http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/12/apple-patent-under-review/

Patent Office to Review Apple’s Document-Scrolling Patent

Apple’s document-scrolling patent is under fire by the USPTO. Photo: Alex Washburn/Wired
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has ruled that a patent that’s central to the epic Apple v. Samsung intellectual property lawsuit is subject to reexamination, which could lead to portions of the patent — but probably not all of it — being invalidated.

Patent No. 7,844,915, referred to as the ’915 patent, covers document scrolling. The patent office rejected all 21 claims of the patent, which means it is up for scrutiny — but it is unlikely that the patent would be invalidated in its entirety. Eighty-nine percent of patents subject to reexamination survive in some form or another, Brian Love, an assistant professor of law at Santa Clara University School of Law, has told Wired.

Just last week another Apple patent holding, a multi-touch related patent dubbed the “Steve Jobs” patent, was also tentatively invalidated. We saw the same thing in October with Apple’s so-called “rubber-banding patent.” In each case, the patent is merely being reexamined.

However, should a patent examiner determine a patent is invalid, it could have a significant effect on the damages Samsung owes Apple in the Apple v. Samsung case — a jury trial determined that 19 Samsung smartphones violated this particular patent. Judge Koh has already denied Apple a permanent injunction against infringing Samsung devices.

The first version of this game, Hacker Evolution received a positive 91% out of 545 vote and had over 200 votes some of which stretch right up to recently, even though the game was given away back in May 2007. you can read all the reviews via the following link. I suggest you check out The Belgian Dudes comments which are easy to find as they are the longest. I didn’t write up a review for it because one of my computers had dies and I was just about to go in hospital for a functional restoration program, which was a three week residential program to try and get me back on my feet – it failed miserably:

http://game.giveawayoftheday.com/hacker-evolution/#comments

The second version to be given away in September 2007 was called Hacker Evolution:Reinsertion, which got a less favourable reception with only 71% of 131 thumbs up and even less comments at 59. You can check those out via the following link:

http://game.giveawayoftheday.com/hacker-evolution-reinsertion/#comments

And now we have the third instalment in the game called Hacker Evolution: Untold

Well I’m afraid that I won’t be reviewing this game either, though I will be adding a few videos and information taken from the Hacker Evolution site. It’s rare for me not to want to review a game, but despite my previous lame excuses I’m prepared to admit that I do not find this game at all interesting, so cannot get into it just to write even a short review. I’m sure reading the previous comments that I’ve linked to above will give those that never got to download this the first time an idea as to what to expect. Overall it got quite a decent reception from the community.

Here are some videos of the series, though I couldn’t find any for the latest:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=rvePgdpFC-8&feature=related

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=0YKg5XFFBco&feature=related

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=0YKg5XFFBco&feature=related

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=p_h_EeF0ixs&feature=related

This game is based upon the first game, so the following is the story behind that game, then I’ve copied information about today’s game. The game itself looks very similar apart from improved graphics and a different story line. For those who missed the first two giveaway, and are impressed enough with today’s giveaway to consider purchasing the previous games, the expansion pack Reinsertion is now included for free in the original game.:

Hacker Evolution is a new hacking simulation game, featuring unparalleled graphics and features.
You play the role of a former intelligence agent, specializing in computer security. When a chain of events sets off worldwide, leaving critical service disabled, you assume the role a computer hacker to find out what happened and attempt to stop it.
When a stock market, a central bank, satellite uplink and transoceanic fiber optics links crash, you know this is more then a simple event. Something big is behind all this, and you have to figure out what is it.
You hack into computers, look for exploits and information, steal money to buy hardware upgrades in an attempt to put all the pieces of a big puzzle, together.

Set in a virtual operating system environment, the game is packed with all the features required to bring the hacker feeling and experience to every gamer.

The concept behind Hacker Evolution is to create a game that challenges the gamer's intelligence, attention and focus, creating a captivating mind game. Solve puzzles, examine code and bits of information, to help you achieve your objectives.

Reference: http://www.exosyphen.com/page_hacker-evolution.html Accessed 20th Dec 08

When the number of computers in existence and their processing capacity exceeds that of all mankind, a point of technological singularity is encountered.
A massive economic and systematic crisis hits the entire world. Nobody knows the exact cause, and all solutions to fix it, are failing. We are about to lose our position as a dominant specie on the planet, in favor of something we have created... computers.

You play the role of Brian Spencer, a young computer programmer working for a company he started with a couple of friends, which has developed the technology from where it all started.

When you are being framed for crime, it's up to you to prevent computers from becoming the next dominant specie, and clear your name, using your hacker skills.

The concept behind Hacker Evolution: Untold is to create a game that challenges the gamers intelligence, attention and focus, creating a captivating mind game. Solve puzzles, examine code and bits of information, to help you achieve your objectives.

Features:
• Modding capability to allow the creation of custom levels
• The included mod editor, allows you to create new game levels easily
• Complex levels and game play to guarantee the best experience
• Complex command console with over 20 commands and tools

Reference: http://www.exosyphen.com/page_hacker-evolution-untold.html Accessed 20th Dec 08

Requirements:

• Windows ME/XP/2000/2003 or Vista
• Microsoft DirectX 8.0 (http://www.microsoft.com/directx/)
• Pentium® 1 GHz processor or faster, 512Mb RAM, 200Mb free disk space
• 16Mb DirectX 8.0 compatible video card
• Microsoft compatible keyboard and mouse

Other Reviews worth reading:

http://www.eurogamer.net/forum_thread_posts.php?thread_id=132257

Conclusion

After saying that this game doesn’t interest me; I checked out some screenshots and videos and this one seems to be a big improvement on the previous versions that I’m familiar with, so I may just give this one a try out before I write the game off totally.

Cheryl - Here's my two cents worth. I use the "Free Download Manager" that W-rabbit mentioned above. It works well for me.

Stephen,
What a very generous person you are. I've PM'ed Bubby to get your email address. I will write you when he returns my PM. Thanks so much! I'm not trying to "poor-mouth" myself, but facts are facts. In today's economy we all have to count each and every cent. Times are tough for everyone, except the lucky few that are independantly wealthy. OK, time to step down from my soapbox, it's late for me, and I need some sleep. Looking forward to "talking" with you personally. Good night, kind sir.

Cheryl

Hi Cheryl,
Ask the admin’s for my Email. If you go to the top of the page and click the link to your private messages, you should be able to PM one of the Admin’s. As far as I'm concerned you are welcome to Email me.

I've got a paid for game similar to Rock Legend on a CD that I will 'give' to you. I've got too many games as it is (well over a thousand arcade games and a couple of hundred DVD and CD based games) so you're welcome to have it.

As for corruption, I've personally only had the problem a few times several years ago. The following article may shed some light on the matter, though it's pretty light on information:

http://www.fourmilab.ch/documents/corrupted_downloads/

Personally I don't use download managers so I'm not the person to ask. I'd create a new thread with the specific question. There are a lot of experienced users here in the forums, so I'm sure you'll get an adequate reply. There are free one's out there, but which one to use...?????????

http://lifehacker.com/347827/top-10-free-download-managers

http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/download.htm

http://www.speedbit.com/beta/
(http://www.speedbit.com/beta/screenshots.asp)

http://www.flashget.com/en/download.htm

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Internet/Download-Managers/Free-Download-Manager.shtml

Thanks for the nice words

Regards

Stephen

Thanks Stephen, I use the mirror link almost exclusively; but upon reflection I think I did use the first link this time for some ungodly reason...probably exhaustion. Because of the time limit, I wasn't able to try again for this one :(. What are the main causes for a download to become corrupted? Would I have a better chance for a "clean" download using a D.L. Manager? If so, which one would you recommend? Free, if possible. I'm on a fixed income. I'll look for that other game or use the Demo and think about a purchase. Thanks a bunch! You're terrific!! Cheryl.

Hi Cheryl,
The download sounds like it was corrupted while downloading. Did you try to download it again from the mirror link?

The demo is worth keeping for a while. Te developer has limited some of the functions of the game rather than limit the time; so you can get a reasonable game from the demo. Sorry to hear that you missed it this time. Thankfully the game giveaway team do repeat games occasionally, so there's a good chance you'll get it eventually.

I do think this is one of those rare games that is worth buying; though apparently there is a game similar to Rock legend that is supposed to be better, which was mentioned somewhere in the comments section on Sundays game giveaway.

Regards

Stephen

I hope someone can help...I downloaded this program...or at least that's what it said it did! I clicked on the icon to begin the activation/installation activities and got "Compressed (zipped) Folder Error...The compressed (zipped) folder is invalid or corrupted". No suggestions about how to fix the problem. This has happened a couple of times, once I reported it but can't remember what the program was. I was so impressed by Whiterabbit's review that I decided I HAD to have this. Now this 'error' message comes up and there's no time to redownload it, though, I don't think it would make a difference. Would it help to contact the manufacturer? Can anyone give me suggestions on how to avoid this problem in the future? And, what causes it to happen? Thanks for the help, if any is out there! Cheryl.

I do have a subscription with BFG so I'll bear that in mind, but I’m regretting the subscription a little because of the games manager. However someone posted a fix yesterday somewhere else in these forums that stops the games manager from opening. Apparently you get some slight stalling when the game manager tries to open.

Thanks for the info about the game robm. I just wrote the review as I played it, taking notes until I'd reached a point where I'd spent several hours reviewing and playing it and in the process nearly getting an imprint of the keyboard on my forehead because I fell asleep a couple of times around 3.30 am; then I had to write it all up lol.

That is an awesome review Stephen, thanks again. Just a thought for you when you reformat your hard drive and choose to purchase this game, it is available from Bigfish for US $7.00 from their Game Club (as opposed to US $20). You could save a lot of money this way.

Bye for now,

Rob

The download size is 27Mb (I’m reviewing the game using an un-timed demo), but once installed is over twice the size. We’ve had an excellent run of games over the past few months. I’ve noticed many commenting on the inordinate number of repeats we’ve been having of late, but in actual fact since the project went to weekends, just under 66% of the games have been first time giveaways. Out of 38 games since March, 24 have been originals, so we can hardly complain; then, even complaining is rather rude (IMO) as many are newcomers to the project, so, will not have had the opportunity to download them before. I’ll be losing some of the games given away since my last format last September as I’m in the process of re-formatting all my hard drives, so repeats of some games that I’d not bother buying are always welcome. I thought it was time to clean my computers thoroughly so that I can recapture those long gone days of a reasonably fast computer. :lol:

Some may say that we’ve had an over abundance of Space related games (assault droid,
supernova: galactic war, astro avenger 2, alien terminator, starship tycoon, planetary defense, jets and guns gold, star fighter, and star warrior) which is certainly true, but still, there have been an excellent range of games from match three games such as puzzle hero and age of Japan and bubble shooters such as aquatics of Sherwood, phantasia 2 and ozzy bubbles), arkanoids such as Egyptoid 2, troll, arcamania 2 and phantasia 2, board games such as mahjong and checkers, card games such as solitaire epic, strategy games such as kingmania, Theseus and the minotaur, Zamby and the mystic crystals and strateg, as well as a whole host of other genres including online strategy games such as SAGA, management games such as Jane’s hotel and starship tycoon, point and click games such as East Side story, and various puzzle games such as rubicon, bloom and ingenious, as well as several shooters such as humvee attack, enemy at the gates and archmage and some old favorites such as super cubes, pacshooter 3D and aqua words. Anyway, I’m drifting from the point.

Introduction:

I’ve taken the liberty of copying the information found over on the developers web site because it was scattered over several pages:

Quote

The game is part RPG, part life-sim, part tycoon game. You are a struggling rock singer who puts together their own band, and tries to achieve fame and fortune, from humble beginnings as a starving garage-band. Pick your band-members, choose the band name, and write the songs...play the gigs...

Rock Legend is a turn-based game. Each turn of the game represents a single day, and it's up to you to decide how the band spends their time. Some of the activities you will need to spend time on include songwriting, rehearsals, auditions, publicity events, practicing individual instruments, and of course, recording your latest album.

The game has sophisticated AI that controls your band members (you are the singer, they are your backing band) and decides how motivated, energetic and happy they are. If you work the band too hard, arrange poorly-attended gigs, and don't provide your band with the lifestyle they expect, you will have resignations on your hands. Running a successful band is part financial management, part people-management, and part creative struggle. Would you survive the music business?

More info…

Why a Game about the music business? - because in a previous life I was a guitar player and wannabe rock star. I did the classic 'playing gigs around the country and traveling in a cramped van full of guitar amps' thing. We even slept in the back of the van on top of our amps one night when our accommodation fell through...Somewhere in Cornwall. Ahhhhh those were the days eh?

KRL does not model the current trendy way to put bands together, which is done on reality TV shows or by marketing and PR depts. of large record companies. The game is dedicated to musicians who made it the hard way, when bands were groups of friends who rehearsed in their parent’s garage, and who made it due to gritty determination rather than by record company spin. If you have ever been a gigging musician, you should give the game a try. If you haven't gigged yet, but you play an instrument, you should definitely give it a try!

KRL was put together by people with real love of the subject matter. For a good 7 years, making it as a gigging musician was my aim in life. I never made it (although I did get offered a record deal once...nothing puts you off the music business quicker than reading the small print). Julianne Regan is someone who *did* make it, and I'm really pleased that the game features her music. Jean-marc lederman also made it, and his l33t music skills provided various music and sounds for the game. If you want to see how seriously we all used to take ourselves in the eighties, you should check out the games 'credits' page. Tragically, those pics really are us.

Above everything else, Kudos: Rock Legend is about gigging bands. Remember the good old days before commercial factory-produced identikit pop bands? When bands met in pubs rather than on TV audition shows? Some of the band names and song names in KRL are made up, but some of them are not. These are the independent bands who kindly allowed the use of their names and song names. Check em out...

http://www.positech.co.uk/rocklegend/bands.html

reference: http://www.positech.co.uk/rocklegend/ accessed Sat 13th August 2008

The game also has a forum where you can discuss the game if you wish:

Forums:

http://positech.co.uk/forums/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=8&sid=527dd953acec27466768430a6a5e5a91

The following link takes you to the support page where there is information on what to do if certain bugs appear; there’s also a link to update your drivers, which can sometimes be a reason why a game doesn’t work. There’s also a read me file in the games folder that lists the possible problems and solutions, but I doubt most will require help as the game should run on any computer that’s less than four years old.

Support:

http://www.positech.co.uk/rocklegend/support.html

The following images, excellent reviews and a couple of you tube video’s should give you a good idea as to whether or not you are going to enjoy playing this game.

Video of Gameplay:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2qdbwkmaIg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9-lIXwIiz8&feature=related

Online reviews worth reading:

http://www.gamezebo.com/games/kudos-rock-legend/review

http://www.itreviews.co.uk/games/g347.htm

http://www.gametunnel.com/gamespace.php?id=368&tab=3

http://compsimgames.about.com/od/kudosrocklegends/fr/kudosrocklegend.htm

Images:

I haven’t labeled any of the images yet. There are approximately 100 images which follow a typical progression up to the bands first gig. I’ve also created a zip file containing all of the images, which you can download from the following link found in the information section of this review.. If anything the images are useful for having the hints, which only appear in game once. They are for the most part unlabelled though. I may label the ones I’ve uploaded to my photobucket account sometime today, but no promises.

All on one page:

http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/Whiterabbit_01/Rock%20Legend/?start=all

As a slideshow:

http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/Whiterabbit_01/Rock%20Legend/?albumview=slideshow

Googled:

http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&q=Kudos+Rock+Legend&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2

The Game

The options menu is relatively simple with button toggles for enabling full screen mode, as well as enabling music and auto saves. You’ll also find the usual volume and music sliders as well as one for mouse sensitivity.

When starting a new game you can select your character from thirteen different images (follow link below to my photobucket account); each image has several variations with different hair styles and color. It’s amazing how different each character can look just by changing the hair style and color as well as adding accessories such as shades or in the case of the males a beard or moustache. You can also choose your own name or randomly generate a name. The same goes for the bands name. I eventually settled upon Zachariah Blast {Z.B.} after the name I would have named my band if Id ever finished the synthesizer I was building in the early to late 70’s. ( It was a practical electronics project that spanned 12 issues of the monthly magazine – though it actually it took me several years to build, by which time my brother, whom I’d originally intended to form a band with had gone ahead and had become reasonably successful in the UK with a band called The Notsensibles. I’m sure you can guess by the name I originally chose {Z.B.}, that the band was heavy rock orientated. I was influenced by bands such as Hawkwind, Black Sabbath, Groundhogs, Atomic Rooster as well as Velvet Underground and several other bands of that ilk from the late 60’s early 70’s; a sort of a psychedelic progressive rock band. :lol:

Once you’ve chosen your name and band name you can choose from a couple of visual styles. There’s no significance between using either of the styles available apart from the look of the background. Once you’ve selected your character and visual style you are required to hold auditions to recruit your band. Auditions cost money, and you start with a limited budget, so there’s no room for mistakes early in the game; for example choosing the wrong band member. You start with $35. You’ll need to recruit a drummer, guitarist and one other member from a choice of keyboards and saxophone. Each audition is for one type of instrument and you can choose from several musicians, all of which have their own particular musical style as well as personalities; these can be important for creating a band that will work together well and be creative. Once you’ve completed the auditions you’ll be upgraded from dreamer to amateur. You’ll be given some advice as to how to progress; for example you’ll be asked to start writing songs. The quality of these songs will depend upon your level of inspiration and influences. Band members supply some of this, but it’s suggested (via a hint) that you check out rival bands for inspiration and also buy more music to inspire you. All this is accomplished via the tool bar which is situated to the bottom middle of the playing area. Once you’ve written enough songs - 6 including the three that you get as default - you will be able to start playing gigs. (See below for more information **) You can select various tasks from the toolbar, such as writing a song, holding auditions (you can always add more band members and even sack current members if you wish), buying new equipment – lighting – instruments and inspirational music amongst other things such as merchandise that you can sell at gigs as well as special effects, managers, roadies lighting and sound engineers etc to improve the bands status. You can also practice your music skills from the tool bar as well as access the list of special events that are scheduled every day and to see if any of the band members has anything to say. The special events are important for building up the character of and inspiration for the band. At the beginning of the game there are a few tasks on the tool bar, such as selecting venues for your gigs, which are grayed out. At the bottom of the list of special activities you’ll see quotes from famous musicians, which change every time new items are posted, for example:

• “Being sober on a bus is, like, totally different than being drunk on a bus” ……… Ozzy Osbourne (Black Sabbath)

• “I exist in a state of almost perpetual hysteria”………………. Sting (Police)

• “The cool thing about being famous is traveling. I have always wanted to travel across seas, like to Canada and stuff” …………………. Britney Spears

• “My life has been like a really bad soap opera for the past 10 years” … George Michael
• “I’m sorry I can’t speak very coherently”……….Syd Barret (Pink Floyd)

I found writing songs I game was a blast. The basic song is already constructed for you on a strip of music bars, and you have a selection of stickies with different musical notations and music styles such as drum beat, guitar, vocal solo, etc. You just drag the stickies onto the strip to edit the song. Throughout the start of the game, whenever something new is introduced you will get a green pop up with appropriate hints (follow the link to my photobucket account to see lots of example from the 100+ images I’ve uploaded). For example when matching the color of notes on a bar when writing a song, with one of the stickies, apparently this adds to the quality of the song. When you make a match like this there is a stardust effect surrounding that particular part of the music score. As you mix and match there’s a quality rating which appears as a percentage. You can create up to fifteen songs for your band, though as already mentioned you only require six to get your first gig, which you have to book seven days in advance. You can also retire any song and replace it with a new one or improve on one of the songs you already have (via the tool bar). As you gain experience and inspiration through listening to other bands and music the musical stickies increase in variety. (Presumption due to lack of time in progressing with the demo*)

Once you’ve created the song you can see it’s attributes which include quality, boredom factor and inspiration as well as a short review of the song. The first two songs ‘I wrote’ received ratings of 45% and 35% respectively, and the reviews given for these songs were reflected in the percentages I received i.e.

• 45% - “The perfect use of minor keys and groovy jazz influence mark this song out as a likely B side”

• 35% - An uninspired track, notable for the perfect use of minor keys and groovy jazz influence”

Any song can also be improved upon at a later time. You can even change the name of the song.

Practicing your music (accessible from the tool bar) improves the bands musical abilities. This is accomplished by playing back the melody that you hear and see using the numeric keys. As you and your musicians get better their rate of progress will slow down and your band will need to buy better instruments to progress any further with musical improvement. You can see you and the bands progress via bar graphs to the right of the main playing screen, as well as whenever you go to music practice.

** Once the gig option has been opened (need six songs), the tool bar icon for booking gigs appears as a $ sign. You can choose to book any of the available gigs that you can afford; it’s a good idea to go for the best one you can afford because this will help reduce the stress your band members feel as well as give them more inspiration, which in turn helps to improve song writing, which has a knock on effect throughout the game. As you become more famous, you will be able to select from more venues, though to play out of town venues you are going to have to purchase a van or tour bus. Once you’ve booked a venue you will find the daily special activities list has become full of tasks as well as comments and suggestions from the band members. For example you may see comments like:

• I just worry about our popularity. I hate playing empty gigs

• Lets get some more rehearsals done

• So are we planning on doing some more publicity stuff before the next gig?

• If you ask me, the band is under rehearsed right now.

Some of the tasks you may select to carry out to improve the likelihood of more fans attending your gigs and therefore earning more money are fly posting and giving out flyers at other gigs and clubs; which are a sure fire way of promoting your band to a wider audience. When you do this you will be shown via some statistics, the likelihood of how successful the poster campaign was and how many fans as a % of you present fan base you may have increased you fans by carrying out the fly posting and flyers.

I’ve not covered the game in its entirety as I’ve got a limited amount of time, which has already been exceeded with this review, but the above together with the videos, images and online reviews should give you a very good idea as to what to expect.

The game can be closed down from the main game screen via the arrow found to the bottom right of your screen. The game will automatically save provided you have to auto save function toggled on.

Conclusion

There’s so much to this fantastic game that there’s bound to be a large learning curve for the majority of us. There’s no musical knowledge required, and you don’t need to sing, :lol: From the few hours that I’ve explored this game it’s got a rich mix of originality, several other genres rolled into one and enough interest to keep me ‘grabbed’ for quite some time to come. There are so many options that the game has a lot of replay value and makes this game (if you were paying for it) excellent value for money. I’ll certainly be buying this one when I lose it to a format (soon) unless it’s free standing. I think this game is worth 9 out of 10 (I’ve only scored 9 out of 10 two or three times previously, so am very impressed with this game. Thank you

Information:

*

The demo is not time limited. Instead, some of the characters and most of the instruments are disabled.

You can download the images, which could be used as a tutorial, or memory jogger. The download is about 15Mb in size. There are 101 images to see via my personal photobucket account, quite a few of which are images of the green hint boxes together with images of the hints in-situ:

http://files.filefront.com/Rock+Legend+imageszip/;11519550;/fileinfo.html

Today's game is a standalone package, so you can transfer the installed game to any other computer if you wish.

Introduction:

Quote:

Roses are red, violets are blue, water the plants and make everything bloom! Miraculous flowers are a real beauty but they need your care. Connect the pipes to provide water to your flowers and plants and watch them grow! There are many tools and bonus items to assist you. Earn money to buy landscape upgrades to decorate your home, lawn and surroundings! Share your love with the flowers and Bloom will definitely grow on you!

Ref: http://www.reflexive.com/Bloom.html accessed 5th June 08

You can also read some player reviews via the link above.

The Game:

There are loads of these type of games around. I’ve listed those that I have in my games library below (apart from Candy Train); all of which have the same basic game play. Though personally I like this one partly because of its colorful levels as well as the editor that comes packaged with the game. Each level comprises of a series of pipes which can be turned and connected together in different patterns. The aim is to get as much of the piping connected to the water supply as possible so that more flowers can be watered and grown. The water is limited so look out for the water bonuses which can be used to fill the water barrel. There are loads of tools and power ups such as slow time, different types of tube to extend the network you already have in the level, more water, faster flower growth plus more. Whenever a new power up or tool is introduced you’ll get a small tutorial window popping up telling you what the power up or tool does. You also get descriptions of loads of flowers which pop up at the start of most levels. That includes unusual facts about the flower. At the end of each level if you’ve earned enough money (there’s also power ups that increase your earning power, you can purchase specific items or upgrades for your house. There are 60 levels in total with the potential to make loads mor with the editor that’s provided.

The game is fully mouse controlled and is automatically saved when you close the game down. You can set up multiple accounts if you wish which means this is an ideal family game.

There are several music tracks, but they are all variants of the same tune. You can replace these with your own music, but as I’ve said before, you will need to convert them to the ogg format, and then rename the tracks to the same name as the music tracks found within the games data folder inside the ‘Mus’ folder. If you haven’t got an audio converter, you can get a reasonable one from the freeware library:

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/freeware/2008/04/28/daniusoft-mp3-wav-converter/

or

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/freeware/2007/07/30/free-mp3-wma-wav-converter/

I’ve only recently changed my media player from windows media player to Win Amp and was surprised to discover that it played ogg files.. You can download Win Amp from the freeware library as well: (I’ve upgraded it to the Pro edition and added the DFX enhancer, which really boosts the quality of the sound output from my speakers).

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/freeware/

The game comes with an Editor, which is only accessible (unless you create a shortcut) from the installed games folder. There are no instructions on how to use the editor, nor is there a hard copy of instructions to play this game, though the tutorial panes cover all the bses; however with trial and error, if you’re persistent, you should be able to figure out how to use the editor.

The options menu enables you to adjust the sound and music as well as to toggle on or off windowed mode and all the in game hints.

Images:

All on one page:

http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/Whiterabbit_01/gaotd/Bloom/?start=all

As a slideshow:

http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/Whiterabbit_01/gaotd/Bloom/?albumview=slideshow

System Requirements:
Operating System…………...Windows ME/2000/XP/VISTA
CPU…………………………600MHz or faster Processor
System Memory……………..128 MB RAM

Conclusion:

This is not the most exciting of games that I’ve played, but I did enjoy the 17 or so levels that I managed to play before the hour long trial ended. The first fifteen levels were relatively easy, but then they became more difficult and I found I was constantly running out of water frequently and therefore lost; so had to think of strategies to complete the level.

It’s well worth downloading and trying in my opinion. It’s a simple game to play, but has loads of permutations to complete each level. I think it’s worth 7 out of 10. Don’t be misguided into thinking that this game is too simple as some of the later levels become quite complex.

Thank you White Elephant Games and the game giveaway for a new game

Similar Games:

As you can see from the list below, there’s quite a few games available from this genre, though I doubt any are as colorful as today’s giveaway. (Well I know they're not, lol) There are a few others that are on the tip of my tongue such as one that involves lighting fireworks and another one on the theme of electric wires similar to Electric (see below), but I can’t remember the names as I've not got them installed at the moment. :(

Rocket Mania:

http://www.reflexive.com/RocketManiaDeluxe.html

Twisty Tracks:

http://www.reflexive.com/TwistyTracks.html

Candy Train:

http://www.astraware.com/all/default/candytrain

Electric:

http://www.reflexive.com/Electric.html

Aha!

http://www.aha.com.ua/AhaDownloads/ahadwnld.html

Fiber Twig:

http://www.reflexive.com/FiberTwig.html

Fiber Twig II:

http://www.reflexive.com/FiberTwig2.html?related=1

Electric Eddie: (previous giveaway)

http://www.300ad.com/electric_eddie.php

thanks whiterabbit!

Happy it wasn't only me that was having problems connecting thought it was my computer but i was able to browse the web except for here all morning . Sure happy they brought this game back cause i missed it on the first go round:) Also thank you for the reviews you do here Stephen we do appreciate them.

This review would have been posted much earlier, but I've been unable to connect to the site for most of the day:

Introduction and Installation:

This received a positive 89% of 298 votes with 49 comments when it was given away back in July 07; which you can read by following the link below:

http://game.giveawayoftheday.com/my-farm/#comments

The following excerpt taken from Boonty games will give you a good idea about what the game entails

Quote:

At first My Farm was supposed to be just a screensaver... And then it became a farm breeding simulation game ! My Farm allows you to breed livestock in real time with a maximum of twenty animals – hens, ducks, turkeys, pigs, sheep and cows… Farm buildings nestled at the foot of the hills, meadows, country sounds; everything has been thought of to plunge you into the heart of rural life from sunrise to sunset! At first you only possess one hen … But this hen lays eggs which you can sell to buy seed and other hens… Then some ducks you can fatten up to sell for a good price…But, be careful, take care of your animals and clean your farm regularly otherwise your livestock will leave to get fed elsewhere! Like all simulation games, worthy of the name, My Farm offers a multitude of actions : buying animals, moving them, feeding them, cleaning them, selling them, checking the stock, buying food and equipment, etc. Without mentioning Old Jack and his precious advice!

Taken from: http://www.boonty.com/us/casual/products/my-farm.html March 8th 2008

The Game:

The zip file is 63.7Mb in size and once installed is 68.9Mb in size. Most of that is sound and graphics files. From the options menu you can turn off the music and sound effects or just adjust their volume using the sliders provided. There’s also a slider for adjusting the level of detail as well as switching off the textures in the ground renders. It’s recommended that you tick this box if you have any problems with the graphics. You’ll also find toggles for the tool tips that give you contextual help whenever you hover the mouse over a button or object. There’s a toggle to turn on the screensaver as well – this screensaver reflects the stage you are at in the game, so as you progress through the game the screensaver becomes busier and busier. :lol:

If you leave the game idle for long enough the screensaver will kick in; which can be deactivated by pressing the space bar. You can reassign this key binding to whichever key you prefer. The game is controlled by the mouse or the keyboard. You will find a list of shortcuts in the players manual that you can use instead of clicking on the tool are at the bottom of the playing area, or you can use a combination of both if you wish. The player’s manual can be found in the games folder and contains all the information you will require to get you started as well as game tips to help you accomplished the goal of the game which is to build a successful farm. During the game you can earn bonus items such as a dog or other items that I’ll let you discover for yourself. These bonus items generally improve your farms productivity. If you have the tool tips toggled on, you will occasionally be prompted to carry out a particular task such as feeding or cleaning, or even to be told that you are doing something wrong. The in game screen has all the information you need with respect to the time of day, which is shown by a day and night clock at the top of the screen as well as your cash balance, stock levels, animal satisfaction and a time accelerator that allows you to speed up the game when appropriate (see section 5 of the players guide ‘Game techniques’ for details).

You can stop playing at any point in the game and resume at your leisure as the game automatically saves your progress.

Images – All on one page:

http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/Whiterabbit_01/gaotd/My%20Farm/

Images – As a Slideshow:

http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/Whiterabbit_01/gaotd/My%20Farm/?albumview=slideshow

System Requirements:

Minimum:

Processor 1 GHz or faster
512 Mb RAM
64 Mb graphics card compatible DirectX 9
Sound card compatible DirectX 9
60 Mb free hard disk space
Windows XP or more recent

Recommended:

Processor 2.8 GHz
1024 Mb RAM
128 Mb 3D graphics card

Conclusion

This is an excellent family game that can become quite engrossing once you’ve built up your farm stock and started to improve the farm by adding fences and new farm buildings. It’s not as easy as you think either. The in game menu looks a little daunting at first glance, but once you’ve read the players manual, which includes details of the installations, how to play, keyboard shortcuts, Game techniques and details of the screensaver that comes packaged with the game. Everything should become clear once you’ve read it. The only downside is that you can only access the game manual from the game file unless you create a shortcut which could be added to a start menu folder to make it easier to find (I’ve posted a short tutorial in the forums on how to do this several weeks ago in the games discussion section)

It’s a very simple take on ‘Zoo Tycoon’, which you can buy for about the same as this game now; however that particular game although far superior (IMO) is much too complex for children to play. This game is relatively easy and will teach a child the basics of caring for an animal, as well as some basic management skills.

Overall I think this is well worth a good 7 out of 10 for playability and family fun.

Other Information

Some people previously received an error saying that they required an Indeo codec and were directed to a specific site which was asking for money. Ignore that and follow the link below which has the same codec for free. The information was originally posted by JanW (thanks Jan):

Indeo video codec:

http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Indeo_Codec.htm

You can install the software for DirectX 9.0c - but to be able to use all of the graphics tricks that the DirectX 9.0c software allows - you need a DirectX 9 video card.

The same applies on Vista with DirectX 10. (Having Vista with DirectX 10 won't give you the fancy graphics unless you ALSO have a DirectX 10 Video Card).

Check this: Today's Game "Doesn't Work" for me.

This will tell you what support your Video Card has.

@RM:
Huh?? You are a bit loopy, yes? You can not send my cake via eMail!!!
I know GMail is good, but not "that good"...
Have u heard of Fed-Ex, Purolator, Canpar, ...?? Why do I have to keep sssplaining u this stuff?? Old age is getting to ur brain cells, my friend, it's sooo sad! Bwhahahawha
Anyway, throw out the cake already, it's way to old now! *sigh*
Now, lest thou forgo the chocolates too? HeeeHeeee ;=D

About the DirectX problem, my first tab "système" says:
-Version 9.0c (4.09.00.0904)
SIW says:
-Version 9.0c (4.09.00.0904)
-File Version: 5.03.2600.2180(xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)(5.3.2600.2180)
-Product Version: 5.03.2600.2180 (5.3.2600.2180)
Hoping u find what's wrong and can help resolve it.

@WR: Thank you for the advice about DX10, I did not that.
Peace, M.

I'm not really sure what you can do there, though I would recommend you download your Direct X from Microfoft directly rather than using a file download site. Make sure you input DX 9 though as otherwise you will be taken to their latest baby DX10, which neads dedicated graphics cards (NVidia 8 series and ATI - I don't know because I stopped using ATI 2 years ago) and Vista to run, though some DX10 games do offer mods that enable some aspect of the DX10 engine to be ustilized if you are using XP (like I am). (eg Crysis)

Sorry I can't be of more help. I do hope you get the problem fixed because the game is a fun puzzler....

WR

Lekanaw - when you do a START>RUN>dxdiag what does the first page show for a version?

BTW- on a different subject, did gmail receive a note?

First, Thank You WR for ur excellent review & info about the game. I always appreciate that u add some tech info that helps us understand things better. I've made many changes to our systems based on your recommendations.

Now, this a CRY for HELP!!!. I have a conundrum... Somebody pliizzz 'ssplain!

Despite my little knowledge, I never have trouble w dwld/set-up/run games or s/w.
But, after many tries, still can not get Stopple to install.
It dwled fine. But when I go open the .exe [I always use IZArc], It tells me I need DirectX 9.0c.

Ok fine, I go to FileHippo and upgrade the critter to the November.07 version.
I verify afterwards, SIW confirms it's installed =>Product Version 5.03.2600.2180
I didn't check w Belarc, I'm supposing it'll tell me the same.

I try again to install the game, but again I get the same message, it needs DirectX 9.0c.
Well, darn, if it's there, why is it asking for it again??

What would be the next course of action? What am I doing wrong?
Since I *never* ever had trouble w any GGOTD (except for "Rise of Atlantis"), I'm out of ideas already!
Any advice/help would be MUCH appreciated.
Peace, M.

You're welcome, and good luck with those higher levels. They really make you burn up those brain cells!! :-)

yep it was good review as you always do stephen tyvm i want to say ty freeware fan for giving us some great games i do like this stopple and can't wait to get into the other ones too:) Made it to level6 and a little stuck but i am sure in time i will figure it out:)

Well, I thought it was a good review, Stephen!

Thanks to Freeware Fans unstoppable enthusiasm for freeware and even better the fact that he is happy to devote the time to share it with the community, I will be extending my review time, which is primarily devoted to the usual game giveaways, so that I can give a short (ha ha) review of most of the games that Freeware Fan posts links to. (I probably wont have time to do one for each of them, but you never know)

Follow the link below to see FreewareFans thread, where you can find links to all the games he’s posting about. He will be posting link to a freeware game every day for at least the next month (and in my opinion, hopefully beyhond). Today is day 2.

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/2326?replies=27

You can download today’s offering called Stopple from:

http://www.boiledsweets.com/Stopple/

Installation:

Todays zip file weighs in at a mere 8.06Mb, and when installed is 8.82Mb, so if you’re worried about filling your HDD, don’t as this is a very small file size (which in no way implies that the game is poor graphically). The installer allows you to deselect the installation of a start menu shortcut if you wish as well as choose to install a quick start short cut. By default, both the start menu shrtcuts and a desktop shortcut are installed. The installation path is the usual C:\program files\Stopple, but you can change this to keep your boot drive free of everything but the essential stuff if you wish.

There’s an uninstaller provided which is accessible from the start menu or from within the games folder. All in all this is a very professional package.

Introduction & Game info:

On starting the game you are presented with a configuration window where you are able to adjust the visual side of the game by selecting the most appropriate screen resolution for your monitor as well as the color depth, dithering (* see notes below for a simple explanation), and a toggle for windowed mode. There is a simple tutorial found on the main menu screen of which there are 10 -11 pages, that explain the mechanics of the game, so I wont bore you with even a précis of that. :) It’s keyboard controlled, which is unfortunate for those who dislike keyboard controls. However, apart from some keys (mainly the function keys, that are used to control the background, which is really bright; you can change the opacity using F3, as well as music and sound effects toggles) the only other keys you need to bother about are the movement keys which are quite naturally (for me being a left hander) the arrow keys.

There are switches and bridges to enable you to move from one platform to the next, but it’s not as easy as you think to switch these on or cross the bridges unless you’re in the correct orientation. In later levels you will find wooden platforms that cannot be crossed by full sized bricks. Thankfully when using the teleport switch, the block you are moving is split into two smaller blocks that are not as heavy. This however can have a down side as to used the heavy switch (denoted as an X), you need a full sized block to operate it. Besides the teleport and heavy switches there’s also soft switches that only require touching to work, which is useful when you find it difficult to maneuver your blocks on some of the harder levels. The aim of this 3D (isometric ) game is to get the blocks to fall into the square holes at the end of each level, within a specific time. There are 32 levels.

Follow the links to see the screen captures I took. They are mainly of the help pages and a series of images I took showing the gradual movement of one block in level 2. You will get a better idea of the background images by going to the developers site.

All on one page:

http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/Whiterabbit_01/gaotd/FREEWARE/Stopple/?start=all

As a slideshow:

http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/Whiterabbit_01/gaotd/FREEWARE/Stopple/?albumview=slideshow

This is basically a free downloadable version of the free online game that RunesageMagi posted about following Freeware Fans post, which you can play via the following link, (which was also provided by RunesageMagi):

http://www.ezone.com/games/bloxorz/gamecode.htm

Features:

Here are the features as quoted on the developer’s home page for this particular game:

• Groovy music!
• 32 original psychedelic backgrounds!
• Ability to take screen shots!
• Ability to resume your game!
• Play against the clock!
• Supports full screen and windowed modes
• Supports laptop & widescreen formats (16:9, 16:9.5, 16:10) and regular ratios (4:3, 5:4)
• Install / uninstall support!
• Free updates

Conclusion:

This is an excellent Freeware game (IMO)that has many features of its commercial brothers. I am impressed with the overall presentation of this game, and found the game play challenging and fun enough to want to continue. I would score it 7 out of 10 for game play, though I think it’s replay value is probably low once you’ve completed the game as there are no difficulty levels and no bonuses in game to make the game more interesting. For a freeware game though this is well worth the download. I haven't see many freeware games of this caliber.

I would love to see a level editor for this game as then you could make as many levels as you wished. Maybe I’ll post a commet over on the developers site and suggest this.

Notes:

What is Dithering:

Having Dithering selected via the configuration window reduces the number of available colors to 256, thus reducing the load on low end systems – check out the following for a more detailed (and aimed at the layman) explanation of what dithering means:

http://www.webstyleguide.com/graphics/dither.html

Thanks FreewareFan for taking the time to find and post these games. It is much appreciated. Today’s is a great alternative to fill in te lack of a
Game Giveaway.

whiterabbit!!!....And all you nay sayers...if it were not for your explanations of the games and software that I have read I would not be able to post this missive!!!...We NEW puter babies...be we sixteen or sixty...(I'm closer to the 60) depend on someone speaking to us in plain ENGLISH...I can do anything if someone will explain it to me...lol...perhaps some of you puter people need to learn How to read and understand directions. Perhaps it would not then be so vexing a situation for you.
I depend highly upon WR for his concise directions and have gleamed many hours of relaxation and joy from computer games that I would not have ever figured out on my own. I have forwarded links to this site to over one hundred persons in my circle and not even one has failed to thank me for recommending this persons reviews as a reference point......After all, the world may now be run by computers....But some of us still talk ENGLISH...(or the language if your choice)....Not PUTER GOBBLY GOOK....That does not make us stupid!!!....Computers are just this generation of shorthand...and I didn't learn that either...did you?
I don't mean to sound hateful, but everyone speaks their own language. And I'm sorry but I don't speak anything but English and it's refreshing to find directions in plain old English!
P.S. Yes I'm a silly old hag but I am retired and have the money to buy a new computer and the time to learn to use it now. I spent all my life working for it so now I'm gonna learn it and enjoy it. Not the short hurry hurry version..... the goodness I love this, version...god bless you whiterabbit and just keep on typing...those who don't have the time to read your reviews and instructions, don't have the time to be "playing" on the puter anyway...they should be at work or something 'cause they think they already know everything anyway!!!

Thank you; thats my aim.

THX and and all of ur post have become really handy and explain everything

You did ask for a short answer, lol Seriously, I try to write a review from the point of view of someone who is new to gaming, so the explanations do tend to be a little long winded for those who know a lot about games and computing in general. I just remember when I got my first computer. The friend who'd recomended it to me demonstrated the basics of what I needed to do and know when installing programs etc. (using Wimdows 3.1 I think) He lost me after about the first 5 seconds........
I was also a teacher at one time and have always tried to explain things in as simplistic a way as possible. Using computer jargon is just not a good idea for most of the community as it would be like using a foreign language (which it is I suppose), so I try to avoid using it as often as possible, and if I do use it I try to explain im more simplistic terms or point the way to a decent tutorial.

nuff said I think...:)

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