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BOOT CAMP 237 (02/08/02)
SHAREWARE TOP TEN – Part 3
Over the past two weeks we’ve looked at a lot of useful
freeware and shareware programs so to round off this short series, here’s a
small selection of brain teasers and pointless time-wasters, in other words
here’s some games and puzzles – including some you can make for yourself -- to
while away a few idle moments, just don’t let the boss catch you…
Some of these programs are compressed or ‘zipped’ to make
them smaller, so they can be sent over the Internet more easily. If you missed
part one you will probably need to download a program called WinZip from www.winzip.com, to decompress and extract
‘zip’ files on your PC.
Most of these programs are freeware but in the case of
shareware titles, if you think they are worthwhile and you want to go on using
them please register or pay the licence fee.
PHOTOINVADERS, freeware, 800kb, Windows 9x/NT/2000
http://www.willicommer.de/PhotoInvaders/
Remember Space Invaders? Well here’s a brilliant twist on the
classic alien shoot-em-up. PhotoInvaders is highly customisable and in addition
to changing or designing your own backgrounds and sound effects you can use your
own images and digital photographs of friends, relatives, enemies, even the rich
and famous, in place of those interstellar creepy-crawlies, weapons and
buildings, and then zap the lot of them…
COLOUR MAGIC, freeware, 550kb, Windows 9x/NT
http://newgame.agava.ru/eng/games.html
This deceptively simple looking logic game can be very
challenging. The game take place on a triangular board and the aim is to make
triangles of six balls, using a specific combination of colours and patterns.
There are six difficulty levels, and a ‘Hint Window’ feature, which you will
need, when you get stuck…
SOLITUDE, freeware, 3.6Mb, Windows 9x/NT/2000
http://www.geocities.com/dbergis/freeware.htm
If you’re a fan of the Windows Solitaire game then you really
should have a look at this collection of 91 games. You’ll find all of the
classic variations, plenty of unusual and obscure versions and several entirely
new ones, here’s a small selection: Aces Up, Auld Lang Syne, Baker's Dozen,
Betsy Ross, Black Hole, Blind Patience, Bristol, Calculation, Carpet, Chameleon,
Cribbage Solitaire, Deuces, Eight Off, Fly, Four Kingdoms, Four Seasons,
FreeCell, Gargantua, German Patience, Golf, Indian, King Albert, Klondike, Lady
Betty, Miss Milligan, Moojub, Mount Olympus, Nestor, Osmosis, Peek, Pluto, Poker
Solitaire, Pyramid, Rank and File, Scorpion, Scotch Patience, Shamrocks, Simple
Simon, Six By Six, Spider, Storehouse, Streets and Alleys, Strategy, Sultan, Tam
O' Shanter, Terrace, Thirteens, Thirty Six, Three Shuffles, Thumb and Pouch,
Will 'O The Wisp, Windmill and Yukon
TRAIN DISPATCHER, freeware, 1.8Mb, Windows 9x/NT/2000
http://www.signalcc.com/train2/td2freeware.html
Trains not running on time? Think you could do better? Then
prove it! Train Dispatcher puts you in charge of a virtual railway system. You
have a limited amount of track and resources and a lot of trains that have to
get to their destinations on time. Sounds familiar…?
CHARLIE THE DUCK, freeware, 340kb, Windows 9x
http://www.wieringsoftware.nl/charlie/
Charlie The Duck should revive a few memories for those of
you who grew up with classic arcade games like Donkey Kong and Super Mario
Brothers. Your mission is to help Charlie collect diamonds and coins whilst
avoiding malevolent frogs and angry bees, and the good thing about him being a
duck is that he can swim, so it doesn’t matter if you fall in the water.
WINBOARD, freeware, 2.4Mb, Windows 9x/NT/2000
http://www.tim-mann.org/xboard.html
Winboard is one of the most popular PC chess ‘engines’, used
by a number of computer chess programs (see below). The idea is that it
generates the chessboard graphics but moves are controlled by either human
opponents or by a separate program. The beauty of this system is that it’s an
agreed standard and can be used in many different ways, including playing chess
over the Internet.
GROMIT CHESS, freeware, 233k, Windows 9x/NT/2000
http://home.t-online.de/home/hobblefrank/
The argument over whether computers can ever be as good as
humans at chess will probably never be resolved but the fact is the best PC
programs can make very worthy opponents. Gromit Chess, not to be confused with
an animated plasticine dog of the same name, is designed to work with Winboard
and most novice and middle-rank players should find it quite challenging.
PARMEN 3D CHESS, freeware, 457kb, Windows 9x/NT/2000
http://www.hemptrek.com/parmen.html
And while we’re on the subject of chess, here’s a real
oddity, 3D chess, as seen in various episodes of Star Trek. It’s a stand-alone
game – no need for Winboard -- it’s just you against the computer but you’ll
need Spock’s logic and Data’s Positronic brain to make sense of it so be
prepared to receive a good thrashing…
I.O.T.W.C.L.T.M.B, freeware, 1.5Mb, Windows 9x/NT/2000
http://www.liquidiron.com/invasion.html
Invasion of the Weird Chicken-Like
ThingaMaBobs, since you ask… This somewhat tasteless and gory game involves
shooting alien chicken creatures as they fly across the screen but your ultimate
goal is to destroy the planet with a nuclear weapon. It’s the usual sort of
stuff, with a slightly ironic twist it doesn’t require a great deal of skill but
it’s quite compulsive and there are some good sound effects.
VISUAL PINBALL, freeware, 620kb, Windows 9x/NT/2000
http://www.randydavis.com/vp/intro.htm
This game is still at the beta stage, it seems okay but it’s
probably not something you should download onto a mission-critical PC containing
lots of valuable data… Visual Pinball lets you design your own pinball table,
start with the classic layouts and gameplay of real-world machines or just let
your imagination loose and see what you can come up with.
Next week – keyboard
and mice update
JARGON FILTER
BETA
The last stage in the development of a program, usually very
close to the final commercial release but there may still be some one or two
bugs lurking
ENGINE
Standardised component within a software application,
designed to work in conjunction with other programs
POSITRONIC BRAIN
Perfected by Dr Noonien Soong in 2336, the android Data’s
Positronic brain has an 800 quadrillion bits storage capacity and is capable of
60 trillion operations per second, see: http://www.nd.edu/~ljordan/data.text/creation.html
TOP TIP
Just enough room for one bonus program, it’s:
JIGS@W PUZZLE PROMO CREATOR, freeware, 1.7Mb, Windows
9x/NT/2000
http://www.tibosoftware.com/jppcreator.htm
This simple to use little program turns any image – it could
be a photograph, drawing or even your company logo – into a jigsaw puzzle, which
you can then send by email or load onto your web site, for a competition or
promotion.
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