Sierra On-Line: The Continuing Adventures

Sierra On-Line legacy

Sierra On-Line wasn’t just an adventure game company from the 1980s. For millions of fans, it was the best game company by Ken and Roberta Williams! They found the best game designers to join them in creating "Sierra games": high quality, engaging, and cutting edge experiences, providing endless hours of entertainment. From slaying dragons, battling the Red Baron, zooming through space, to multiplayer online card and board games, Sierra had something for everyone.

AGS to Kickstarter

As companies like Software Etc closed up, the Sierra games disappeared, but the legacy of the games lived on!  Adventure Game Studio provided new tools to creat and remake adventures, and Anonymous Game Developers faithfully updated King’s Quest classics.

Noting fan's continued enthusiasm, Sierra’s legendary game designers have returned with crowd-sourced Kickstarter campaigns, exceeding $2 million in funds raised for a new variety of adventures!  New Sierra-style adventures from the original Sierra game designers are on the way!

Where are they now?

Starting with Leisure Suit Larry, Al Lowe is bringing the legend back with a stellar team! Check out what they have going on now! 

And there have been more Kickstarter fundraisers!  Jane Jensen is creating a new game called Moebius!   Mark Crowe and Scott Murphy, creators of Space Quest, provided a series of prototypes unveiled during their Kickstarter campaign! The Two Guys From Andromeda's funded game, SpaceVenture, starring Ace Hardway and Rooter, includes Cluck Y’Egger, a familiar feathered friend! Cluck needs your help in a new iPhone and iPad minigame, as fan anticipation builds for their new SpaceVenture adventure game series! 

Ken Allen has successfully funded a new CD called “Under the Half Dome”! And Lori and Corey Cole, game designers of Quest for Glory, have a new game on the horizon!

More great game designers and a series reboot?

Fan interest is building for games like Jim Wall’s Police Quest series! Also, could there be a reboot of the King’s Quest series?   

Ken and Roberta Williams are retired, cruising and enjoying it!  Roberta is writing and and made a special appearance to support the SpaceVenture Kickstarter campaign!  Ken has a blog platform that rivals WordPress, blogs about cruising and has a mobile app and game! Talkspot Connect is a convenient method of mobile blogging on multiple platforms, including Facebook and Twitter, using the power of Ken’s Talkspot platform.  Ken hasn’t totally given up games!  Ken designed the user interface for the new massively multiplayer online game World Trivia Champion. 

New Kickstarter projects funded to continue the Sierra tradition

Two new groups of developers have successfully funded new Sierra-style adventure games: Himalaya Studios and Infamous Quests! 

Sierra is definitely back!

New titles from the game designers of classic Sierra On-Line adventure games are scheduled to be released over the coming months! Fans are getting prepared to pore over every pixel! 

Creating a 3D Game for Mobile Devices

How to Make an Indie 3D Mobile Game

Infinity Blade and other great 3D games are out for iPhone and iPad, so I wanted to make a fun 3D game and see how far I could push the mobile hardware.  A lot of the games look they come from the Xbox, with polished and smooth animation.

I looked at Unity, Cocos3D and other solutions and decided on Cocos3D since it integrates nicely with Cocos2D and Objective-C.  Using the MashUp object test app, I created a 3D starting room, with a 2D floor, background and 3D objects moving back and forth, from the left to the right and back again.

The Plan

Turrets are a fun gameplay concept, with interesting game mechanics, collisions and controls.  But I needed a subject for the game and a story to go along with it.  The Two Guys From Andromeda had put together a new Spaceventure kickstarter, so I chatted with them a bit about using one of their characters in my game.

When their adventure game project was greenlit, I put together a proposal to star their new Cluck Y’Egger character in a 3D game.  They accepted!

Mark Crowe and I had been working on some 3D models during the kickstarter, and his team had a Cluck model ready to go.  During this time I was collecting other models for the game.  Also I had a high score table and menu ready with Cocos2D.

Putting it Together

As we put the game together, I would update 2D resources with new files and graphics, and 3D models as animations were updated.  I created transitions for levels, and set in motion the firing mechanism for the eggs.  As we played around with the alpha version, shooting eggs at squadrons as they flew by, we formulated a plan for the beta.

The models all worked great.  Cluck has a number of character animations, the eggs have a nice trajectory and collide nicely with enemy ships.  The target reticule is between Cluck and the background, but was then removed and remapped as a 2D sprite for better quality.

I created a couple scheduling models that would kick off events during the level, such as motions and missile firing.  After a couple successful hits, you get upgrades for your egg cannon!  It was fun to play, and we filled out 20 levels with different flight patterns and ship designs.

Music and sound effects were added and timed with events to give a full cartoon atmosphere in 3D. The game has a dramatic feel as you launch back into space and plays great with satisfying egg-splosions.  Upgrades are available to shoot 2 eggs at once, use extra large eggs for easier aiming or regenerate health.

Rolling it Out

After a few months of development and testing, it was polished and ready to ship as version 1.0.  We made a few adjustments and fixes for 1.1 since then.  Let us know what you think of Cluck Y’Egger!

You can download Cluck Y'Egger at http://appstore.com/cluckyegger or visit http://titanbase.wordpress.com/cluck-yegger for more information.

Fun new screensaver! Kaleidoscope Spirals

Here's a fun new app for the iPad: Kaleidoscope Spirals Screensaver HD!

Video demonstration: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkXWsAVXKUo

Download the new one here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/kaleidoscope-spiral-screensaver/id526945272?mt=8

HTML5 Audio on Safari iOS Browser

Safari on iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad now features good audio support, for web games and web apps, using HTML5.  Check out the details here:
http://developer.apple.com/library/safari/#documentation/AudioVideo/Conceptual/Using_HTML5_Audio_Video/Device-SpecificConsiderations/Device-SpecificConsiderations.html

For graphic and audio-intensive apps, it's probably better to download the app all in one go, but if the cell phone data plan is taken into consideration and caching is used, anything is possible!

iOS version 5 or above is required, so if the device is on iOS version 3 or 4, there will be no audio. Also, if you are on a cellphone data connection, the audio must be user-activated.

Prepare World Trivia Champion!

This is a fun one!  World Trivia Champion Lite is on the iTunes App Store for FREE!

Basically it's a slick trivia game interface, but it has some modern advancements.  There is live chat, a few leaderboards, plus challenging and fun trivia!  Always something new to learn about, even if I don't know the answer.

I upgraded my copy in the Options menu for more themes and in-game access to add my own trivia!  I know some interesting trivia about a few topics...

Best part: now I can challenge my friends and family wherever they are in the world!  Now let's see if I can hit another 10 question hot streak...

Best iPhone and iPad Apps and Games for 2012

Here are my picks for best iPhone and iPad apps and games for 2012!

Games:
Super Blue Fugu (all iOS devices)
Now you can play Blue Fugu for free!  Can you find Red Fugu?  High Scores are ranked on the Game Center app.  I can see how I compare to other players.  It's a fun one!

Apps:
Talkspot Connect (all iOS devices)
If you're new to blogging, or would like a more personal experience, Talkspot is great!  I actually signed up for their service from the app!  The live blogging is #1 on Talkspot Connect, since I can post directly from the app with Rich Text Formatting.  Best blogging app for 2012 with charts of visitors and lots of other features!

Utilities:
Aquarium Screensaver Pro (iPod/iPhone) 
Aquarium Screensaver HD (iPad)
These are great looking screensavers.  I'm looking forward to updates!  It's like a free subscription to new screensavers!  3D fish would be a nice update.

Ultimate Screensaver Collection (iPod/iPhone)
Ultimate Screensaver Collection HD (iPad)
Found out about this one soon after Aquarium, but I got it since it includes free updates.  I would like more artistic screensavers, but my friends are looking forward to something like a virtual picture frame.  I like the Starfield screensaver!  If you can't find where to change the screensaver, tap your Settings icon for Ultimate Screensaver settings.

Best iPhone Games for 2011

Right now I am playing two games: Tiny Wings from Andreas Illiger (available at: this iTunes link) and Amazing Blue Fugu from Titanbase Productions (available at: this iTunes link).

Looking forward to Game Center support!

Best iPhone and iPad Apps and Games for 2011

In 2011, we expect a lot from our mobile apps!  Here are the best apps so far.

The games and apps I list here work on both the iPhone and iPod Touch, as well as the iPad.  Sometimes the app works differently on the iPad, since you have more room on the top and bottom of the screen.

For reading mail: The best is still the built-in Mail app.  I haven't found anything better, and I like that it works with my Yahoo! e-mail account.  Price: FREE  Pre-installed.

For viewing PDFs: MyPDFs Mobile is great!  It's free and I can quickly store PDFs.  It's perfect for reading e-books or if I want to show my 'virtual' business card (which is a PDF with 60 point fonts, printed in landscape).  I have tried most of them, and I really didn't need the power of Goodreader (#2), but your requirements for features will vary.  Price: FREE  MyPDFs Mobile PDF Viewer on iTunes

For checking the weather: I like The Weather Channel's app presentation better than the built-in Yahoo! Weather app.  Also it's handy to click Local Weather Video and get a quick automated voice summary of the weather report.  Then I can do other things, like finish breakfast.  Price: FREE  TWC App on iTunes  Also check out The Weather Channel Max for more features. Price: $3.99

For puzzle, board and card games: Most people seem to like the puzzle game Angry Birds, but I prefer the card game Card Shark Solitaire, with Bejeweled at #2, since it reminds me of an elaborate slot machine.  Puzzles require skill, but I always come back to Klondike Solitaire.  Card Shark can also be upgraded if you like other card games.  Price: FREE  Card Shark Solitaire on iTunes  Also check out Card Shark Collection Deluxe for more variety and features. Price: $1.99

For action, arcade and fighting games: The most addictive game I have found is the Amazing Blue Fugu from Titanbase Productions.  The concept of the game and weaving through the mine fields is great.  The controls are intuitive, and it doesn't ask you to click fake buttons or balance the phone at odd angles.  It's a new release, so I can't wait to see new baddies.  Price: $0.99  Amazing Blue Fugu on iTunes

For doing something besides listening to my MP3s: Maybe you want to unwind, but you're not sure what you want to listen to.  Or you could be at work and there is a lot of hustle and bustle.  The deadline is approaching and you need to concentrate.  Try White Noise Lite.  Helps mask background noise so you can focus, without the 3 o'clock cup of coffee.  Price: FREE  White Noise Lite on iTunes

Best popular website with a fun App interface: It's a tie!  There are two that are better than anything else.  There are good ones, but these are apps I use all the time.  IMDB Movies & TV and Wikipanion.  Both rely on the web for content, but provide it in a quick-search App format.  Not only do I save a click on Safari, then Bookmarks, then finally the website, but the layouts seem polished.  Price: FREE  IMDB Movies & TV on iTunes  Wikipanion on iTunes

Prices could change in the future, but these are great deals for now.  Total cost of the top apps list is 99 cents, and only a couple bucks more if you want all the features.  That's amazing, but it is 2011, so who knows what we'll see as the year unfolds?  I will look back at this list at the end of the year and compare my "Top Apps".

These reviews are my own opinion, based on my experience, but I'd like to hear about the apps you can't live without.  Share yours in the Comments section.  What are your "must have" apps and games for 2011?

Exclusion layer filter in Paint Shop Pro

What makes up the Exclusion layer filter in Paint Shop Pro? It works a bit differently than the Difference layer filter. The effects are shown below.

In the first screenshot, we see 3 color boxes in a layer called Layer1, set to 100% Normal.  Below that, I have selected 3 more boxes to copy to another layer. If I change Normal to Exclusion, there is no change in the image. This means the Exclusion layer looks the same.  It affects how you see the layers behind it, plus you see the remnants of the Exclusion layer.  Since there is nothing behind it, it shows up Normally on both Normal and Exclusion.  Let's see how it works in layers:

As you can see by my thumbnail overlay on Layer2, I added the boxes I selected from Layer1.  Then I switched the layer mode to Exclusion.  The darker colors are not excluding much... but the bottom brighter areas are shifting.  Look at these ranges: red 100% to white.  But there is a bit of cyan above the 50% mark.  This is the effect of Exclusion.

Here I have removed the color box from Layer1 so that it is transparent.  With nothing to exclude, the box returns to normal.

Instead of transparency in Layer1, what if it was a white box, as shown in the thumbnail?  Here is the effect of exclusion over a white box.  Not only are the colors reversed, but black and white are flipped! This is shown by the fact that the small color select circles have not moved.  This means black and white are both affected, which means this article at about.com is incorrect, as shown by this example.  Black is affected, if you exclude white with black (which the about.com author did not test).

With a black background: here is where the confusion lies. Notice that we flipped black and white above, but here against black we see no effect.  The effect here is "exclude black with black", which leaves us with black. It's a different pixel color calculation than the one above.

As a final test, I have taken a copy of the top box, flipped it, then mirror-imaged it.  What we see now is the bottom box flipped and mirrored, with a normal-looking 3 color box in Exclusion mode above that.  Black color is completely excluded out, another example that all colors are affected with one minor detail: once you hit 0,0,0, you can't go below that. Also, once you hit 255,255,255, you can't go above that.

Hopefully these examples have illustrated how the Exclude filter works in Paint Shop Pro. Unlike Difference, which reverses color and brightness, Exclude works differently, and 'removes' the color from the layer below it.  Also, white and black are absolutes with Exclude, whereas with Difference, they are simply 'flipped'.

New or Used PC Setup - First Steps to Optimize For Speed

Before you install software on a computer, check if you have the Restore CD/DVD.  Run the restore process to return the PC to how it was configured from the factory.  It is best not to deal with any software or licensing issues that come with a used PC, and it's nice to start with a fresh install.  Once you are ready you can begin the process to determine what is on your computer, how it is configured, and what needs to be changed.

The first step is to check the Registry for 'Run' and 'Windows Load' commands to see what starts when the computer boots up.  To run Registry Editor, click Start -> Run and enter REGEDIT.  To find the Run and Load entries in your Registry Editor, search Google for your operating system's "registry locations".  Since the word "run" is used frequently in the Registry, it's best to find the location and navigate directly there.  (Quick tip on finding these entries: Click Edit -> Find in the Registry Editor and search for "RunOnce". Near the RunOnce entry you should fine the "Run" entry. Navigate one level back and you should find the "Load" entry.)

Once you find a branch of Registry keys for 'Run', check each program that is listed.  Search for the program names on Google if you aren't sure what they do.  Disable anything you don't want here by saving the Registry entry for backup, then deleting that specific entry.  Or you can leave the Registry name behind for reference, and clear out the key entry path and executable from the right column.  The Registry won't run any blank entries.

At this point the Registry entries tell you what software is installed on your PC, which will be helpful later.  You also know what device drivers are required by your computer.  To verify that you have checked all start up locations, click Start -> Run and enter MSCONFIG.  Click OK to start the program and check the Startup tab to confirm your start up programs are correct.  This can also be used to temporarily uncheck/deselect start up programs for testing.

Now it's time to check the Administrative Tools or Admin Tools.  If you can't find Administrative Tools on your operating system, search for it at Google by entering "Enable Administrative Tools Vista" or "Enable Administrative Tools Windows XP". It may be hidden by default on your operating system.  For instance, on Windows XP, right-click your Start Menu, click Properties, click Customize, and check the Show Administrative Tools checkbox.

Once the Administrative Tools are enabled, they will show up in your Start menu in a new folder.

Start the Services program in Admin Tools.  Check each Service in the list to determine if it should be disabled. If you are unsure, search for the name of the Service to see what it does.  You can try a Service on Manual, then reboot, to see if the Service was activated by a startup process.

Once you are done checking Services, check the Add/Remove Programs list in your Control Panel to see what you want to uninstall. I usually uninstall trial programs and programs that I don't want to keep. If you have disabled a Service and don't need it again, you may be able to uninstall the application from Add/Remove Programs.  Check Google if you are unsure what a program does for your PC.

Now open your Device Manager and check for any problems.  Problem devices will appear with a yellow triangle with an exclamation mark.

If you can't find your Device Manager, check the screenshots here for Windows XP and Windows 7 Device Manager locations.

Now restart your PC and check your Event Viewer under Administrative Tools for any errors on shutdown or startup.  Some programs may cause errors if they are not closed before shutdown.  Also you can find drivers that aren't working, or missing programs.  Sometimes a program will be updated with a new file version to fix these errors.

At this point, run Windows Update and update your operating system.  Then update any programs that are pre-installed, like antivirus applications or productivity suites, or any programs that do not seem to close properly or run smoothly.

Next run DXDIAG from the Run command to check the status of your audio, video and system driver settings and make sure everything is working.  DirectX Diagnostics can also check that your drivers are WHQL-compliant, which means they will work with DirectX applications.

Finally troubleshooting is done and you are ready to install your own software.  I recommend that you run System Restore now and name the backup something memorable, like "Clean Install".  If you have a Home Server, this is a good time to backup the entire system.  Other backup options are: USB hard disks, CD-ROMs, DVDs and USB Flash drives.

If you want to manually back up your computer, follow these steps:

• Export your entire Registry as 'CleanBackup_TodaysDate.Reg'
• Archive or 'Zip up' all of your "My Documents" files into one or two files (using WinZip).
• Zip up your Desktop files into a file called "Desktop_TodaysDate.zip"
• If you want all application settings, My Docs and Desktop items, zip up complete user folders in the Documents and Settings folder (this location name is different for Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7).
• Copy your backup files to a USB hard disk, CD-ROM or DVD for monthly backups.

This is also a good time to run benchmark applications on your PC.  If your PC's performance changes in the future, you can go back to these benchmarks for reference.

Monitoring your PC and Useful PC Tools

Search Google for these good PC monitoring tools and utilities:

- For hardware monitoring, such as temperature, fan speeds and battery capacity, check out HWMonitor.

- PSTools and SysInternals for Windows Server maintenance. Also works good for workstations and home PC networks.

- If you need a quick virtual printer driver to archive monitoring results, search for PDFCreator on SourceForge. To change the default print size from A4 to Letter, change it in Document Properties 2 in PDFCreator first. Then open Properties in your Printers and Faxes Control Panel and change the default page size under the Printing Preferences button.

- If you need a quick virtual DVD-ROM or CD-ROM drive to show up in Windows Explorer, search for Daemon Tools.

Advanced PC Check-up

If you're comfortable with your PC, check out SysInternals from Microsoft.  Search Google for SysInternals and click on the latest link to find out what is available and download the latest version.

SysInternals and PSTools allow you to manage all aspects of your PC (without having to program an application to do the same thing).

For example, TCPView allows you to monitor your Internet connections.

Computer not responding. Frozen software. PC locked up.

Hit Ctrl-Alt-Delete.  If nothing pops up or it is slow, something is wrong.  If Ctrl-Alt-Del doesn't show you anything, try hitting the Windows key on your keyboard.  Sometimes the Taskbar hides above where it can be viewed on your monitor.

All of your programs are listed on your Task Manager. To close a program, right-click and End Task.

Could be Safari or another browser is using all of your CPU. Sort by CPU percentage in your Application Tasks list so the highest is on top and determine what is running. Only games run full tilt for longer than a few minutes, so make sure no programs are pegged at 99 or 100%.  (It will show it pegged at 49 or 50% on a HT or dual-core CPU.)  If a program is loading or closing, it may take 100% of your CPU.  If you closed a program, but it is still listed here and/or using 100% of your CPU, right-click and End Task.

If this doesn't help and if you still can't do anything, look for a program called Explorer.exe.  End the Task.

Now click File -> Run in Task Manager and type Explorer.exe to restart it.  It should find it automatically and the PC should act like it is booting again.  The taskbar loads and your tray icons will populate.

At this point, your PC should be fine.  If your computer is still not responding, start closing your programs one by one.  It could be a toolbar extension or a printer driver that is loaded.  Check the Event Viewer or System Console to see if anything is noticable.

If you have questions about how to do this with the Event Viewer or other Administrative Tools, check Google for the settings according to your operating system, as it differs between XP, Vista and Windows 7.

Once you have performed these tasks, update any programs that are having issues, and restart your PC.  Once you have fixed the problem, clear your Event Logs so that future errors are easier to spot.

If your PC is not responding, you can also try rebooting into Safe Mode. Continually tap the F8 button on your keyboard when the computer is booting to get to Safe Mode. At that point, your PC should allow you to control it without anything else running. Check the Registry Run commands and other tasks from my Optimization article above. Also, search Google for specific malware infection information: search for the name of the malware to find the fix.

Antivirus Recommendation

I recommend Norton by Symantec or McAfee Antivirus products.  It gives you the piece of mind of a team of professionals working to protect your PC.  They find old viruses and have a good support network.

AVG is good for free anti-virus protection. Also Microsoft Security Essentials works well, and MSE is now available for free from Microsoft. I have not tried AVG or MSE, but they are running OK on friend's PCs.

Download WebServ for PHP and View PHP in Visual Studio

WAMP:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/webserv/

PHP color coding in Visual Studio:
http://www.cumps.be/visual-studio-2008-and-php-coloring/