I was looking for a particular comment and came across this one only to see that the images i'd posted on Photobucket were all blurred out with a photobucket symbol emblazoned across each image; which I think means I've exceeded my bandwidth. As yet I don't know how to get rid of the issue; probably by paying the subscription, which up to now I've always used the free version which limits bandwidth etc.

That's good to hear, wrabbit... and I'm the same about games. I can be at the point of exhaustion, and I WILL sit in here and play a game. Or two. Or three. Falling asleep between moves. Lol!

Thanks midori, yes you're right. I'm really shattered after a long afternoon, but was made to feel really comfortable at the appointment. It was at a prvate hospital, so there was no hassles getting to my appointment. When I've had to attend appointments at public hospitals it's usually a struggle to find the places you need to be at, and invarably i'm almost always late. Today I arrived 15 minutes early and was in the consultants private rooms within 5 minutesof arriving; with no waiting time from entering the hospital to talking to the receptionist. The consultant was very nice (unlike some of the pompous old school types I've met previously) and made me feel very comfortable.

All in all a reasonable day out. I should have an early night though, but am determined to play some of my games before I go to bed. (lol)

WR

Thanks, wrabbit... gee, I didn't realize your accident was such a short time ago. Four years can go by in a flash (once you're a bit older), but with intense pain, it can seem to last forever. Good luck with your appointment. And yes, they can go through great lengths to disprove the obvious, can't they. I.e., if you yourself had tried to blame your condition on an Army injury, it would be thrown out immediately! Hopefully they've run out of straws. Best to you.

I've been playing Infinity quite a lot recently since rebuying it via Steam. The deal I got on the games was worth getting a second copy. It was basically free and the deal as still good value. :)

I've actually got several repeat games thanks to Steam deals. I'll PM you with a list of those that I have'n't given away yet and you can tell me if there are any you fancy; some are digital downloads and some are hard copies that I'll have to post to you.

I'm off to a hospital a few hours drive away in less than an hour, so will do it later. (It's an appointment arranged by the insurance company working on behalf of the person who nearly killed me four years ago when smashing into the back of me - the four year anniversary of the accidident was this Saturday gone - 19th Sept).

They are trying to find anything that will attenuate the compensation that I will eventually get. I'm really getting fed up with their mindless appointments. they have even delved into my old army records from the 1970's to see if i injured my back previously. I've got copies of some of the things they've dug up on me (nothing untowards, lol)and I'm amazed at the records that are kept on individuals. A lot of what I've read about myself I'd long forgotten.

WR

Thanks for your offer, wrabbit... I already have them all, so someone better take him up on this! I just remember being mesmerized with it... the first one of that genre to really sweep me away. But I agree some mighty improvements and additions have been made to subsequent games, but that's still one of my favs. :)

Thanks for the screenshots, Whiterabbit. Sorry, I was too busy to post a proper review but I'll post one now.

Orb-7 is a minigolf puzzle game where you have to get a small blue orb to the goal. You can also control green balls that help you solve puzzles. Each level has a number of hazards such as lasers, bombs, spinners, and teleports. Switches can be activated to detonate bombs and disable lasers. Some levels have gravity to make things more difficult. There are two different modes, a Par mode and a Timed mode. In Par mode you have to beat each level in a certain number of shots. In Timed mode you have unlimited shots but your ball has an energy bar and you can't shoot without enough energy. I recommend this game to anyone who likes minigolf.

Controls:
Shoot: Left Click
Switch Ball: B, Right Click
Zoom: Mouse Wheel
Zoom + Rotate View: Z
Restart Level: R, Mid Click
Show Switch-Triggers: S
Menu: Esc
Pause Game: P, Tab

p.s.

I'll re upload the larger images later. I forgot to resize them. :)

Thanks for filling in for Wizzard rO. Orb - 7 is a great game especially for free. From the quality of the game it looks like this could have been a commercial enterprise when it was first released. By todays standards the graphics let it down; however, that said it's got the game play, which i found enjoyable and challenging. Nice one rO. :).

Hi Midori,

Rebound was the first Ricochet title. It's still a great game, though it lacks the levels editor that all the other titles have. There aren’t as many power ups and it doesn’t have the gold ring game that was added in the next release, which gave you new ways to win lives; plus, there are no expansion packs available for it.. I have all of them and am willing to give all of them away (one copy per family) It’ll be first come first served. I have five to give away:

Rebound
Ricochet Xtreme
Ricochet Lost worlds
Ricochet Lost worlds - Recharged
Infinity

Ricochet Lost worlds – Recharged was released to showcase the best of the then 60 or so thousand (yes 60 000) custom made levels that are available for free thanks to the release of the levels editor. This list continues to grow, and has been enhanced by the latest versions massive collection of brick types and power ups. The final version also as some interesting mini games and the ability to select various ships with different properties, all of which give you advantages to winning the level; (you can see the ship and ball selection screen below in one of the screen captures I’ve posted. There's more to the last version, but I’ll leave those discoveries to whoever gets it. Please PM me if you want one of them. Please bear in mind that I can only give one copy away of each game as I’m transferring ownership over to those who want them. With the latest version, you can access the levels directly from the game and download them to your computer). The reason I’m giving them away is because to be honest if you have the latest version (Ricochet Infinity), you don’t need any of the others. The good news is that I have 2 copies of the last one. I bought the original when it was first released via Reflexive arcade about 2 years ago, and got a second copy several weeks ago when I bought a pack of games via Steam (it was unavoidable as the game was part of the pack). The first to contact me will get the latest version. :)

Here’s some video’s;

Ricochet Infinity:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDrLQhV-v0U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gLMPKiouuI

Lost worlds:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGUtn_Nbt3Q&feature=related

Ricochet Extreme:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdqPBJJ3I_M&feature=related

Images

Rebound:

Ricochet Xtreme:

Ricochet Lost Worlds:

Ricochet Lost worlds - Recharged:

Ricochet Infinity:

Looks neat, rO... thanks! Funny, but some sites issued the game "Richochet" (that great block buster) under the name of Rebound, and here we have that name again! And no need to work through the review and screenshots (tho I know wrabbit loves to do it, and we love to have him do it!)... but a link is fine. :)

I decided to give wizzard a bit of a break and post a game today. Orb-7 is a puzzle game where you roll a small orb to the end of each level. I won't have time to do a full review and screenshots but you can see a screenshot and video on the webpage.

Orb-7, formerly known by its working title, “Rebound,” is a puzzle game in which the player attempts to navigate his way from the starting position to the end of the level as a small orb. Utilizing Erin Catto’s Box2D physics engine, Orb-7 presents the player with puzzles that encourage skill and ingenuity, as well as speed, as faster times give better score. Orb-7 includes 35+ levels and a map editor, so players can create their own custom levels.

Download (21.6 MB):
http://entardev.wordpress.com/games/orb-7/

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hope you don't mind me adding some screenshots for you. I've included images of the menus, mode delection, and a screen capture of the editor as well :)

Instructions:

Mode Selection {timed or untimed}:

Level 1 - Par game:

Level 1 - timed game:

Level editor:

Main Menu:

Other:

Personally I've had no problems with any of the games from Merscom. Perhaps the Easter vacation may have been one of the reasons for a delay in replying, though I see Copmom has pointed out the no support clause for anything from the giveaway site. It could also be that the Email you used was one of those not served by a human (lol). You know what I mean.

I'm sorry you've had the problems your having. It's sad that there are a breed of people out there that think it funny hacking sites such as Merscom. We just have to live with it.

I wont be stopping visiting Merscom though as I do have adequate security measures in place.

This following is posted on Mercom's site:

"We are committed to providing you with technical support for your game in a timely manner. Here you will find a Troubleshooting Guide for common technical issues as well as the Merscom Forums, which allow you to communicate with our staff and other players.

PLEASE NOTE: Due to our agreement with Game Giveaway of the Day, we regret that we are unable to provide tech support for Merscom games downloaded from their Web site.

Merscom Support FAQ Thread

Windows Vista Information: Currently only a few of our games are officially Vista compatible. Please check the system requirements on your game box or at our store to confirm. We unfortunately cannot provide answers to support questions regarding Vista compatibility for games that do not include Vista on their system requirements."

And when I said, "don't judge in haste", I had contacted them because my grandson liked one of their games so well on my machine, I wanted to buy it for his machine. They got back to me within the hour.

And.. if needed, here's their information:
Merscom LLC
Boyd Hall, Suite 330 55 VilCom Circle
Chapel Hill, NC 27514, United States
Phone number: 919-869-8737 Fax: 919-918-7834

Lee,
aRenegade

And it is a nice one.Wish I could read it though.
My Japanese isn't what it used to be.
:)

If you click the link posted in the first post of this thread you get a powerpoint file.

Judge in haste??? Could you be a little more specific as to how long it took (in terms of days, weeks, hours, minutes, etc) to resolve those issues that put you in the position of contacting them? "VERY quick" doesn't tell me much.

Its been a week already and I haven't heard squat! I am of the opinion that it would be in Merscoms (or any company’s), best interest to acknowledge this incident and alleviate any concerns customers may have regarding security issues. How long would it take to email a note saying, "We are aware of the situation and are taking appropriate steps.” A little bit of “sugar” can go a long way. Playing deaf, dumb, and blind sends me the message that they just don't give an excrement, and customer satisfaction is a secondary priority to them. Should they initiate damage control with me I’ll post their reply, but until then, as far as I’m concerned the matter is closed. As they say, “We all got to do, what we all got to do”. Good luck ;)

I've found the merscom products to be very reliable, I've sure downloaded pulenty of them, and they have been VERY quick in replying to me when I've emailed them.. so don't judge in haste!

Thank you for your efforts aRenegade.

It's a good thing I wasn't holding my breath waiting for ANY feedback from Merscom regarding their forum site being defaced. If anyone does know someone holding their breath in anticipation of some response, they're probably getting a bit "ripe" by now.

Hey, if the Merscom people don't think this incident isn't worthy enough to allocate a couple of minutes to send out an email response, that's ok. Because at this point I don't think using ANY of their products are worthy enough for me to use. If there is anyone who needs or knows someone needing technical support, tell them not to hold their breath!

As an FYI - I have yet to hear anything from Merscom regarding this incident, and frankly that surprises me. So much for "customer satisfaction" eh? Now that's what I call building trust in a customer base. I guess the people at Merscom have made the decision that it's best to do nothing and let "time heal any wounds, just kick back and the whole thing will soon be forgotten".

How does everyone else feel about this silence from Merscom? Speaking for myself, when it comes to "stuff" like this my wounds heal very slowly! It doesn't exactly rid any guilty feelings I had about uninstalling everything on my PC that was associated with them. I'll keep the forum up to date.

aRenegade: I am looking forward to reading what Merscom replies to your email. I hope they do. They should know about the forum problem if they offer support there, right?

Buckleysmom & others in fear: I have a lot of games from the Game GAOTD site that were from Merscom, but I highly doubt the hacker/defacer could get to games that are downloaded to our systems. Just to have a feeling of security, don't allow Internet access from the Merscom game if/when your firewall asks for your permission.

Many thanks to everyone for commenting on my post. Nothing showed up in any of the security scans I ran i.e., OneCare, Avast, AVG, Ad-Aware, & Defender (hey, so call me paranoid). Based on those results, and the comments made here, I'm somewhat more at ease with labeling this incident as a case of a site being defaced opposed to a hack (in the purest sense). But honestly, I'm still not very comfortable with reinstalling Merscoms products or even visiting their site because of this incident. If this was a planned hack by some disgruntled individual, then from that extent they were successful. Which makes it very important not to let those feelings get in way of doing business with that company, including visiting their web site. If this was done by “newbie’s” just out to test their smarts by getting their jollies at other peoples expense. Then in my opinion that company needs to do whatever, and show their customers that it’s safe to do business with them without security issues getting in the way. I sent them an email so it will be interesting to see how they are going to respond. I’ll post that information. Thanks Again

So does this mean I shouldn't try to play any of my Merscom games?

script-kiddies, sure- but bot-herders?

goodgotd .. hackers like to brag that they've done something, so it very well could have been a warning.

sad, but if it had been an actual attack there probably wouldn't have been a 'warning'.

Defaced not hacked, though it was not hacked either, more cracked.

The other day I tried to access the Merscom forums to see if I could get any information about a problem I was having with one of their games, "MiniGolf Championship". A few days ago I started having problems with the game crashing right after the "welcome" screen - Discus (which I thought that was the name of the company). I was getting "encountered a problem and have to close" messages. After a couple of system restores that problem went away, only now when loading a saved game it puts me in the creek right next to the water wheel. Very strange to say the least! I figured there had to be a corrupt dll file (I'm still on the hunt). I never had problems like this before. As it turned out it was a Merscom game. GAOTD put that game up a couple of months ago and it was also offered last year.

When I clicked the link to get to the forum from Merscoms support page (merscomsupport.com) the forum page would appear just long enough to see that it was the forum page. Afterward, a you have been hacked web page opens and denies access to the forum. It even shows up in the IE7 history of sites visited list. I spent the better part of the day running security scans on my pc, uninstalling and deleting anything associated with Merscom as a precaution. Here's the link to Wikisend for a copy of my print screens (100% certified safe)(Wiki file #948534). Has anyone else seen this before or know anything about what's going on?

http://wikisend.com/download/948534/Game