Monday, November 2, 2009

Beware of Windows XP SP3

Many are losing sound after installing Windows XP Service Pack 3.

The problem is that the system thinks your sound device is a PCI device or even (in one case) a modem. Simply uninstall Windows SP3.

I used the hidden folder, c:\windows\$NtServicePackUninstall$\spuninst -- method two.

Took me about three hours to figure out the cause of the problem and then after you uninstall SP3, it takes another hour to reinstall the XP security updates, one of which failed to install.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Tom Wham

Tom Wham's games were entertaining. They injected whimsy into Dragon Magazine. I owned Snit's Revenge and played several other games, but my favorite was Elefant Hunt, in which you tried to obtain animals for a zoo. I have the game pieces but lost the board.

Also excellent was King of the Tabletop -- but it requires at least three serious players.

Snit's revenge, in which one player is the invading snits and the other is the creature's defence system, was finely balanced.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Gothic II

Gothic II was a very good game. Unlike many US games, this German-designed world allows you to play a key role, but only to save your village, not the whole world. The scale of the environment is believable, and you walk it back and forth several times in a way that does not feel forced.

However my internal CD failed recently and I'm using an external drive. All of my other games work but this one no longer does.

Anyone know how to make Gothic II recognize a legit CD in drive G?

Monday, September 21, 2009

Tropico rocks

The original Tropico is well worth playing.

It is set in a cheerful location, the music won some awards, and the game has a great sense of humor.

This is usually not an intense adrenalin-pumping game, but it is a serious sim and there's plenty that can go right and wrong. I have the Mucho Macho edition and enjoy getting to choose my character's abilities.

And Melissa likes it too!

Sunday, January 25, 2009

What Game Replayability means to me

Just opening some virtual space here to talk about which games continue to hold my interest after years of playing.

These games are well worth the $50 payment -- I've played them for hours and even weeks' worth of time over the years.

I want to recommend good games to those who are interested and also discuss what to my mind makes these games replayable.

Cheers