Archive for the 'Real Time' Category

The Settlers 2: “veni, Vedi, Vici”

Published on May 5, 2009 in Real Time. 0 Comments Tags: , .

THE Settlers 2 is the sequel to the popular original Settlers game, which came out two years ago. The Settlers 2 is similar to the original, but with improved graphics, story, and new citizens and buildings.

The aim of The Settlers 2 is to create a successful and growing colony. It is an example of the popular “God games”, such as SimCity 2000, where you direct the action and lives of the little computer people. Often you have to work against a rival “god”, which can be the computer or an opposing player.
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Caesar Ii

Published on March 24, 2009 in Real Time. 0 Comments Tags: .

In Caesar II you are the Governor of a Roman Province, starting out in 300BC. You have to develop the Province up to an acceptable standard before you can move on to the next Province, which will be more difficult but more rewarding. Eventually, you hope to conquer and develop enough Provinces that you will become Caesar!

There are two connected parts to Caesar II. Probably the main part is the building up of the Provincial capital city. You start out on a bare plain beside a river, and you must develop this into a huge bustling metropolis. In a few years, your city should have a population of a few thousand, and such amenities as Gardens, Temples, Baths, Aqueducts, and Theatres.

Large Size: 325 x 400, 26500 bytes.

* PC Game: Caesar II. . Click here for picture. * PC Game: Simon The Sorcerer. .

Of-course all of this costs money, and you only have a small fund in the treasury to start with. Your two main sources of income are population tax, and industry tax. Population tax is gathered from the population of the city, so any city-improving feature that will attract new dwellers will help. Industry tax is gathered from businesses that have set up in the city.
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Silent Hunter

Published on March 23, 2009 in Real Time and Simulation. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Submarine games seem to be quite popular with games designers. Recently we have seen Silent Steel, and before that was Aces of the Deep. Now we can choose between Fast Attack and Silent Hunter. Fast Attack by Sierra is for all you technophiles out there – its a simulation of a modern nuclear powered attack submarine. Loads of machines that go “ping”!. Silent Hunter on the other hand, goes back to basics.

Large Size: 150 x 212, 12000 bytes.

Ubisoft

Set in the Pacific Ocean during World War II, you are the commander of a United States Submarine, and your job is to sink as much enemy shipping as you can. In Silent Hunter you have hardly any useful machinery to help you along; apart from some dodgy early radar its basically just ears and eyes to find the enemy, and stop them finding you!

You can choose to play an historical mission or set up any sort of encounter you like. (Setting up an undefended merchant shipping convoy is great for target practice). The most fun part of Silent Hunter is career mode. In this you have a number of war missions, with a great variety of possible encounters. You might come across lightly defended merchant convoys, troop transports, strike forces of enemy naval ships, or the greatest target of all – aircraft carriers.

Large Size: 801 x 498, 9500 bytes.

Hunter installation screen will appear; be sure to choose the Maximum Install option. This will help to completely eliminate the need for the CD-ROM when playing the game.

There are a lot of variables, so that no two encounters are likely to be the same. Each varies with the time of day, and with the weather, as well as depth under the keel, water thermal layers, skill of the enemy anti-submarine warfare crews, and more.

Large Size: 118 x 89, 10400 bytes.

name : Silent Hunter III

Luckily there are a lot of difficulty options you can turn off, because it takes a while to master the art of submarine warfare. If you?re anything like me with a new simulation, you tend to go in guns (or in this case torpedoes) blazing. In Silent Hunter though, the skill is in deciding when and where to strike, and probably the most important part of the action is getting yourself into position. This can mean spending a few hours running ahead of your target, and then submerging in their path. Thankfully there is a time compression feature for all those boring hours running ahead of the convoy.

Large Size: 802 x 501, 13400 bytes.

configuration routine. Dont worry, you will have sound when this entire procedure is completed. The actual sound-card configuration will be addressed later in this document.

Some of the difficulty features include limited fuel, limited battery, limited ammo, dud torpedoes, vulnerable submarine, and running aground. The higher you set the difficulty rating though, the higher your potential score for each mission. And then of-course, there is a better chance of getting promoted or decorated.

Large Size: 797 x 499, 11100 bytes.

Drive (on this screen example I have chosen C: ) and make the Directory setting the same as show below. Click the Start button and the installation process will begin.

You give all the orders to the submarine crew by mouse clicks. You can move to the bridge, conning tower, torpedo room, and other places on the sub. The inside of the sub has been rendered very well, and looks suitably claustrophobic.

Large Size: 150 x 211, 11000 bytes.

Ubisoft

The graphics are good in Silent Hunter. The sea and sky look great, very real, although the sea doesn?t have that realistic rolling motion it has in Aces of the Deep (thank goodness some might say!). The enemy ships are nicely detailed, and its no problem telling them apart with the Ship Identification Manual.

Large Size: 150 x 212, 11300 bytes.

Ubisoft

Silent Hunter requires a 486dx66MHZ, 8MB RAM, 1MB SVGA graphics card, double speed CD-ROM drive, Dos 5, and a mouse. It supports a range of soundcards, and ran fine under Windows 95.

Large Size: 200 x 150, 35700 bytes.

The latest title in the Silent Hunter franchise will add new dimensions to the simulation experience, where players will assume the role of an U-boat commander, become immersed in a dynamic

As well as the submarine simulation, Silent Hunter provides an excellent multimedia showcase about submarines in the Pacific theatre. There are a number of interviews with a WW2 submarine captain, and these include authentic World War II footage. There is also a multimedia tour of an American submarine.