Defuse 0.1 Release (Nintendo DS)

The long awaited homebrew for the DS now has a fully working version for your viewing pleasure.
A crazy man has left you this bomb to defuse. You only have a limited amount of time and guesses to Defuse it. Do it or R.I.P

Still to do:
Heaps.
Title screen. (currently goes direct to difficulty select from splash screen)
Sound (music and effects)
Screen transitions.
Load,Save,Display High scores.
More development of background story.

Defuse 0.1 download here.

Magic Eight Ball 0.3

I have learnt a few tips and tricks while making Defuse and I have used some of those to update Magic Eight Ball which is now at version 0.3

Change log:
- Screen transitions now look more professional.
- Sound effect when asking your question changed.
- Screen transition when asking your question added.

Download version 0.3

Annoucing Defuse, my new homebrew game.

I was not sure what else I could do with Magic Eight ball so I was on the hunt to make another game/app for the DS. For those that have not read my previous posts, I am using DSGameMaker to make my games.

Some will argue that using this app is not programming but after playing with variables and loops in my latest creation I beg to differ. The forums are not overly active on the DSGM web site but what content and users are there is enough to answer even your most stupid question. The community is growing by the day.

Anyway I was penciling out a story which I was going to use in my next adventure game. It was going to be one of those adventures where you have to solve puzzles to progress through the game. You know, flick a lever arrange boxes and so on. Well Part of the game was that you would find a door/gate with a code panel on it and you have to put in the correct number which you would find somewhere in the game.

I started making the panel and learning variables to see if I was capable of making this element of the game. To test my knowledge I started making random numbers for the dials and before I knew it I had made myself a game. Understanding variables has opened up the possibilities of my game making 10 fold.

Enough of my boring chitter chatter, here is a bit about the game.
The object of the game will be to guess the code.
There will be 3 difficulty levels with less amount of guesses for each level.
The story will be that you are defusing a bomb.
I am looking at adding a timer for an extra challenge. It will either be that you have limited time to crack the code or the timer will advise how long it took you and you have to try beat your time. I have not decided which way I will go as yet.

I will make 3 high score pages, one for each level showing name, guesses and time.
This will be the first time I make a game save so it should be interesting for me.

Magic Eight Ball 0.2 Release

Change Log:

Added:
Sound on title screen.
Sound effects.
Instructions screen.
Navigation sprites.
Navigation functionality, ie to start game you can either press start, tap start on touch screen or press A.
New backgrounds.
Screen transitions.

Download Here.

Not much more to add so looks like the final release.

Magic Eight Ball 0.1 (My own DS Homebrew)

I have always been interested in making games. I made my own levels for such games as Doom, Duke Nukem and Quake. I have a slight interest in programming but I would rather use a tool to assist in the process. I found DSGamemaker which speeds the development process 10 fold.

Whith a little care and creativity you cannot tell the difference between a game developed with DSGamemaker or hand coded.

My first game is Magic Eight Ball 0.1. It is simulation of the toy manufactured by Mattel which will give you answers to "Yes or NO" questions.


Download HERE

Still to do:

• I want to include some screen transitions to make it look better.
• An instruction/history of the game screen.
• Sound
• And just make things look generally better.

Addictive - Boom Blox Wii

Just woke up from a five hour session of multiplayer Boom Blox, the Speilberg creation published by EA games for the Wii. This is one awesome addictive game for the whole family. When I first saw the preview I thought it looked real boring. It showed someone makng a structure and then knocking it down. Little did I know that this was a demo of the create your own puzzle section of the game which is only a small portion of the game play.

Boom Blox has a multitude of ways to play which gives the game longevity. The initial single player game is a tutorial which is still a challenge in itself. In this level you have to knock Gems to the floor in the least amount of throws. Talking of throws... the Wii controls for this game are used to their full potential. The strength of your throw is determined by the speed of the Wii remote movement just like Wii Sports. In some levels you grab blocks to pull them out and your objectives are either to make the structure fall or not make the structure fall depending on the rules of that level. The pull out tool is very sensitive and accurate.

Other objectives are point based like knocking blocks with points on them to the ground and scoring that amount of points. You try to get the highest amount of points with limited attacks. Once again the plethora of combinations of game play to gain points is huge.
To do a full review of this game I would have trouble keeping it under 2000 words, there is just so much too it. Go out and get it, you won't be sorry.

Deceptive Game Trailers.

I came across the below game trailer for Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games which mainly showed the 100 meter dash with all the Nintendo characters. I have played the game on the Wii and the the trailer did not show one bit of the the actual game play. I feel that this sort of advertising is extremely deceptive. Imagine buying a game based on a trailer like this and then when you get the game it is nothing like the trailer. I am sure the cut scenes may be similar but actual game play is no where near what is shown.

If this trailer was for a Nintendo movie about the Olympics and the movie was done with people in character suits instead of a CGI movie, there would be an uproar at the box office as the movie was advertised as a cartoon and was not. Some game makers put actual gameplay in between the cut scenes in their trailers but they were non-existent in this one. Buyer beware.

Speed Racer - DS

Imagine playing Mario Kart 5 times faster and have no risk of falling off the edge.

3, 2, 1, Is the normal start to most racing games and Speed Racer is no different. What makes this game different is the high speed twist, turns and upside down driving action. Car battles are a lot more interesting than dropping banana skins out the back of your car.

Gameplay - 9/10
The object is obvious which is to come first but there is a side challenge of obtaining fans of your driving skills. Unlike most racing games which unlock cars and tracks based on your outcome position in a race, some of these things can be unlocked by doing stunts during jumps and big drifts thrilling the crowd into becoming one of your fans.

I found that the controls take a little getting used to as every button on the DS is used. With a bit of practice this is not an issue. Opponents are taken out in many ways. You can simply spin when they come up beside you, use a super turbo and slam them right off the track or play the car fu mini game which gives you a chance of performing a death from above maneuver.

The cars handled very different depending on which character you play. You have a choice of being fast, have good control or being an all rounder. Drifting was made harder by using a car that was rated as fast therefore having less control.

Graphics - 7/10
The DS is capable of displaying 260,000 colours and I think they have used them all in this game and sometimes on the same screen. Tracks a very detailed and the driving line is often marked in a brighter contrasting colour. Each vehicle is very different from the next in shape, colour and texture. There are no fog or weather effects but other cars can be seen in detail in the distance. The tracks surroundings are very busy with buildings lights and signs. Other details I liked were the car headlights which could be seen on the darker tracks or going through tunnels and spark effects when hitting objects.

Sound - 8/10
Music during the menu's is very inspiring super hero type music. Music during racing cannot really be heard over the revving of the engines, roar of the turbo and banging of the cars against each other and track objects.

Conclusion - 9/10
I really think that this game will be as big as Mario Kart. I was unable to try the Nintendo wireless as this had not been switched on as yet. The fast play action is addictive and the desire to earn fans to get unlockables gives this game real replay value.

Call of Duty 4 DS - 8/10

"Action packed handheld version of a popular series of game"

Story - 8/10
You play a character named Parker (no rank given) who is flung into a search and disarm mission of nuclear warheads held by terrorists in the Persian gulf. Its a basic story with a couple of turns but no big twist. The story line is linear with no side missions at all.

Gameplay - 9/10
The maps are absolutely huge and loaded with baddies who are brandishing an array of weapons. Once an opponent is killed they drop their weapon allowing you to exchange it for one of yours. I normally got rid of my pistol. Weapons varied in accuracy depending if you had an uzi or a rifle and also distance and your stance varied things. Looking down the rifle greatly improved your hit rate. I liked playing with the shotgun as it was great for indoor area's at close range. Instead of firing 15 bullets with an automatic rifle, one bang with the shotty and it was game over for the enemy.

The maps have the usual crates to hide behind and way to many barrels of petrol which does make the game slightly easier. Some missions you do alone and others with a squad who happen to be very good shots for AI players. The enemy AI are very predictable but do duck down behind things instead of just sticking out to be fodder for you. Once an enemy runs out and hides they stay where they hide and do not run again which was a little disappointing.

Apart from running around and shooting you also get to ride on jeeps and helicopters usually manning a big gun. There are also other big guns scattered around the field that you can take over and control. Some of the maps are challenging and will take a little thinking to get through them.

*Controls*
The main criticism I heard about this game was the control system. Firing with the left shoulder button and moving around with the D-pad in one hand and looking around selecting weapons with the stylus in the other gave people cramps. I use a gripper and a thicker stylus so I did not have any problems playing this for hours.


Graphics - 7/10
Most of the outside maps look the same. Desert and dirty buildings. Some buildings are very detailed but others are just plain. Some of the textures have been very well done for the DS. The metal looks good on the ship and most interiors look believable. I did find that most of the rubble was repetitive. The bullets hitting the dirt from the chopper look good and sparks when hitting metal were a good effect. The underpowered DS did not have any weather effects, no fog and very little smoke. Occasionally when there was extreme action the screen would freeze for a second.

It was all good but the only thing I would have liked to see would be more shootables... You know windows, bottles, bushes etc.

Sound - 8/10
The sound track was varied and changed regularly with the mood of the game. Surfaces that were walked on sounded different depending on whether they were dirt, metal, or wood. Most of the automatic weapons sounded the same but the shotgun and a couple of other weapons have their unique sound. Instructions from commanding officers were spoken instead of typed on the screen which kept the flow of the game going. You could still stop and review the objectives if you wished.

Conclusion
I enjoyed the game immensely. You can get through this game in about 6 hours on easy. The harder levels were not that much harder they just had more men to shoot so you had to conserve ammo more. The game has some replay value by playing the harder levels. Local multiplay is available with multicard and single card download play but I did not give this a go. Multiplay features different game modes apart from deathmatch, it has capture the flag and holding points on the map etc.
Nice portable version of the game.

Gottlieb Pinball Classics is up my alley

Most people that know me know that I love retro gaming. See I grew up playing Space Invaders while waiting for my fish and chips to be cooked. Before video games there was pinball. Metroid pinball for DS that I reviewed last month, is a good pinball game on a handheld that is perfect for pinball.

I have since obtained Gottlieb Pinball Classics for Nintendo Wii. Talk about retro gaming. The tables on this game are true to the original down to a tee. One machine called Black Hole is one that I remember very well. It features a playing area below the playing deck with its own set of flippers. Each table has a full set of instructions which tell you what to hit and when to hit it to maximize your score.

One of the best things about the game on Wii is the control system. The wiimote is your right flipper and the nunchuck is the left. Then the control system touches virtual reality. Waving the Wiimote nudges the ball to the right and waving the nunchuck moves the ball to the left. Move em too much and "TILT" the machine goes dead until your next ball just like the real thing. My favorite table is an old one, Big Shot (1974). It is a billiards themed table that has challenging targets to hit even thou it is a simple layout. I may do a full review down the track but I just wanted to blog my initial thoughts.

Wii Pole Dancing Game.

One of the current affair shows recently went over the top (like usual) regarding young people doing pole dancing. It was recently announced that the portable pole dancing company PeekAboo is trying to find a partner to license a game for the Wii. I personally can't see a problem in this. The DS is flooded with brain training games and the Wii will be about helping with fitness. The Wii gets you up and moving so games may as well be developed to help you move the correct way to tone the targeted places.

I am really curious as to how they will integrate controls for this game?? Will the balance board be used in some manner or will it just be like an instructional DVD.

The Moon Books Project

Those of you that have unleashed the full potential of their DS by adding a flash cartridge, may have discovered an application called Moonshell. Moonshell allows you to play music, movies read electronic books, look at pictures and run DS ROMS straight from a neat skinnable menu.

The Moon Books Project (http://moonbooks.net) is a site that gives DS users classic content to use with the Moonshell application. They have classic Moonshell ready books from authors such as Charles Dickens, Brothers Grimm and one of my favorites H.G Wells. The movie section is extensive. The comedy section has some classic Three Stooges flicks and the Horror section has everything from 1910 Frankenstein to The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The cartoon section is a little light on but there is some classic Merry Melodies.

The Moon Books Project also has some news, tutorials and forums but their forte is classic content.

New game coming soon - Its Bad.

Don't know how many times I have read an assessment of an up and coming game and the author has thrown the game to the wolves and said it is rubbish. I am not sure how anyone can judge a game firstly that they have not played and secondly that hasn't even been finished yet. A lot of the time they have not even seen screen shots and are just commenting off of a press release. Who cares if it is a sequel and the first one was no good. Maybe the development company has learnt from their mistakes or it was the first time on that platform and they have ironed out some flaws. It just bugs me that people can recommend or not a game that is still in development and sight unseen. The only thing I find worse than this is a released game that has been reviewed by someone who obviously has not played it. They pick up on the vibe from the big sites and run with that. I will not review a game until I have played it to death or go as far as I can until bored and in that case I would review it as boring.

Jam Sessions - what is its purpose.

I wrote a review for Jam Sessions early this year and raved at how much fun it was and so on. I gave it an 8/10 as I was that impressed with it. Since writing this review I think I have only played with it for a couple of minutes here and there.

I have now decided that there is really no point to this game. There is no scoring or challenge which means there is no incentive to keep playing it. All the TV and internet advertising show young kids playing this game. My seven year old took one look at it and changed to Pokemon or something else and has never touched it again. The only good thing to come out of this game was the sponge cake kid add. Check Youtube to see this.

I have seen this game used on stage in a real concert but that would only be a 1 in a million. You can't actually learn how to play guitar with this so what is the point? Don't bother buying this game, use your money for something that will keep you entertained for hours instead of minutes.

Wii DVD Reader hates some shiny discs. - RANT

I got myself Guitar Hero 3 for the Wii. It came with 2 guitars and the game with instructions etc. The game is great but my problem was that the game would freeze very regularly, mostly at the end of songs but sometimes other places. I checked the disc and it had no scratches or manufacturing imperfections so that was not the problem.

My Wii has a Wii-key mod chip installed to allow me to use homebrew software to make it into a media center. I decided to backup my GH3 DVD disc onto a Ridata dvd-r and see how that went. In some country's this is illegal but the laws are sketchy in Australia. Some say you can copy the disc if you have the original for back-up purposes as was the case regarding the PS1 many years ago.

Anyway I have gone from a bright shiny silver disc to a nice purple disc. I have been playing the game for over a week now without one hiccup. It appears that the Wii DVD reader does not like some new shiny silver discs. Why do I have to go to the trouble of backing up my Wii games to make them play well. Can't the disc manufacture and Nintendo get together to make sure that either the discs are manufactured correctly or the Wii drive is not so picky and choosy as to what it will and will not play.

I feel better now.. it helps to get it out instead of keeping it bottled up inside.

My day out. Game On

I won a pass on MyDS.com.au to go to Game On at the Australian Centre for Moving Image (ACMI). The pass arrived in the mail the week before and I decided to go today 26/03/08 as it was my week off work and also school holidays, the whole family could go with me.



As I started walking down the stairs toward the exhibition I could hear the sounds of original Space Invaders and could see a giant projection of it on the wall. Hair was raising and heart racing.

The retro gamer in me went straight to the upright arcade machines. First up was the original Donkey Kong. I sucked big time at this game and still do. Next was 1942. The high score for the day was under 50,000, I made around 120,000 with my first plane and ended up with about 166,000. I actually did better than I ever did, must have been all that practice playing on MAME.

Talking of MAME, they had a MAME machine projected up on the wall with arcade controls attached to it. It had a selection of about 10 retro games including Space Invaders, Frogger, Dig Dug and heaps more.

The multiplayer section was where all the action was. Four player Super Smash Bros Brawl was being played on Game Cube with a big audience. The other game was Halo 2 on what appeared to be Xbox 360.

The range of old gaming machines was unbelievable, they even had International Karate on the Commodore 64 which happens to be one of my favorites.
Also on show were modern machines like the Wii, 360 and PS3. I have a Wii but not the other two so it gave me a chance to try them out. The graphics were absolutely astounding on the PS3 and 360.

There is a good range of PS1, PS2 and Xbox games to play. The range of handhelds seemed complete as did the range of Pokemon games on display.
A display from Rockstar went through how a game is made and characters defined not only in appearance but in personality and speech.

I could go on forever but I think you should just go see for yourself.
A great time had by all the family.

PS: My high score on 1942 was still there when I left.

Picture - Mario as you have never seen him before.

This picture is a little naughty so I could not post it at my usual hang out.
Original posted here.

AMAP4DS Mapping Software 9/10

AMAP4DS is a homebrew application made by Christophe Andreani which will allow you to put your own mapping system on to your DS. This application is not just limited to road maps as you will see in my examples. I have mapped the Melbourne metro train system and also entertainment venues like the Melbourne F1 Grand Prix and the Melbourne show grounds. The application is totally stylus driven and the 5 stage zoom controls are down both sides of the touchscreen so this is great for both left and right handers.

*Melbourne CBD DEMO*



Pre-made maps are downloadable from the authors website http://www.andreani.net/ds/ for a range of different things like Road and Train routes from all over the world. There are none of venues like I have made but sometimes you have to think outside the square. Putting your university campus on here would be great until you learn your way around. You could easily create a stadium seating map or similar to help find your seat.

*Melbourne Metro Rail System DEMO*



The source code can be downloaded from the website to make your own maps.
It comes with detailed instructions on downloading and setting up the development tools and making your own maps. The software required is Devkitpro which has an updater to download all the latest packages required to compile Nintendo DS roms. Dot Net frame work is required to be installed for Windows machines and a package to process the images called PAlib.

Next step is to find an image of the map you want to use. I just googled around and there was no shortage of maps on the internet. Once decided you then make 5 specified image sizes of your map using your favorite image editing software and pasting it into the image templates supplied. I used Photoshop but Paint Shop Pro will do just as well. When your images are ready its just a simple matter of compiling your source code which will produce 3 files a .nds, .sc.nds and .ds.gba. Copy one of these to your flash cart and you are ready to start navigating. The software allows you to also customize the splash screens if you want to advertise your business, venue or your work.

Download My Working Examples
-Melbourne CBD. www.mediafire.com/ 4.62MB
-Melbourne Grand Pix site. www.mediafire.com/ 2.87MB
-Melbourne Rail system. www.mediafire.com/ 1.58MB
-Melbourne Show grounds. www.mediafire.com/ 3.14MB (came up really well)
-Melbourne Phillip Island. www.mediafire.com/ 1.74MB

*Screenshots of Phillip Island map and Melbourne Show Grounds.


9/10 Only knocked a point off because I thought it would be good to have automatic image processing instead of having to resize your image 5 times. I guess this is the tail end of software development just before compiling so I may be asking too much. Overall this is fantastic and very handy. I am hopeless in the CBD so I will be taking my map with me next time.

Metroid Prime Pinball 9/10

I have been playing pinball for 30 years and this game keeps the excitement going.

*Story - 6/10
Not too much of a story really. You play Samus in the morphed ball configuration of the suit. The idea is to collect 12 artifacts so that you can enter the Artifact temple to fight Metroid Prime.

*Gameplay - 9/10
Just like a normal pinball machine with flippers and bumpers, ramps and targets but with the added twist... this is no ordinary ball and your enemy jump up on the table and shoot missiles at you.

There are a few different game modes in this game. The main mode is single player mission mode. You start off with two tables and as you complete missions by killing enemy and collecting artifacts you open up new tables. There are six tables in all.

The missions are challenging and will take several attempts to complete. Enemies are killed by either hitting them or using the B button to drop a bomb next to them and blowing them up. You can also obtain missiles and a machine gun.

The shoulder buttons of the DS are great flipper controls, making the DS ideal to play this game.
The touch screen is used to bump the table. I found this hard to do while holding the flippers. Putting a finger stylus around your thumb would be perfect for this game.



*Graphics - 8/10
The tables are very detailed and so are the creatures that inhabit them. The tables have been designed around worlds in the Metroid games. All the surfaces look great. The metal shines and the rocks crumble. The holograms and flashing lights look very nice.

*Sound - 9/10
I could listen to this all day long. The gameplay music is very dramatic and changes with the mood of the game. The female announcer's voice is pleasant and at the correct volume compared to the music.

*Conclusion
Pinball and FPS have been merged very well in this game. I found it to be challenging and have great replay value. The game also has local wireless mode for up to 8 players to see who can get to a certain score the quickest on a 7th table not available in any other part of the game.

QuakeDS (homebrew) 9/10

I love nostalgia trips and this game is only a couple of years off being considered retro.

Overview
I played many games direct connect via modem but this was the first game I ever played online on a PC and the port to the DS is no let down.

Homebrew
It was announced late last year that an official version of Quake would come to the DS but nothing has appeared thus far.

The homebrew community at quake.drunkencoders.com/ have taken the step to port this once popular game to the DS and have included all the bells and whistles that were added to the original PC version.

The above site contains all the information you will need to get QuakeDS running. If you do not have the full version of the game in the bottom draw of your desk then just whip over to the ID Software website to download the shareware version of the game which will at least give you a taste of obtaining frags and making gibs in this classic shooter.


Story - 6/10
You play an unnamed soldier who has to clean up the governments mess after they invented teleportation technology called Slipgate which has opened a portal to an unknown dimension. This strange world is crawling with soldiers and all sorts of monsters.

Gameplay - 10/10
The controls used to play this game on the DS have been setup extremely well. The game plays just like the original. The control set for this game are like most other FPS's on DS.

You use the stylus to look around (mlook) and the D-pad to walk forward/back and strafe. Left shoulder button is used to fire and right to jump. X and Y are used to change weapons. The only enhancement I could think of would be to enable jump by tapping the touchpad. The optional cross hair has been included.

An on screen keyboard has been added so that you can play the game using a keyboard and also to enter commands into the quake console. DS-DS play is available but full WIFI has been disabled by default as it is not entirely stable.

Some mods for quake will also work on the DS but you have to remember that there is only a limited amount of RAM available. QuakeDS has a build that will take advantage of a Slot-2 RAM pack which will make running large mods more easily.

The menu system is the same as the original game which includes saving and loading your game. This was tested and works perfectly.

Graphics - 9/10
The graphics are the same as the original game. There are some add-ons for quake to make the water transparent and the lava and slime look better and these have been included. There are slight glitches at the start of each level while the scene is rendering but apart from that they are true to the original.

Sound - 8/10
All the sound effects are great but I could not seem to get any background music going. This was no let down as I used to turn it down anyway. The only difference to the original is a lack of ambient noise. The ambient noise used to be heard a long way from the source but now you have to be very close to the source to hear anything.

Conclusion
If you want to play a great FPS legally with your flash cart then have a go of this. It may be an old game but it will have good appeal to DS gamers as we are used to not being dazzled by a trillion mega pixel graphics.