Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Interview with Connie Sec - Second Life, Blue Mars and more

Today we bring you an interview with noted 3d fashionista, Connie Sec.

Connie's virtual photography and art are well known on Second Life and throughout the wider metaverse, so I'm happy she took the time out of her schedule.  In this interview she shares her thoughts on virtual art, Second Life, Blue Mars and hot industry topics...

 Connie Sec

Q - So tell us a little about yourself and your virtual world interests

I began in Second Life (SL) in April 07, expecting some sort of 3D web experience. Before that, I had no experience in 3d worlds, not played any MMO’s such as Warcraft and not used I.M. So I was a total “Noob”. Being in my 1st year at university gave me the time to learn and I realised that I could do things in SL that were fairly impossible for me to achieve in “Real Life” (RL). I found an increasing interest in virtual photography and art that had lain dormant since my school days. As my RL career is in Science, SL provides a welcome break from that side.

I have fun with fashion, but also enjoy the chance to express myself with humor, pathos and the occasional airing of my various neuroses ☺. As time went by, I really did have a second life, fairly separate from my RL. Aside from the social aspects, I love to build a little, and have a sim that I rent prims to some close friends to help pay tier. I have full control over the direction and style of the sim and have basically built my “Dream” home and lived a “Dream” life. Any opinions I have regarding SL or other virtual worlds are colored by my interests, and so, what may be important to me may not be an issue to many others.

Q - You're well known for your stunning fashion shots.  Take us through your process, how does the magic happen?

The process can be different depending upon what the fashion shot is for.

If it’s a shot for a designer, who wants to perhaps use it in their blog or store, this places emphasis upon being able to see their creation. I will either have scouted a location already, or I will build a “set” at my studio or perhaps simply use a RL pic as a texture on a prim in the background. I will then go through hair, shoes and accessories that I feel compliment what I am trying to achieve. I then go through my poses, looking for something that works in the shot. I think I have around 300 useful poses in my 2 pose stands and a few more in my inventory for activation in Sims that don’t allow me to rezz anything. Once I have the general shot worked out I then log into Shadowdraft viewer for actual pic taking. This provides further challenges and need for some tweaking. For example, that viewer handles transparencies a little differently to the “normal” viewer, so it usually requires that I mod transparencies on prims and sculpts to that they look as they would in the normal viewer. As the Shadow viewer is a private project by Kirsten that has its own glitches and frustrations, there are other things I may have to do, that I won’t go into, to achieve anything usable.

Connie's homage to Dior and Galliano collections

I then work on the environmental controls. As that viewer can throw real time shadows in response to sun position, I use it to match lighting direction that may be apparent in any RL background I may use, or even throw shadow onto the background. Approximately half the time to completion is taken actually getting the shot with colour, light direction looking realistic. I may even take 2 shots of the same scene with different lighting directions to later meld together in post to simulate 2 light sources.

Post work is firstly perhaps cropping the pic and melding of shots together. I use an old program called Photodraw 2000 to do the simple things that newer programs make overly complex. I then go onto fixing avatar glitches that may be apparent. I mainly use the brush and Iwarp tool in Gimp. I then turn to Mystical tone and colour using a brush tool to increase apparent resolution and sharpness within parts of the image. I find the max resolution of 1024 x 1024 applied to textures in SL a major drawback to getting detail into images, especially as my pics in a square aspect ratio are at 3000 x 3000. I may apply other post effects such as gradient tinting. This all depends upon if I judge a pic would benefit from other post work. I feel post should enhance what I already have rather than be a distraction or a way to cover up a bad shot. That is a very short description of some of what I may do to get a shot, more detail would require 2 A4 pages of text in Word ☺ On the whole I am very lucky to have designers that allow me free reign to try new ways of doing things. That is the way I feel I have improved.

Q - SL is your main home, what do think of the new capabilities in the Version 2 viewer?

New Second Life Beta Viewer 2

 I’m not a fan of the Beta U.I 2.0. While the aim of making SL easier to come to grips with is laudable, in my opinion, they have failed. Most people I speak to, feel it is even more confusing than the old UI and I agree with them. On a more philosophical note, SL is NOT a web page, and the idea of making the UI more browser like is flawed because of this. Some love to say Virtual worlds are the future of the Web and the UI for Viewer 2.0 is an illogical extension of that thinking. SL is more akin to a game than web pages (in functionality) and virtual worlds will be a subset of the web, not usurp it. SL is much like your computer, it does many jobs, from chatting in IM to pulling up a program to do something disparate. The SL UI should take its cue from operating system interface conventions rather than Firefox.

 While the new features such as an extra layer/ face tattoo and web on a prim is some enhancement and is welcome, I feel it is tinkering at the edges and does very little to drive SL in a direction that virtual worlds will inevitably have to go, and that is greater graphical fidelity. SL will have to break a lot of eggs (content) to move on, such as, improving the avatar mesh, make the AV UV map better and have a more powerful graphical engine to return greater fidelity to the user. The longer they put that off, perhaps, licensing the unreal engine or Cryengine 2, the more pain they will cause the user base and the more chance there will be for someone else to move ahead.

Q - You're a user of open source viewers for SL, which is your favorite and why?
Emerald Viewer

For everyday use, I use the Emerald viewer - it offers greater options than the LL viewer. Some of these include, double the attachment points, a worn tab in Inventory, quicker access to commonly used controls, built in radar, avatar identification and sorting of that information. This is not a complete list of functions that Emerald offers beyond that of the “Official” viewer. It also seems more stable than the official viewer. However I may be wrong as I have not downloaded the official viewer for a year or so now.

For photographic work, I use various versions of the Kirstens “Shadowdraft “ viewer


Non fashion virtual photography by Connie Sec

I've used a shadow viewer in some form for almost every pic since Jan 09. To me they give better results than the traditional viewer. All lights cast a shadow and to me, use of local lighting with no shadows cast by them, even if subtly, is unrealistic and cartoon like. Some try to simulate this in post with a shadow on the wall or floor, however they forget that hair too will cast onto the face, or the nose, depending on light direction, will cast onto your cheek.

Q - Probably the most ambitious high fidelity world to come along recently is Blue Mars.  Tell us about your activities and thoughts there?

Blue Mars photography by Connie Sec

I signed up for a developer account in July 09 with the aim of making shapes and skins. Avatar Reality has just released the body/ skin importer. Unfortunately the shape editor is severely crippled, in my view, with the inability to do anything meaningful as far as improving the stock BM AV. Right now in BM you cannot make changes to the AV mesh without severely deforming the animations. They promise improvements are coming. The skin UV templates have been kindly provided by an outside developer. Of course they match no other template in any other program, be it Poser, Daz or even SL. There are opensource programs such as Makehuman, and UV mapping schemes that would make it simpler to create an Avatar. Why must people constantly reinvent the wheel?

My problem now is time. I have a full time job after graduating and have a SL to lead as well, so my time is so constrained that my work on those templates is sporadic. While I congratulate Avatar Reality for attempting to bring a higher fidelity Virtual World into existence, the learning curve in BM for developers / Content creators is so steep that it makes learning to create for SL look like child’s play. This may be its downfall. I will go out on a limb and say it will take BM till the end of the year to get their DEV tools up to a point where Avatar customisation is as wide ranging as SL. A corollary of this is that they cannot go out of beta until the tools are better understood and the bugs and limitations are addressed.

Already there are those that pop in from SL into BM and write it off because of lack of functionality and laugh at the use of chat bubbles (oh so late 80’s), without understanding that it is still in Beta.

Q - Some industry folks are making the argument that virtual worlds are being supplanted or subsumed by casual gaming such as in Facebook with applications like Yoville?  What do you think?

Comparing Virtual Worlds to Facebook type-sites is like comparing Twitter to Blogs. While they have similarities, blogs supply a “richer” experience than Twitter. So too virtual worlds provide a “richer” experience than social networking. SL for example has a “social networking” element, however it provides more than any social networking site. To be metaphysical about it, virtual worlds like SL allow you to build your dreams and share them with likeminded souls. Facebook and twitter allow you to share that you like leftover pizza in the morning ☺

Youville?..cute..I would probably play if I was 8 years old. ☺

Q - What's your personal opinion on browser based 3d virtual worlds?

Browser based virtual worlds can be a good starting point for those new to Virtual Worlds.

 An example of a in-browser 3d world

It will also constrict, at the moment, what you can achieve as far as graphical power and fidelity is concerned. However, if cloud computing takes off, the game will change where anything can be served up into a “browser”. If someone, in my demographic, is using a browser in, perhaps, a mobile device and wants to play a virtual world and has the choice between a cartoon and photorealism, I feel they will choose photorealism. I point to games as an example. With this in mind, I feel the idea of SL using a browser like interface is a retrograde step in this regard. Why have a browser within a browser?

To expand, there will always be a niche for simple virtual worlds. All media is now fragmented into niches, and virtual worlds are not immune. People now gravitate to where their ideas and prejudices are shared, be it the news service they watch, the blog they read or the communities they join within a virtual world. Virtual worlds have to either target a certain niche, or be expansive, and open minded enough, to be able to host disparate communities. In the end it will be “bums on seats” that will determine if a virtual world survives.

Q - Finally, with all that you do online, how do you juggle the hours in your day?

I sleep grudgingly ☺.

To be serious, I had a lot more time for SL and even BM when I was a student, however, now with a full time job, I have to organise my 2 lives much more. Sometimes all I do is log in, shop, perhaps take a commission from a designer and take pics and log off to do post work. My social life in SL has definitely gone on the backburner, which is a sadness for me. My social life in SL has always been a strong influence upon my photography. So too other peoples work, whether it be photos in flickr, C.G. from Poser and others, fashion sites, photography and art. Finding the time to be inspired, learn and to create is certainly difficult.

Thanks for taking the time Connie!

Interview with Connie Sec - Second Life, Blue Mars and more

Today we bring you an interview with noted 3d fashionista, Connie Sec.

Connie's virtual photography and art are well known on Second Life and throughout the wider metaverse, so I'm happy she took the time out of her schedule.  In this interview she shares her thoughts on virtual art, Second Life, Blue Mars and hot industry topics...

 Connie Sec

Q - So tell us a little about yourself and your virtual world interests

I began in Second Life (SL) in April 07, expecting some sort of 3D web experience. Before that, I had no experience in 3d worlds, not played any MMO’s such as Warcraft and not used I.M. So I was a total “Noob”. Being in my 1st year at university gave me the time to learn and I realised that I could do things in SL that were fairly impossible for me to achieve in “Real Life” (RL). I found an increasing interest in virtual photography and art that had lain dormant since my school days. As my RL career is in Science, SL provides a welcome break from that side.

I have fun with fashion, but also enjoy the chance to express myself with humor, pathos and the occasional airing of my various neuroses ☺. As time went by, I really did have a second life, fairly separate from my RL. Aside from the social aspects, I love to build a little, and have a sim that I rent prims to some close friends to help pay tier. I have full control over the direction and style of the sim and have basically built my “Dream” home and lived a “Dream” life. Any opinions I have regarding SL or other virtual worlds are colored by my interests, and so, what may be important to me may not be an issue to many others.

Q - You're well known for your stunning fashion shots.  Take us through your process, how does the magic happen?

The process can be different depending upon what the fashion shot is for.

If it’s a shot for a designer, who wants to perhaps use it in their blog or store, this places emphasis upon being able to see their creation. I will either have scouted a location already, or I will build a “set” at my studio or perhaps simply use a RL pic as a texture on a prim in the background. I will then go through hair, shoes and accessories that I feel compliment what I am trying to achieve. I then go through my poses, looking for something that works in the shot. I think I have around 300 useful poses in my 2 pose stands and a few more in my inventory for activation in Sims that don’t allow me to rezz anything. Once I have the general shot worked out I then log into Shadowdraft viewer for actual pic taking. This provides further challenges and need for some tweaking. For example, that viewer handles transparencies a little differently to the “normal” viewer, so it usually requires that I mod transparencies on prims and sculpts to that they look as they would in the normal viewer. As the Shadow viewer is a private project by Kirsten that has its own glitches and frustrations, there are other things I may have to do, that I won’t go into, to achieve anything usable.

Connie's homage to Dior and Galliano collections

I then work on the environmental controls. As that viewer can throw real time shadows in response to sun position, I use it to match lighting direction that may be apparent in any RL background I may use, or even throw shadow onto the background. Approximately half the time to completion is taken actually getting the shot with colour, light direction looking realistic. I may even take 2 shots of the same scene with different lighting directions to later meld together in post to simulate 2 light sources.

Post work is firstly perhaps cropping the pic and melding of shots together. I use an old program called Photodraw 2000 to do the simple things that newer programs make overly complex. I then go onto fixing avatar glitches that may be apparent. I mainly use the brush and Iwarp tool in Gimp. I then turn to Mystical tone and colour using a brush tool to increase apparent resolution and sharpness within parts of the image. I find the max resolution of 1024 x 1024 applied to textures in SL a major drawback to getting detail into images, especially as my pics in a square aspect ratio are at 3000 x 3000. I may apply other post effects such as gradient tinting. This all depends upon if I judge a pic would benefit from other post work. I feel post should enhance what I already have rather than be a distraction or a way to cover up a bad shot. That is a very short description of some of what I may do to get a shot, more detail would require 2 A4 pages of text in Word ☺ On the whole I am very lucky to have designers that allow me free reign to try new ways of doing things. That is the way I feel I have improved.

Q - SL is your main home, what do think of the new capabilities in the Version 2 viewer?

New Second Life Beta Viewer 2

 I’m not a fan of the Beta U.I 2.0. While the aim of making SL easier to come to grips with is laudable, in my opinion, they have failed. Most people I speak to, feel it is even more confusing than the old UI and I agree with them. On a more philosophical note, SL is NOT a web page, and the idea of making the UI more browser like is flawed because of this. Some love to say Virtual worlds are the future of the Web and the UI for Viewer 2.0 is an illogical extension of that thinking. SL is more akin to a game than web pages (in functionality) and virtual worlds will be a subset of the web, not usurp it. SL is much like your computer, it does many jobs, from chatting in IM to pulling up a program to do something disparate. The SL UI should take its cue from operating system interface conventions rather than Firefox.

 While the new features such as an extra layer/ face tattoo and web on a prim is some enhancement and is welcome, I feel it is tinkering at the edges and does very little to drive SL in a direction that virtual worlds will inevitably have to go, and that is greater graphical fidelity. SL will have to break a lot of eggs (content) to move on, such as, improving the avatar mesh, make the AV UV map better and have a more powerful graphical engine to return greater fidelity to the user. The longer they put that off, perhaps, licensing the unreal engine or Cryengine 2, the more pain they will cause the user base and the more chance there will be for someone else to move ahead.

Q - You're a user of open source viewers for SL, which is your favorite and why?
Emerald Viewer

For everyday use, I use the Emerald viewer - it offers greater options than the LL viewer. Some of these include, double the attachment points, a worn tab in Inventory, quicker access to commonly used controls, built in radar, avatar identification and sorting of that information. This is not a complete list of functions that Emerald offers beyond that of the “Official” viewer. It also seems more stable than the official viewer. However I may be wrong as I have not downloaded the official viewer for a year or so now.

For photographic work, I use various versions of the Kirstens “Shadowdraft “ viewer


Non fashion virtual photography by Connie Sec

I've used a shadow viewer in some form for almost every pic since Jan 09. To me they give better results than the traditional viewer. All lights cast a shadow and to me, use of local lighting with no shadows cast by them, even if subtly, is unrealistic and cartoon like. Some try to simulate this in post with a shadow on the wall or floor, however they forget that hair too will cast onto the face, or the nose, depending on light direction, will cast onto your cheek.

Q - Probably the most ambitious high fidelity world to come along recently is Blue Mars.  Tell us about your activities and thoughts there?

Blue Mars photography by Connie Sec

I signed up for a developer account in July 09 with the aim of making shapes and skins. Avatar Reality has just released the body/ skin importer. Unfortunately the shape editor is severely crippled, in my view, with the inability to do anything meaningful as far as improving the stock BM AV. Right now in BM you cannot make changes to the AV mesh without severely deforming the animations. They promise improvements are coming. The skin UV templates have been kindly provided by an outside developer. Of course they match no other template in any other program, be it Poser, Daz or even SL. There are opensource programs such as Makehuman, and UV mapping schemes that would make it simpler to create an Avatar. Why must people constantly reinvent the wheel?

My problem now is time. I have a full time job after graduating and have a SL to lead as well, so my time is so constrained that my work on those templates is sporadic. While I congratulate Avatar Reality for attempting to bring a higher fidelity Virtual World into existence, the learning curve in BM for developers / Content creators is so steep that it makes learning to create for SL look like child’s play. This may be its downfall. I will go out on a limb and say it will take BM till the end of the year to get their DEV tools up to a point where Avatar customisation is as wide ranging as SL. A corollary of this is that they cannot go out of beta until the tools are better understood and the bugs and limitations are addressed.

Already there are those that pop in from SL into BM and write it off because of lack of functionality and laugh at the use of chat bubbles (oh so late 80’s), without understanding that it is still in Beta.

Q - Some industry folks are making the argument that virtual worlds are being supplanted or subsumed by casual gaming such as in Facebook with applications like Yoville?  What do you think?

Comparing Virtual Worlds to Facebook type-sites is like comparing Twitter to Blogs. While they have similarities, blogs supply a “richer” experience than Twitter. So too virtual worlds provide a “richer” experience than social networking. SL for example has a “social networking” element, however it provides more than any social networking site. To be metaphysical about it, virtual worlds like SL allow you to build your dreams and share them with likeminded souls. Facebook and twitter allow you to share that you like leftover pizza in the morning ☺

Youville?..cute..I would probably play if I was 8 years old. ☺

Q - What's your personal opinion on browser based 3d virtual worlds?

Browser based virtual worlds can be a good starting point for those new to Virtual Worlds.

 An example of a in-browser 3d world

It will also constrict, at the moment, what you can achieve as far as graphical power and fidelity is concerned. However, if cloud computing takes off, the game will change where anything can be served up into a “browser”. If someone, in my demographic, is using a browser in, perhaps, a mobile device and wants to play a virtual world and has the choice between a cartoon and photorealism, I feel they will choose photorealism. I point to games as an example. With this in mind, I feel the idea of SL using a browser like interface is a retrograde step in this regard. Why have a browser within a browser?

To expand, there will always be a niche for simple virtual worlds. All media is now fragmented into niches, and virtual worlds are not immune. People now gravitate to where their ideas and prejudices are shared, be it the news service they watch, the blog they read or the communities they join within a virtual world. Virtual worlds have to either target a certain niche, or be expansive, and open minded enough, to be able to host disparate communities. In the end it will be “bums on seats” that will determine if a virtual world survives.

Q - Finally, with all that you do online, how do you juggle the hours in your day?

I sleep grudgingly ☺.

To be serious, I had a lot more time for SL and even BM when I was a student, however, now with a full time job, I have to organise my 2 lives much more. Sometimes all I do is log in, shop, perhaps take a commission from a designer and take pics and log off to do post work. My social life in SL has definitely gone on the backburner, which is a sadness for me. My social life in SL has always been a strong influence upon my photography. So too other peoples work, whether it be photos in flickr, C.G. from Poser and others, fashion sites, photography and art. Finding the time to be inspired, learn and to create is certainly difficult.

Thanks for taking the time Connie!

Sunday, March 21, 2010

The Palace Builder v1.0.1.101



In 18th century France, you are a young, unknown architect looking for your big break and a chance to impress the Queen. In this building Simulation game, set in the romantic upper class world of French aristocracy, you will design and manage the construction of the most beautiful structures in the kingdom. Will your work attract the attention of the Queen, or will a secret destroy your chances for fame and fortune? Find out in The Palace Builder

Download

No Pass!!!

Friday, March 19, 2010

Defense Grid The Awakening-HI2U



Defense Grid: The Awakening is a unique spin on tower defense gameplay that will appeal to players of all skill levels. A horde of enemies is invading, and it’s up to the player to stop them by strategically building fortification towers around their base. Beautiful environments, spectacular effects, and a dynamic, engaging soundtrack bring the world to life. The controls are intuitive and the gameplay is deep — the special attacks and properties of each tower work together to provide many ways to succeed.



Features:

  • High Replayability There are approximately 8 hours of gameplay in the main storyline, and many hours of play in challenge modes that give players unique starting conditions and objectives. Each game level is very replayable, and can be solved in many different ways, with increasing rewards for improved efficiency.
  • Wide Variety of Enemies Over the course of the game, players battle 15 different enemy types that become increasingly stronger, and employ a variety of strategies in an attempt to bypass the player’s defenses. As the levels progress, the enemies become tougher and more difficult to defeat.
  • 20 Unique Levels Defense Grid: The Awakening has 20 unique environments, each with a different placement of roads, tower build locations, and open areas to plan a strategy around.
  • Numerous Tower Options and Upgrades There are 10 different tower types with 3 levels of capability each. Each tower has unique trade offs that affect ideal placement, such as line-of-sight attack or ballistic trajectory fire. Some towers improve other nearby towers, and some are ideal at specific locations, such as a rear guard tower that unleashes a devastating attack.


Download

Part 1
| Part 2 | Part 3

No Pass!!!

Alice in Wonderland v1.0.1.5-TE



Explore a new world as you meet your favorite characters, and hunt for clues to free Alice and decide the fate of Wonderland! An abandoned house holds the key to the secrets of Wonderland! Hidden Objects and tantalizing puzzles abound as you journey beyond imagination. Meet the Mad Hatter, Cheshire Cat and many others as you try to save the day in Alice in Wonderland!

Download

No Pass!!!
Link Interchangeable!!!

Friday, March 12, 2010

Strimko



Jump into Strimko and enjoy classic Sudoku gameplay with a twist! Take on hundreds of puzzles in Classic mode, or help Luana save her planet in the exciting Adventure mode. Create number streams and find magical amulets to power up Luana’s magical Astrolabe! Use your Strimko skills to unlock the treasure chests and protect the entire planet. Can you master the art of this unique Puzzle game?

* Unique and original gameplay
* Hundreds of puzzles
* Master the art of Strimko!

Download

No Pass!!!
Link Exchangeable!!!

Potion Bar



Plunge into the captivating world of magic! Make delicious potions with Rainbow spray and Vampire fangs and serve them to fantastic clients. Decorate glasses with wild lotuses and Phoenix feathers. Witness your amazing potions endow incredible power, reverse aging and help get to the secrets of the Universe. Travel world and space, see prophetic dreams and solve the enigmatic mystery in Potion Bar, a fun and exciting Time Management game!

* Fast-paced gameplay
* Unique potions to create
* Sell magical potions!

System Requirements:

* OS: Windows XP/Vista
* CPU: 600 Mhz
* RAM: 256 MB
* DirectX: 8.1
* Hard Drive: 64 MB

Download

No Pass!!!
Link Exchangeable!!!

Diner Dash 5: BOOM



When a sneaky prankster removes the word “fat” from Flo’s “Fat Free Breakfast” sign, a huge wave of hungry DinerToons overrun the diner. BOOM – Flo’s Diner is smashed to bits! As Flo you must serve customers in unusual locations, as you customize your own diner to play as the final level. Earn the necessary cash to rebuild poor Flo’s diner in Diner Dash 5: BOOM, a fun and exciting Time Management game.

Download

No pass!!!
Link exchangeable!!!

Secret Mission: The Forgotten Island



The Military has hired world-renowned scientist Chanel Flores to explore a mysterious island that has suddenly appeared in the Bermuda Triangle! During her flight to the island, a mysterious electrical fog engulfed her plane, and forced her to parachute to safety. Help Chanel explore the island, and make her way back to her ship in Secret Mission – The Forgotten Island, a fun and exciting Hidden Object game.

Download

No Pass!!!
Link Exchangeable!!!

Farm Frenzy 3: Ice Age



Chill out with an all-new Farm Frenzy adventure! Join Scarlett as she travels to the North Pole to check out a farm she purchased through a newspaper ad. When she arrives, she not only finds the property in a state of disrepair, she also meets two brothers who could use her help making ice cream. While whipping up chilly treats and having some frosty fun, you'll breed and care for penguins and other arctic animals, manufacture new products and enjoy fun Time Management gameplay!

Download

No pass!!!
Link Exchangeable!!!

Super Granny 5



Super Granny® is back and ready for action in Super Granny 5, her latest action-packed adventure from Sandlot Games! Download Game and Play for Free! When Dr. Meow zaps Super Granny with a powerful shrink-ray, she must journey into the dangerous wilderness of her backyard, battle all-new gran-eating enemies and rescue her precious kitties from unlikely peril! Create your own levels and share them with friends with the FREE level editor! Download additional level packs and vote for your favorites exclusively at Sandlot Games, and post your scores and trophies on Facebook and Twitter! With all-new enemies, a hilarious storyline, over 30 interactive items and unique bonuses awarded for in-game achievements, help the now diminutive Super Granny run, dig and climb her way through more than 130 levels in Super Granny 5 – a puzzle-solving, item-tossing, addictive adventure.

Minimum System Requirements:
Windows XP/Vista/Windows 7
Pentium III 1.0 GHz or better (1.0 GHz Vista)
384 MB System RAM (512 MB Vista)
64MB Video RAM
1024 by 768 pixels (1024×768)
Internet Explorer 5.0+, AOL 5,6 or MSN browsers
Direct-X 9c (10 Vista, 11 Windows 7)
Keyboard & mouse required
Joystick and game pad are not supported

Download

No Pass!!!

Brain Games Chess v1.0-TE



Brain Games Chess is designed to challenge you and help improve your skills. The unique Scoring System takes into account your opponent, your speed, how often you undo a move and how many hints you ask for, which provides a more precise picture of your chess playing abilities and helps increase your skills. The game will also suggest your next opponent to always make sure you are being challenged.

Play at any level against the program or a friend or use the hints and tutorial to improve your game. With multiple skill levels, Brain Games Chess was designed for beginners and skilled players. Includes 15 game boards with stunning 3-D graphics and 3,000 historical chess matches to learn from.

Download

No Pass!!!

Caster Chapter Two-VACE



Caster is an episodic game that presents an intense 3rd person action shooter experience with pulse pounding music that will keep you wanting more!

Dash across Scenic Locations destroying bug like creatures called the Flanx using 6 Unique Attacks that include Massive Terrain Deformation and High Speed Barrages of Energy Blasts!

Download

No Pass!!!

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Edens Quest The Hunt for Akua v1.0 -TE



Another cool hidden object game developed by BigFish. Eden Hunt, a world-famous archaeologist, has received a call from a mysterious man, inviting her on a fantastic treasure hunt! Find the ancient treasure of Akua to win a huge sum of money, and finance Eden’s future adventures. Take on the other competitors head-on as you track down the hidden treasure. Eden’s Quest – The Hunt for Akua takes you around the world on an exciting Adventure!

Download
Part 1 | Part 2

No Pass!!!

Fiona Finch and the Finest Flowers v1.0.3



Help Fiona win ‘The Finest Flowers’ garden beauty contest! Plant flowers in beautiful gardens in various locations. Cross breed flowers to discover 50 beautiful new species! Sell flowers then buy fruit trees and process your harvest using machines. Optionally accept orders and deliver goods before the timer expires, for fast income. Use Fiona’s special skills to make growing flowers, selling goods and completing orders a breeze!

Download

No pass!!!

Road to Riches 2 v1.0 -TE



Really cool time management game from big fish games released by 0day gropu TE. John is fresh out of the army and needs your help to succeed in the trucking business! Make deliveries and earn truckloads of money in Road to Riches 2! After his brother-in-law lends him a truck, it’s up to John to make enough money to pay him back. Drive around the city earning cash and purchasing newer vehicles. Can you survive the fast-paced world of trucking in this Time Management game?

Download

No Pass!!!

Cute Knight Kingdom v1.0 -TE



As a mysterious orphan raised by a kindly couple, your destiny is whatever you choose! Will you find your true origin, marry a prince, become a hero, or settle down to life on the farm? It’s all up to you! Take a hold of your life and become what you’ve always wanted to be! Choose your outfit and raise your skills to find romance and adventure in Cute Knight Kingdom, a fun Strategy game.

Features:
* Cute gameplay
* Beautiful kingdom
* Choose your destiny!

Download

No Pass!!!

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Thoughts on There.com closing

The same week Linden Labs unveiled a huge improvement to their Second Life service, another service, There.com announced its shutdown, a very sad day for all.

 
ArianeBrodie in MTV Laguna Central

Lots of differing views on virtual worlds in the blogosphere at the moment.  Raph is down on virtual worlds as a whole, Hamlet Au takes a more positive stance.

My take?  The whole argument that virtual worlds are doomed, is I think invalid.

Virtual world features and attributes are being more widely adopted than ever, both in pure social environments as well as gameplay worlds.

At the end of the day, it's fun and will always be fun to escape into a fantasy environment where you can roleplay, party, hangout, be creative, meet new people and do whatever you want.

That won't change, and bodes well for virtual environments, especially as the 3d hardware continues to spread throughout the user population

However, several things have changed in the years since There.com was first developed. Expectations are higher:

1/ people want to jump in the action straight away from anywhere, barriers need to be low
2/ they expect their 3d games now to look great
3/ people are spending more time in facebook and in the browser (and so, less time out of them)
4/ people want to see diversity, new things, a sense of aliveness (the "stream" of new content)

Looking at it through this lens, There.com struggling is understandable:

1/ a large download, then learning many functions takes patience(!) (which users now don't have)
2/ avatars looked dated compared with other platforms like IMVU that continued to innovate
3/ can't tap into where people are ie- on facebook and in browser (fundamental limitation of clients)
4/ UGC works best when there are less limits, just look at the amazing catalog in Second Life


Personally, I think the future belongs to those 3d games and worlds platforms that can get new users into the action in seconds, be exposed to diversity and give them the desire to engage more (and spend money!) 

Everyone needs to lift their game (our own world included), and that's a great thing for users and the industry as a whole...

Thoughts on There.com closing

The same week Linden Labs unveiled a huge improvement to their Second Life service, another service, There.com announced its shutdown, a very sad day for all.

 
ArianeBrodie in MTV Laguna Central

Lots of differing views on virtual worlds in the blogosphere at the moment.  Raph is down on virtual worlds as a whole, Hamlet Au takes a more positive stance.

My take?  The whole argument that virtual worlds are doomed, is I think invalid.

Virtual world features and attributes are being more widely adopted than ever, both in pure social environments as well as gameplay worlds.

At the end of the day, it's fun and will always be fun to escape into a fantasy environment where you can roleplay, party, hangout, be creative, meet new people and do whatever you want.

That won't change, and bodes well for virtual environments, especially as the 3d hardware continues to spread throughout the user population

However, several things have changed in the years since There.com was first developed. Expectations are higher:

1/ people want to jump in the action straight away from anywhere, barriers need to be low
2/ they expect their 3d games now to look great
3/ people are spending more time in facebook and in the browser (and so, less time out of them)
4/ people want to see diversity, new things, a sense of aliveness (the "stream" of new content)

Looking at it through this lens, There.com struggling is understandable:

1/ a large download, then learning many functions takes patience(!) (which users now don't have)
2/ avatars looked dated compared with other platforms like IMVU that continued to innovate
3/ can't tap into where people are ie- on facebook and in browser (fundamental limitation of clients)
4/ UGC works best when there are less limits, just look at the amazing catalog in Second Life


Personally, I think the future belongs to those 3d games and worlds platforms that can get new users into the action in seconds, be exposed to diversity and give them the desire to engage more (and spend money!) 

Everyone needs to lift their game (our own world included), and that's a great thing for users and the industry as a whole...