Wow! A fan built huge version of Wing Commander is coming out very very soon. Looks awesome, it’s built on the Freespace 2 engine, so it should run on almost all computers. This will be a time sink!
Gnome's Lair: Wing Commander Saga – Preview & Interview.
The Icenhancer 2.0 updates the graphics of GTA IV so that it looks like it was programmed in 2012. Beautiful!
Universe Sandbox is an interactive space simulator for Windows based PCs.
Unlike most astronomy software that just shows you what the sky looks like or where the planets are, Universe Sandbox is a powerful gravity simulator. You can add another star to our solar system and watch it rip the planets from their orbits.
The free forever version allows you to explore and discover any simulation. Optionally you can upgrade to to the premium version for unlimited control.
Be God over the Universe!
For staters, gamers discovered that the PC version of title (avaiable on Steam and Gamersgate) actually requires players to stay connected to the internet at all times to play, despite being informed by Ubisoft in writing that From Dust’s DRM would only require players to be online at time of activation. That didn’t prove to be case at all, because players on Steam found that as soon as they took their clients into “Offline” mode, From Dust cannot be launched. Ubisoft originally amended its original statement with word that an official update regarding From Dust’s online DRM would be forthcoming.
And that’s before players even started playing the game. Once players got over the hurdle of being mislead over the DRM scheme, they found a game that was not optimized in any way for PCs. From Dust on PC currently suffers from choppy framerates, glitches, and no way for players to improve the graphical quality either in-game or through their preferred graphics driver control panels. There isn’t even any anti-aliasing, and that’s just one of the more glaring examples. Players were also disappointed that the system requirements listed on Steam were inaccurate compared to the official ones provided by Ubisoft.
Players were stung so bad by their From Dust experiences on PC that many have taken to requesting refunds on Steam and from Ubisoft. The publisher is even suggests players to get in contact with its customer support in case they do decide to pursue refunds.
From Dust PC erupts with disastrous port – Neoseeker News Article.
This is a real dissappointment, as I have been looking forward to a good new God game for some time now. Guess I’ll have to keep waiting.
Ultimate Stunts: Not just another racing gameUltimate Stunts is a remake of the famous DOS-game stunts. Racing in Ultimate Stunts involves some really spectacular stunts, like loopings, corkscrews, bridges to jump over, etc., but the best thing is that you can design your own tracks!
The game Ultimate Stunts is not yet finished, but it already has some important improvements compared to the original game. Stunts was an old DOS game with simple CGA/EGA/VGA graphics, but Ultimate Stunts is a modern multiplatform application it works on windows, Linux and several UNIX systems with OpenGL graphics. It also has some new features, like 3D sound and internet multiplaying. And, while Stunts can nowadays be downloaded for free as abandonware e.g. on the XTC site, Ultimate Stunts is completely free software!
via Ultimate Stunts – A free racing game.
The space sim genre is not dead! New stuff does come out, and some of it looks very good indeed.
SpaceSimCentral | Your space and scifi gaming community.
This is done with an R4 chip:
buy one: http://www.ts-shops.eu/nintendo-dsi-xl/flash-cards
There’s a difference between the r4 and r4i
You then put a kernel on the chip:
http://www.r4i-sdhc.com/downloade.asp
Instructions for formatting your r4 card
http://www.r4dscards.com/R4i-DS-Card/
Download games to put on:
http://www.dgemu.com/
In “Fable III,” you will be called upon to rally and fight alongside your people, ascend to the seat of power, and experience the true meaning of love and loss while defending your throne. In your quest to seize power and defend your kingdom, the choices you make will change the world around you, for the greater good or your own personal gain.
via Lionhead Studios – Fable III / Fable 3.
Not out yet, but this is an alternative to space based RTS Sins of a Solar Empire. Part one, is of course out for you to play.
Sword of the Stars 2 – Paradox Interactive.
This guy has taken a whole list of old games, such as GTA and added some effects, making them look a whole lot newer and more re-playable.
This guy starts at how you sit behind the PC, stretching, how you hold your mouse and position your hand over the keyboard and goes on from there.
Some Handy, If Obvious Tips On Being A Better PC Gamer.
Based on Mindflex, the original mental acuity game, Mindflex Duel lets two players engage in battles of intense “mind-eye” concentration. This amazing game comes with two lightweight headsets, which allow players to levitate the foam ball and move it across the game platform–all with their minds. Alternate between states of concentration and relaxation to control the sphere and master the five interactive challenges. Recommended for ages eight and up, the games offer solo, head-to-head, and co-op modes for hours of telekinetic fun.
via Amazon.com: Mindflex Duel Game: Toys & Games.
This is a game editor that allows you to create games for all kinds of platforms (web / mobile / PC / Mac / console).
Some games are very complex – Minecraft, Little Big Planet and Dwarf Fortress, for example. These games allow you to build a working computer inside them – if you have the time for it!
Geeky Gamers Build Working Computers out of Virtual Blocks.
Designed to help optimize your PC for smoother, more responsive game play in the latest PC games with the touch of a button, Game Booster helps achieve the performance edge previously only available to highly technical enthusiasts.
It works by updating hardware drivers, downloading essential gaming tools, tweaking system settings for gaming, defragmenting game directories, temporarily shutting down background processes, cleaning RAM, and intensifying processor performance.
via Game Booster v2 Beta Download | IObit.
Finally, the long awaited moment has arrived!
Studio MekTek, in association with Smith and Tinker, INC., Virtual World Entertainment, LLC, Catalyst Game Labs, and Microsoft Games, is happy to announce the release of Mechwarrior4 Free.
Getting started is easy. Just download and install MTX, MekTek’s free content delivery and updating system. Once installed, simply click the Games Available tab, select Mechwarrior4: Mercenaries and click install. The game will download and install, all within MTX, and as updates become available, MTX will help you keep your game up to date.
Once again, a big thanks to Microsoft Games and all of our partners for making this free release possible, and a special thanks to all of you in the community. Without our community, MekTek wouldn’t be what it is today. Your continued support and financial contributions have made all of this possible.
Download Mechwarrior4: Mercenaries Free Release 1.7 GB via MTX today!
via Mechwarrior 4 Free Release.
One of the greatest features of MekPak3.1 and of Mechwarrior 4 Mercenaries in general, is the ability to customize. Mechwarrior always has been about the Mechlab, especially multiplayer. The Mechlab truly distinguishes MW4 from a long list of shooters that have come out in the past 10 years. The ability to create literally thousands of configurations allows the game to continue in popularity over its lengthy life span. Since the Free Release not only comes with the original mechs and weapons of Mercenaries, but also with the Clan and IS Mech Packs and all the Mektek mechs and weapons here is what you are getting…for free.
This article is a general primer on how to get players to continuously play your game, which in the world of the MMPORG is a very important element, using a behavioural model.
Gamasutra – Features – Behavioral Game Design.
This article is a bit more cynical and compares the above techniques to addiction creation and illustrates the theory with specific examples from World of Warcraft.
Cracked – 5 Creepy Ways Video Games Are Trying to Get You Addicted
This is a huge Crysis mod which allows you to run vehicles, infantry and of course mechs in the war between the Inner Sphere and the Clans. It’s free and now in open beta. You can configure the mechs any way you like, upgrade them, repair them and you can shoot off parts of them. It’s hugely multiplayer and has different modes of play.
- Blizzard Online Network Services run in 10 data centers around the world, including facilities in Washington, California, Texas, Massachusetts, France, Germany, Sweden, South Korea, China, and Taiwan.
- Blizzard uses 20,000 systems and 1.3 petabytes of storage to power its gaming operations.
- WoW’s infrastructure includes 3,250 server blades, 75,000 CPU cores, and 112.5 terabytes of blade RAM.
- The Blizzard network is managed by a staff of 68 people.
- The company’s gaming infrastructure is monitored from a global network operating center (GNOC), which like many NOCs, features televisions tuned to the weather stations to track potential uptime threats across its data center footprint.
http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2009/11/25/wows-back-end-10-data-centers-75000-cores/
Epic Games has released the Unreal engine for free! You can develop your own game using the Unreal engine and do with it whatever you like. This should cut down massively on game development costs and because it’s such a huge platform, should give you loads of possibilities.
UDK – Unreal Development Kit – Epic Games.