Soren Johnson has a google tech talk video up on youtube (hat tip thanks to Inge) that features his “Playing To Lose: Good vs. Fun AI” presentation. At approximately the 4 minute mark you can see a screen shot of the map of Armageddon Empires on one of the slides. That’s pretty cool 
I’ve come up with a way to re-size the viewing space for both Armageddon Empires and Solium Infernum to 800 by 600 so that it can function on netbooks which usually have the resolution height fixed at 600. The results are not as pretty as the regular resolution but everything seems to work just fine. If you want to give your copy of the games a go on your netbook you can apply either of these two “mods.” If you have any feedback then you can either email me at my info or support emails or just post in the forums.
Solium Infernum Netbook Mod ZIP Version 1.06a or better required
Armageddon Empires Netbook Mod ZIP Version 1.08 Tip of the Spear or better required
After you download the .zip file you must overwrite one file in the install directory for each game. The install directory is typically C:\Program Files\Cryptic Comet\Game Name i.e. Armageddon Empires or Solium Infernum.
IMPORTANT: The mods ONLY affect full screen mode and will not work with the windowed executable. The mods compress the view area into a 800 by 600 view space so that there is no clipping on a netbook.
I realized when I signed up for the $5 a month shop at Cafe Press that I was not going to be the next Penny Arcade t-shirt shop. I added 3 or 4 bucks to the already high prices that Cafe Press charges thinking that I might make back the fee and also the cost of getting the graphics made….although my sister did the work and she does a lot of work for me with a deep big brother discount and is a bargain to say the least. But after you add shipping who wants to pay $20 for a mouse pad or coffee cup? Anyway, I’ve decided to change the prices to just cost ($10.99 cafe press base cost) and offer it as a service to any player fans who are crazy enough to want it…….crazy in a good way of course.
Thanks to all the crazy people who have purchased AE and SI.
Cryptic Comet Souvenir Shop
Tom Chick and Jason Lutes talk about SI and AE but make sure you listen to the whole thing as the discussion of emergent narrative is absolutely awesome and thought provoking…especially the examples cited. I’m in the early game design planning stages (when I get burned out on bug fixing and AI tweaking stretches) of my next project and emergent narrative is going to be a big part of the experience that I want to provide.
Also, just to set the record straight: The writing talent on display in the flavor text is completely attributable to Russell Marsh. And Russell tells me that he has made some very subtle literary allusions throughout the texts.
….Where the real money from the game is made.
I made a mouse pad a while back but like so many things I never really finished it off and got a Cafe Press shop online and integrated into my Cryptic Comet website. I do have a shop up now. You can catch it here if you want to check out the mouse pad.
My idea is to add some coffee mugs, another mouse pad and maybe a flame thrower. If you have any favorite images from AE that you would like to see on such bling bling then let me know by replying to this thread in the forums. List your top 5 or so images and I’ll make a tally to get an idea what the most popular images are. Then I’ll try and get some merchandise up on the Cafe Press shop.
A player nick named “Keypunch” has put up an extremely clever deck for warlords of the wastelands to play as a neutral “corporation” called The Underhive. The deck is composed of a real rogues gallery of the independent units in the game. You can check out the deck here:
And get a nice AAR here:
Needless to say, AE is not the most user friendly game to mod so just getting this to work is really an accomplishment. The whole thematic approach though is what really sends it over the top. If you ever wondered what it would be like to throw Casca, ExU-88 and the Duke together and run around the map with Dune Raiders then this is the deck for you. Just a word of warning though, make sure your wasteland skills are up to snuff. It’s not really an easy deck if you don’t really know your stuff.
I’m an amateur systems analyst with a basic grasp of economics….enough to consistently lose money by buying high and selling low. However, even my amateur eye blinks and then widens in disbelief at the above graphic courtesy of the St. Louis Federal Reserve. How does a complex and not really completely understood system react to an input spike like that? I don’t know and don’t believe those economists with their econometrics and fancy words like regression analysis….they don’t have a clue either. Behold the above graphic and know that you are looking at our Doom. Excuse me while I go corner the market on wheel barrows before everybody needs one to haul their cash around in to go get a loaf of bread.
Cyberstratege has launched an online version of their excellent strategy gaming magazine. You have to be able to “Parlez” because the site is in French but you can see some of the great coverage they have given Armageddon Empires.
Inconceivable!
If you have just a free bit of time and you are looking for a great short story (with more chapters possibly coming) then check out this post in the Cryptic Comet forums by Grottnikk.
I’ve talked before about how an emergent narrative is one of the reasons that I like playing games like AE, Civ, SMAC, Dominions etc. This short vignette could more or less have occured in the game… perhaps some gameplay event like it inspired Grottnikk. At any rate a big thanks to Grottnikk for sharing the story in the forums.
