#oneaday Day 849: Jud's Handy Guide to Video Game Terminology [UPDATED!]

Reblogged from I'm Not Doctor Who:

This post is aimed at anyone who doesn’t know what all that crazy terminology we game geeks fling about actually means. Like any hobby, there’s a ton of specialist words, abbreviations and acronyms in there, and some are a little ambiguous, just to confuse matters.

So, then, here are some definitions, some of which you may know, some of which you may not.

Read more… 2,829 more words

This is a great blog by a mate of mine. His blogs are really helpful, generally amusing, and cover a broad range of topics - in particular gaming blogs. I think you will find that most terminology is explained clearly, in plain language, which is refreshing.  If you have any questions, don't hesitate to respond.  And comment to both him and me if this helps you.

Jud House   17/05/2012

* * * * *

 

Check Updates

I have just Updated the Problems and Solutions Blog/Page again. Keep an eye on the Update files as I add them in regularly – not just for Troubleshooting.

Mini Reviews: THE AGENCY OF ANOMALIES – CINDERSTONE ORPHANAGE Collector’s Edition

by ORNEON; BIGFISH GAMES

Jud’s Game Rating:

Graphics: ****  Player participation (PP) *****  Satisfaction Factor (SF) ****

Frustration Factor (FF)  *     Fair Play (FP) **** Tedium Factor Nil

Considering this was an enjoyable game, I wrote very few notes.  This indicates that I was too busy playing it to take time out to write.  Mind you as it turned out I could easily have done so, as the Demo version ended well within the 1 hour of free trial – always disappointing.  We should at least be allowed to play the trial for an hour and not be given a set number of levels to play.

There was much going back and forth, but not to the point of tedium.  The player involvement is continual, which keeps the interest levels up.  The story is interesting – it’s a little easy to be cynical about this when games are churned out constantly, following similar storylines, and often identical openings – car crashes, or portals, or kidnappings.  In this game you gain powers from each spirit/character you meet, which gives another dimension to your tool-usage, as you search for the machine parts that will free them, to live or pass on – I am not sure as I have only played the Demo and not reached the end yet.

The graphics are okay with this game – clearish in places and hazy due to atmospherics in others.  There is a Bonus Adventure with the Collector’s Edition, plus a Strategy Guide, Mini Games and Achievements in Extras, and Regular and Advanced playing Modes.  there are the usual sparkling Hidden Objects sites, individual items scattered around to find and use, puzzles to open locks, doors and gates, and, despite only gaining one item per HO site, a fairly logical progression in the story and gameplay as you resolve tasks one at a time to reach your goal.

On the whole I recommend this game, and will probably buy it.

Update: 24/05/2012

I did buy it.  And I have now completed the Main Game, and am about to play the Bonus Game in Extras.  The story of this game is really excellent.  The gaining of powers continues, bestowed on you in return for restoring special belongings to each child.  These are unusual powers and awfully convenient, adding another dimension to the search, locate, repair and restore game-play.  And the game is fairly lengthy, which is also cool.

The Graphics can be a little obstructive at times, you do need a little more assistance with game-play than is given some of the time FF, and some of  the Puzzles are fun and those that are annoying you can Skip through – which I do without hesitation.  Puzzles should be interesting, tricky, and require ingenuity, but they MUST be playable and solvable!  I think I collected all the ‘Teddy Bear’ Postcards – but am a little unsure.  I don’t know if they were there to help unlock the Bonus Game, but I shall find out when I begin it shortly.

I still think this is worth playing and buying – even if you just buy the Standard Game there is plenty to do and satisfaction to be had.  The Strategy Guide makes a lot of difference, but is only there in the Collector’s Edition.  However, remember that if you go to the sales page for the game in BigFish Games you will find a Walkthrough there that you can read any time that you don’t have to pay for, and can add to your Favourites too.

Highly Recommended.

(C) Copyright  Jud House  16/02/2012 & 24/05/2012

* * * * *

FEEDBACK NEEDED

Do my PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS and my TROUBLESHOOTING UPDATE blogs help?  I need feedback so that I know if my info is a help.  I notice that many of you Search for solutions to CSI operating problems – does my info help you?

I Update them as soon as I have any new info to share.  I still have problems with some new games not opening properly, but I pursue all avenues to try to resolve them.

Let me know what your problems are and I will try to assist.  If I don’t know the answers I will suggest places, and provide Links if possible, where you may be able to get that info.

I rarely give Hints and don’t do Walkthroughs – though I could if it were really needed.  But I provide a Link to Hints site, and I know that BigFish Games, provide Walkthroughs for their games accessed through their Home page.

Reply to me in Comments (beneath each blog).  Title your reply Feedback and hopefully it won’t go into SPAM.  I check this regularly anyway, so should spot your replies easily.  I will reply to you in the Comments, which you can access in the Sidebar under Meta Comments RSS – just below the Calendar.

Looking forward to discovering if I help at all.

Micro Reviews: VERONICA RIVERS – PORTALS TO THE UNKNOWN

by DRAGON ALTAR GAMES; BIG FISH GAMES 

Jud’s Game Rating:

Graphics: ***  Player participation (PP) ****  Satisfaction Factor (SF) ***

Frustration Factor (FF) ****  Fair Play (FP) ***   Tedium Factor (TF) *

WOW & DISAPPOINTMENT

My reaction to the onset of this game was WOW.  Great idea, great opening Graphics – so colourful, fantastic, crisp and promising.  The Arctic setting was captivating, and this feeling continued until I had to do a Hidden Object search.  Then the atmospherics, the haziness, the downright blurriness and the tricks began – not too intensely for the first HO site but enough to make me wonder if it was my glasses, my eyes, or an illusion.  Clarity returned for the transition – via a really cool Portal Puzzle - to the next location, where the ‘rot’ set in a little more this time.  And now the tricks are getting more noticable – HOs so hidden as to be almost not there, some of them popping in and out of scene, with small zoom spots (which are acceptable) as sudden extras.  Each new location this got worse.

The PDA scanners – Camera, Evidence, and Spatial: to take specific photo shots, and locate secret symbols and secret messages respectively - are excellent.  And quite easy and fun to use as they aren’t affected by the clarity problem.  The GPS Puzzle is also cool, getting a little harder each time (as does the Portal Puzzle), but that is to be expected.  The Instructions have a neat delivery system, which is helpful and easy to see and follow.  All this greatness marred by the tedium of trying to peer into the mess on the screen.

The Hints, however, are NOT helpful or user friendly.  The point of a Hint is to show the location and/or the shape of the HO in question – not to just give a momentary flash of it so that if you are looking at the wrong part of the screen you miss it!  Their only excuse is that this game was produced in 2008 – before I began my blogs and complaints about the awful graphic effects and unfair game-play tricks.

So if those things don’t bother you then go ahead and get this game because it is a terrific game concept.  It’s just poorly executed visually in the area that is the whole point of the game – Hidden Objects!  They’ve sadly lost my order/purchase/money this time.

(C)  Copyright Jud House  1/06/2012

* * * * *

Micro Reviews: ANTIQUES ROADSHOW

by NAMCO; WGBH; BBC; BIG FISH GAMES

Jud’s Game Rating:

Graphics: **  Player participation (PP) ****  Satisfaction Factor (SF) **

Frustration Factor (FF) ****  Fair Play (FP) **   Tedium Factor (TF) **

UNIMPRESSED

What a shame.  A potentially great game stuffed up by the ridiculous size and lack of clarity of the Hidden Objects.  And by the fact that the ‘pointer’ also has trouble working on them because they are soooo small.  How many times to do I have to go on about this before the Game Designers get it through their heads that if players can’t see the HOs then there is no point in playing the game no matter how good it is.  And the premise of this game is good.

The graphics are authentic enough, but everything is in perspective – fine in a piece of artwork, but crap in a game.  I mean some of the items are just lines in the muddle of HOs – eg the tongs are like a very fine-lined long cross.  Ridiculous!  Some items were almost off the screen!  Some were a tiny bubble poking up above the others, but in the middle of it all.  No idea what it is but you click away hopefully.  Only to find there is Punishment for overclicking - what naughty children we all are!  Okay so using a rag to clear the screen which clouds if you click too much is cool I suppose – but get a grip you designers.  Come into our century and stop designing things the very old way.

The story and game-play set-up is great.  No problem with that – just too frustrating and tedious to play it.  And the music is irritating beyond endurance.  You would have to Mute the Music – the pieces are bouncy and fun, but so repetitive that it aggravates an already frustrated player.  The Decoder is neat as well – liked that.  And the Button-search Puzzle is cool.  And it’s clever to get you to wipe your fingerprints and smudges off an item before you take it to the Roadshow to be assessed.

By all means try the free trial, but I cannot recommend it which is a shame.  A good game spoiled by design.

(C) Copyright  Jud House  31/05/2012

* * * * *

Micro Reviews: MACABRE MYSTERIES – CURSE OF THE NIGHTINGALE

by BLUE TEA GAMES; BIG FISH GAMES

Jud’s Game Rating:

Graphics: ****  Player participation (PP) ****  Satisfaction Factor (SF) ****

Frustration Factor (FF) *   Fair Play (FP) ****   Tedium Factor (TF) Nil

This game, like most of BlueTea Games, is well designed, well conceived, and captivating enough to be a Keeper!  You are tasked with searching the partially burned Nightingale Theatre to discover the identity of the arsonist; and solve the mystery of the curse.

You need to find a collection of Oriental Performing Masks; search Hidden Object sites; solve Puzzles and problems that affect your progress through the theatre; collect and use various items from scenes and in and out of time changes; and survive confrontations with and obstacles caused by theatre ghosts.  Some are in need of your help, others are spiteful, and some are aggressive and evil.

The Graphics which are colourful, imaginative, authentically theatrical, exotic, and generally gorgeous create an environment into which you willingly plunge.  If only they were a little clearer – especially in the HO sites.  Nevertheless, they are satisfactory game-play-wise - you only notice the lack of clarity occasionally.

I rather like what I normally find FF – and that is the way you are permitted to explore the rooms in your own order.  There is no clear-cut direction that insists that you go to that room right now.  Eventually you get to it but if you choose to check out the other corridor first then so be it.  At least you get enough play instructions to know how and what to do within the choices you make.

Loved it, and bought it as soon as the free hour was up.  I highly recommend it.

(C) Copyright Jud House  31/05/2012

* * * * *

Lion and Logic

How to Install Logic Studio 8 Under OS X 10.7 “Lion”

http://angryjedi.wordpress.com/2012/05/29/oneaday-day-862-lion-and-logic/

For those wishing to reinstall Logic Studio from an existing disc (without paying an exhorbitant upgrade fee) onto their PCs this link will take you direct to Pete Davison’s blog with easy instructions  for doing so.

Hope it helps.

* * * * *

RISE UP CSI FANS!

RISE UP CSI FANS!  LET UBISOFT KNOW YOU WANT MORE!  BOMBARD THEIR ‘CONTACT US’ SITE!  DEMAND NEW CSI GAMES!!

I don’t know what it is about the CSI games that is so satisfying.  But I return to them again and again – when I need a break from the HOGs that I spend most of my time playing and reviewing.  Their graphics are so pleasing, their characters both 3D CG video and via vocal actors are believable and workable and enjoyable; and the backgrounds and details are authentic, clever, colourful, and aesthetically pleasing.  And they have improved digitally with each series release.

The stories are cool – suiting their settings (e.g.Miami and Vegas) and also moving with the times for each new game series release.  They are gripping, especially addictive game-play-wise – you don’t want to Exit until you have completed the Case you are investigating – even when you already know how it goes because you have played it heaps of times before.

The gameplay has also improved with each new issue – but they have taken away some of the Player Participation by automating some of the evidence collection and processing activities too much.  That is my only negative.  I keep haunting the game shops to see if they have had any news about the next CSI game – and willingly pay full price for it, though I wish it were cheaper.  When I check the Ubisoft site online all I see are SHMUPs and the existing CSI games, and no news of a ‘Coming Soon’ new game.

Ubisoft have really got a good thing going here, if they only realised it.  But they spend so much time and money on SHMUP games that they seem to have forgotten about their legion of CSI fans!

RISE UP CSI FANS!  LET UBISOFT KNOW YOU WANT MORE!  BOMBARD THEIR ‘CONTACT US’ SITE!  DEMAND NEW CSI GAMES!!

(C)  Copyright  Jud House  25/05/2012

* * * * *

 

CRIMINAL MINDS

by LEGACY GAMES; MAD GAMES STUDIOS; BIG FISH GAMES

Jud’s Game Rating:

Graphics: ****  Player participation (PP) ****  Satisfaction Factor (SF) ***

Frustration Factor (FF) ***  Fair Play (FP) ***   Tedium Factor (TF) ****

I want to say from the outset that I have been disappointed with this game.  I had high expectations thinking it would be like CSI, but it wasn’t.

You’ll see by my ratings that there was a high TF – this was due to the fact that there was a black-screen loading pause between scenes/sites every single time you moved.  And while patience is a virtue, by the end of the game I was feeling neither patient nor virtuous.  So the SF of finally reaching the end was more one of relief.  While the CSI games draw me back again and again to replay them, I doubt if this will do the same.

Having said that, this is not a bad game.  I did like the stories of the two Cases – the second Case being unlocked by completing the first – dealing as they do with serial murders and terrorism.  The Investigations were interesting and could be elaborated on when required.

• There is an Auto-Tutorial when you start and this is essential as the game-play is a little unusual in places, and rather awkward at times – things don’t open or connect easily, so the game-play is not smooth.  There are Casual and Expert Modes – I played Casual and I would hate to see how frustrating and tedious it would be in Expert.  It is a Hidden Object game as well as a Crime game, but I would not describe it as an Adventure game.
• There is a fair bit of Point and Click, a few Puzzles – I especially like the sneaky codes, and the Profiling puzzle they use as you progress and need to go over what you have found out – and HO scenes in little clusters.  These contain some blue scrambled clues that you need to either decipher yourself or find question marks which unscramble them.  The excess question marks then add to your Hints.
•  You can click on Hints to gain the sequence of steps required for a specific Task, but as they are intertwining, this is not always as helpful as you would expect.  You have a basic Task list you can check separate from the Hints, in case you can’t remember where you were up to in the game – especially on returning to it after some time.
• The Graphics are okay – not terrific, but okay.  The Game Play is tiresome, with far too much traipsing back and forth, which can’t be accomplished at anything like a reasonable pace.  If you could flick back and forth it would be fine.  As usual the Graphics could be clearer and less affected by atmospherics and blurriness, but they depict their locations authentically.
• The characters are fine – voice actors would be appreciated, and would liven it up somewhat – and you play as various members of the FBI Behavioural Unit.  You change characters for specific tasks, as you need different skills while investigationg the crime.  This is both cool, and confusing at times especially when you find you don’t have things in your Inventory that were collected by previous character – though of course some are passed on.

Case One:  A DYING ART
‘Mysterious paintings of a dead woman appear, as a serial killer terrorizes a small artistic community in downtown Austin.’  As more people die, so more paintings are found, exposing the nature of the killer to the Profilers.

Case Two:  NO SPARK
‘A complex and dangerous spark timer that is used in explosive devices is stolen from a downtown Seattle hospital.’  To access the diagnostic machine it was taken from, the thief needed to have access to staff only areas.  Are they acting alone or is there a potential bomb-team in the city?

For those who like Crime games, give the free trial of this a try.  You may enjoy it – especially if you haven’t played any of the CSI games.  If you have played CSI games then you may need to check out my blogs about them, and the Problems and Solutions blog as well, as they also come with some fixable glitches caused by the progress of technology.

(C) Copyright  Jud House  20/05/2012

* * * * *

Mini Reviews: 3 CARDS TO DEAD TIME

by BIG FINISH GAMES; BIG FISH GAMES

Jud’s Game Rating:

Graphics: ****  Player participation (PP) *****  Satisfaction Factor (SF) *****

Frustration Factor (FF) *   Fair Play (FP) ****   Tedium Factor *

INTRIGUING!  SPOOKY!

Dead Time refers to the time window during Hallowe’en when ghosts are most prevalent, and so more easily accessed.  The story appears to be about ghost hunters in peril, but it is so much more than that.  This game is genuinely spooky!  The Cards of the title are Tarot cards, and their use is excellent – you are given their meanings, and they play a huge part in the story, and are vital to the solving of the mystery at the game conclusion.

This is more an Adventure game than a Hidden Object game, and is rather unusual.  It has a really basic Options, which is odd – you have to wait until you reach the Book icon for Chapter 1 before you can adjust the music and sounds volume, captions settings, visit the Main Menu, and Save and Quit.  As soon as you press Start you are asked to choose between Relaxed and Challenge Modes of Play, and insert your name as Player.

You then get some fragments of the story out of sequence to whet your appetite, followed by a Data-base Tutorial about the various icons at the bottom of the screen.  If you need to see the story replayed you can click on any parts of it in the Main Menu.  The story continues to intersperse the game-play – a little intrusive at first, and slow between scene changes which is a little tedious – but after a while you realise that this game is about the story more than it is about game-play.  So if you want a game that’s heavy on play then this is not for you.

It takes a while for you to notice that you aren’t actually doing a lot.  There are Hidden Objects sites of course, but these are also unusual.  Instead of the usual list of objects to locate you are given Connections with themes – for example: Things that cause Phobia = Spiders, Snakes, etc. – and how to use them is given in the initial instructions.  These connection themes continually change from site to site.  There are also Linked sequences – they give you 1 linked to two boxes which need to be 2 and 3.  So it makes you work out what you are meant to be looking for before you start your search for it.  When you have found 100 HOs you gain another Hint to use.

This game requires you to make choices as you go – and these cannot be undone and dictate the outcome.  You also select the order in which you choose the Tarot cards, which act as portals to the next sequence of sites.  Despite the fact that the PP is low game-play-wise, you are still constantly involved due to the decision-making required.  Despite the fact that the Graphics could be clearer – and my views on that should be known by now (see the Bah Humbug list) – I BOUGHT IT as soon as my free hour was over.  I then second-guessed all the way till the end – thinking I’d made a mistake buying it.  But I hadn’t.

I highly recommend this game – it challenges you in a whole different way.

(C)  Copyright  Jud House  15/05/2012

* * * * *

Micro Reviews: MYSTERY PI – THE CURIOUS CASE OF COUNTERFEIT COVE

by POPCAP; SPINTOP; GAMEHOUSE; BIG FISH GAMES

Jud’s Game Rating:

Graphics: ****  Player participation (PP) *****  Satisfaction Factor (SF) ****

Frustration Factor (FF)  Nil  Fair Play (FP) *****   Tedium Factor *

NOTHING NEW!

This game is more of the same MYSTERY PI formula.  This time you have to find the source of the counterfeit bills that are appearing in a New England village.  After each level you collect an item which will no doubt be added to the other 25 to solve the problem in a final puzzle screen.

It has a Basic Options, Relaxed and Timed modes, and sites to choose from on the main screen.  The Graphics are fairly clear, though a little dark at times, in the main screen but many of the Hidden Object sites are less so.  This is inexcusable nowadays.  It’s a shame as it creates TF, and made me Exit the game well before my free trial period was up.

There are the usual HOs to find, plus a Key and a Lobster to find in each site – when all 50 (25 of each) are found this unlocks the Unlimited Seek and Find games which are the whole reason for playing these games.  There are Mini Games of Puzzles, Match 3, Jigsaws, Find Differences, etc

For relaxed play, which allows you the satisfaction of clearing the entire HO sites, these games are cool.  I just wish they had upped the ante a little, and added better graphics and different updated HOs, and mixed them up every screen change.  Recommended.

(C)  Copyright  Jud House 9/05/2012

* * * * *

Mini Reviews: GARDENSCAPES – MANSION MAKEOVER

by PLAYRIX ENTERTAINMENT; BIGFISH GAMES

Jud’s Game Rating:

Graphics: *****  Player participation (PP) *****  Satisfaction Factor (SF) *****

Frustration Factor (FF)  Nil    Fair Play (FP) *****   Tedium Factor Nil

EXCELLENT

Cool banana peels!!  I’ve been waiting for another GARDENSCAPES game and now we get to renovate a mansion!  And the Graphics are clear as!!!

This game lived up to and exceeded expectations.  Of course it’s more of the same – you have a house sale in order to raise the necessary funds for the renovations.  This entails Hidden Object searches in every room, finding items as requested by buyers, but this time some are randomly moved around in the room instead of always being in the same place.  Also you have to collect coins in each room to add to your income; and occasionally you have to find 20 specific items for one customer who then pays you in services or extra items to add to your mansion decor.

You are given occasional tasks to carry out – like mend the broken pots to catch the dripping water when there is a water leak, then you have to find the right tool and fix the leak.  In order to collect firewood, so that your butler can light a fire in the hall’s fireplace, you can visit your garden, which I noticed closely resembled my final GARDENSCAPE garden choice – makes me wonder if it’s coincidence or if this game picked up the info from my existing game as it loaded.  But surely that’s a bit far-fetched!  You also get to play with your dog which I named the same as before and the computer didn’t pick that up – so it must just be coincidence – s i g h  . . . Oh well, turn off the scifi spooky music.

Of course the real fun stuff is the decor selection as you progress.  There are a few things that you would not necessarily put in the house, as there were in the garden of GARDENSCAPE, but on the whole it’s fun deciding – and if you don’t like your choice you can always go back in to Design and choose again, as soon as you have enough cash saved.  As each new choice is made you feel compelled to hurry on to the next one.  There are also a few neat animations in each room – balloons rising and getting in the way, candles and torches lighting as you move over them, chandeliers swinging, birds and butterflies fluttering etc – as well as the usual fun in the main hall with the dog and butler.

For some light relief, some pointing and clicking - without the difficult puzzles, match 3 mini games, or dire consequences of your quest to cause FF and bring down your mood – then this game is for you.  I highly recommend it.  It’s interactive and fun.  I bought it.

(C) Copyright  Jud House  7/05/2012

* * * * *