS German-language PocketPlayers.info review (published after mine), Hacker Evolution is also trashed. (Let me know if you need help in translation - I assume everybody either knows German or at least knows Babelfish / Google Translator.) This shows I was 100% right about NOT recommending the game at all.
Note that the thread also states exosyphen Studios is planning to release a FULL WM port of their desktop games. This is certainly VERY good news.