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Blood Bowl


Posted in Gamechangers

Back in 1987 Games Workshop took the Warhammer universe to the football field, with the result being Blood Bowl, a tongue-in-cheek miniatures game that was easy to learn, play and get addicted to.  In the mid-90’s a PC video game version of Blood Bowl was produced with disappointing results.  In mid 2009 a new PC version was launched via digital download, but now, early in 2010, a boxed and patched version that includes a new, playable race is available at retailers.  For those that have seen the new, boxed edition, the easiest way to describe Blood Bowl is a turn-based NFL Blitz with Orcs, Elves and Dwarves.
“…a heck of a lot of fun in some areas, and a heck of a lot of frustration in others.”

Cyanide, the publisher of this latest version of Blood Bowl, has produced a title that is true to the board game, a heck of a lot of fun in some areas, and a heck of a lot of frustration in others. (more…)

Review: God of War III


Posted in Gamechangers

God of War III picks up exactly where God of War II left off.  Kratos, defiant, has challenged his father Zeus and threatens the very foundations of Mount Olympus in his bid for vengeance.  Riding astride the Earth Mother Titan Gaia, Kratos ascends the cliff face of Olympus as Zeus dispatches his fellow Gods against the other Titans that threaten his seat of power.

As much strife as Kratos faces, this release has faced more.  With game director David Jaffe leaving Sony of America and creating his own shop, would the God of War series crumble or could it stand up with its predecessors, raising the bar for action titles once again?  I’m very pleased to report that it not only meets the level of the PS2 games, it exceeds it in every conceivable way.  I try to be very objective in my reviews, but brace yourself as I have very little negative to say about God of War III.  Yea…it’s that good. (more…)

The Game Loop


Posted in Gamechangers

Introduction
The game loop is the heartbeat of every game, no game can run without it. But unfortunately for every new game programmer, there aren’t any good articles on the internet who provide the proper information on this topic. But fear not, because you have just stumbled upon the one and only article that gives the game loop the attention it deserves.

Thanks to my job as a game programmer, I come into contact with a lot of code for small mobile games. And it always amazes me how many game loop implementations are out there. You might wonder yourself how a simple thing like that can be written in different ways. Well, it can, and I will discuss the pros and cons of the most popular implementations, and give you the (in my opinion) best solution of implementing a game loop.
The Game Loop
Every game consists of a sequence of getting user input, updating the game state, handling AI, playing music and sound effects, and displaying the game. This sequence is handled through the game loop. Just like I said in the introduction, the game loop is the heartbeat of every game. In this article I will not go into details on any of the above mentioned tasks, but will concentrate on the game loop alone. That’s also why I simplified the tasks to only 2 functions: updating the game and displaying it. (more…)

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