PlanetHowa

ArduiNIX

After what looks to be a life time of no updates I’m happy to report that the double top secret project that me and a friend have been working on has made an important step to becoming reality.. yes.. the web site. Altho I am not ready to give it out yet.. I bet you can figure it out. More on the ArduiNIX and what it is and how it will change the world later.

Drop.io !

Had a friend at work show me a cool place on the net that I had to share. drop.io lets you upload data with no registration or email address for temporary storage, great for moving stuff around on the net when you don’t have any other storage means. Pop on over and have a look its light weight and quick.

Emblazed API Source Posted

I have posted the source for Emblazed “engine”, you can find it here. Any questions you have about the system can be asked via posting on the forums.

Emblazed API to be updated soon.

I will be posting an update to the Emblazed API in the forums very soon. I have been cleaning up the API with hopes of posting the source. Not sure if this latest update will include the source or not but will have a new update up soon.

Tokamak : Physics Engine now OPEN SOURCE!

This is great news, if ever you needed a clean and powerful physics solution the wait is over, and now with source.

http://www.tokamakphysics.com/

Etrian Odyssey : HEAT IT!

Last week I had GameFly send me the next game in my Q, “Etrian Odyssey” I had read many reviews/previews on this game and felt drawn to its niche feel. Now after a week or so of playing it I can honestly post here that if you are a fan of old school RPG in the old Wizardy style then this game is a must, and having it on the DS just sweetens the deal even more. This game on any other platform would off the hip seem to light weight or just to out of date, but on the DS it does just what I want it to do, “Give me a game that I can play at any time that is fun and compelling enough to make we want to keep my DS in my back pocket so that at any time I can delve a little deeper in this crazy dungeon called Etrian.” I have logged many hours on it and although my starting adventures into the dungeon left a few dead and me hobbling back to the entrance I now can tell my friends around me that I have reached dungeon level 5 and are starting to unearth some of the great elements of the game. Elements that are for sure keeping me wanting to see what is next. One of the cool things about Etrian Odyssey is the mapping system, yes as the player the game has you use the touch screen to map out where you have been and also give you the ability to make notes, mark doors, treasure, events, and even warp areas. At first this just seemed like a quick work in feature to just use the touch screen for something but even tho the game does not revolve around this mechanic it is very fun and is a very nice way to keep track of where you are on a dungeon at any time. With the given complexity the dungeon levels have been getting with each level I go down it is a great tool, and is a great addition to the game.

Given that I have not finished this game it is easy to see that it will not disappoint and although its a bit niche and hardcore and may only truly appeal to the old school gamers, I feel that given the chance most everyone that likes A good adventure/RPG will grow to enjoy this title if not like it right out of the box. Keep in mind that given that this title is published by Atlus you should go out and pick it up while you can as this title will be shipped in small numbers and may be very hard to find as the coming weeks pass.

Area51: BlackSite - XBL Download.

We have finished the Blacksite demo for XBox360.. Log on and download it.. Let me know what you think.

Bump Top UI System

Good? Bad? You tell me. www.bumptop.com

Area51: BlackSite - Web Site.

Click here to check out the official web site for BlackSite that we are working on here at Midway Games Austin.

LoTRO: So far so good.

Me and a buddy checked out the Lord of the Ring Online beta last night and everything looks to be ready for release April 25th. I had played the game three plus months ago I was a little concerned about UI, graphics and world build out. But after last night most of my concerns have been resolved. I was happy with the huge amount of changes they have done to UI, and was equally happy with the upgrades to the graphics engine. We spent about two outs last night and logged off with both of us at level six. The game quickly moves you thru the lower levels teaching you the game and most of its components. This felt much like World of Warcraft and I was happy with that. LoTRO seems to have some cool under lying systems that I have yet to fully get into so I will have to post later on that, but for the time being I think LoTRO may be a great change from the standby WoW and EQ2 online games that I have already spent way to much time playing.