Tips on how to not look like a n00b

1. Know your "D"s and "M"s...and especially the "K"s.
2. Spam = bad
3. Troll = Just as bad
4. Hax = bans
5. Get some uber high scores...and points...and badges...
6. Chat. Often.
7. Don't ask obvious questions like "Who's Greg?"
8. Make a game
9. Same as 8, but make a GOOD game
10. Make some Kongfriends™

Click Here to Read More..

"Filler post"

I've been really busy/not bothered to update the blog. Seriously, blogs get tedious after a while.

Oh, and play Stabland. It's an awesome game.

Click Here to Read More..

Random quote of the...er...month?

"You can also slash but stabbing is cooler"

-Nabb, 20/08/08

Click Here to Read More..

Shoot the mod!

In celebration of this level from Tactical Assassins 2, I made this. Yay.

Click Here to Read More..

"If the world gets infected I'm going to Madagascar."

Okay. So Pandemic 2 came out. Now what? I review, of course!

Concept

The idea of killing the whole world in a doomsday-type way with a virus is a little evil, but actually fun. Who ever knew infecting Greenland could feel so good...

Graphics

Let's start with the little pictures this guy drew! The logo? It suits the game alright, but I think it's a little too much like some other games...I think. Looks familiar anyway. (No, I don't mean Pandemic 1) The title screen is a little too red for my liking - guess this game reaaaally likes anything blood related. Splotchy pattern's kinda cool, though.

Now the actual game part of it. I have to complain a little, I've never known Tasmania to be so squished up in Australia, and I swear USA looks less wonkatated than that. Oh well, guess it's hard to put a round world on a flat map. (No, the world is not flat. Deal with it :P)

Music

I've got to say, the music actually fits. The main game music is very, er, "beat-y" and a jungly "you could die any minute now" type of feelings. Well, to me anyway.

Interface

Now for the interface! Okay, for a "I don't like reading instructions" guy like me, it may be hard to tell how to move the map. No, it's not Arrow keys or WASD and you don't slide your mouse either. The dragging of that little box in the mini map is pretty easy to use.

You can adjust the speed of the game :o. It's easy to use, and stops you getting bored looking at an aeroplan trying to go from USA to New Zealand. Pause buttons earn a plus any day - you'll never know when you need to go to take a break and you don't want everything lost. Oh, and the new breaking news thing is neat. Seriously.

Menu, world and disease. These buttons are easy to use (Just click!) and lead to other really-easy-to-use things as well. The "World" page gives you easy to learn information, especially the bottom bit. I only really care about one thing on the page really, that Madagascar's somewhere in the far right two columns.

Disease? I've got to love the "Let's spend points and upgrade stuffs" part of it - you choose what to get and unlock more. I have to say some things take ages to get the points for though.

Difficulty

Okay, what's with this whole "Madagascar" thing? Well, guess what? All our little friend (*cough*, no offense to people from Madagascar, I'm talking about in the game) Madagascar has is a single shipyard. Nope. No airports. Plus it's on an island, makes it harder to reach. So, in short, unless you start in Madagascar, it's gonna take you a while or never to get Madagascar infected...unless you're pro at this game.

You start in Madagascar. You got the oh-so-hard-to-infect Madagascar infected. Now what's the problem? Guess what? You've got a wide selection to choose from: Japan, Cuba, Greenland and Argentina. All thess are on islands and have at most an airport and shipyard which close quickly. Yay. I guess if Madagascar had an extra airport this game might be easier, but I guess it's not my choice.

Oh, and I've got something else to mention. You know how regions close down? Well, you have no symptoms. Only resistances and Transmission. Guess what? Half the word closes down -_-

*Dialogue taken from Doctor A and Doctor B, USA Medical Headquarters*

Doctor A: Yes I discovered a new virus! It's called Specktozemia IV!
Doctor B: Is this the disease which infected everyone?
Doctor A: Yes! And I found it!
Doctor B: Okay. What does it do?
Doctor A: Erm...nothing.
Doctor B: Nothing?
Doctor A: Nothing. So let's contact the US government and get them to make curfews and close transits, now!

*End dialogue*

...As if that'd ever happen. :(

Innovation

(Innovation means something that's new that other games don't have, or maybe something which is in a lot of games but used better in this one)

Let's start with disease name. Yes, it's just a single screen with an input text box. But I have to say, naming a disease if fun! I call most of mine Speckotazemia followed by a Roman numeral for whatever I'm up to (I'm up to XI as of now), but I've also called some "Killnabberzemia" or "Influenza Madagasium". Creativity rules.

Virus customization. Yes, I've said this one before, but it's also nice to have a few medical terms.

1337-gamer: YES! TAKE THIS, WORLD! I've got ataxia!! WAHAHA >:D

...Yeah, something like that.

I have to say, the little plane and boat icons are pretty nifty. It's nice to be able to see a plane going out of Brazil and be happy to see it land way over in Australia and infect everyone. Honestly.

Problems

Okay, this is my ranting space. I've got a fair few problems for this spot.

I've already said a few of them - Madagascar and the fact that everyone just shuts down from a virus that does nothing. Great, eh?

Well, here's another one to add on the pile: some parts of the game aren't very realistic, even though it's a game. Australia doesn't exactly get major earthquakes. Don't think Russia gets hurricanes either. I might be wrong, but Russian hurricanes just don't sound right...

Oh, and boats are really weird. Especially ones which go all around the one and can't get anywhere because all shipyards are closed. And also the planes which go from Indonesia to Indonesia as well - I find these really odd.

If you guys are real nitpickers, I guess I can even say the time/date section of the game is strange. But that's enough ranting for now :D

Replayability

I'll make this one short - it's got heaps of it. Why? Because I still can't get Madagascar to be infected without starting on it. Even if you get the whole world, there's still the points. So, there.

Click Here to Read More..

Random Tidbit.

Some Vannites now prefer Feed The Ducks than The Van. So if you can't find them in The Van, you'll know where to look...

(Note to those-people-who-always-find-loopholes: Yeah, I'm not 100% guaranteeing that they are in FTD. Just guessing. Uh huh.)

Click Here to Read More..

Random Hedgehog Launch Tip

Speck's number one way of getting a high score on a single day of Hedgehog - Parachutes. Not telling you any more :P

Click Here to Read More..