Sorry, you must be a member of this group to do that.
Bill Loguidice's Blog, page 72
February 12, 2018
Up to 90% off Steam games in the Valentine Sale
The Valentine Sale just launched in the Humble Store on Monday, February 12 at 10 a.m. Pacific time! The sale will be live through Friday, February 16 at 10 a.m. Pacific time.
The post Up to 90% off Steam games in the Valentine Sale appeared first on Armchair Arcade.
February 8, 2018
Aegis Defenders, co-op 2D Action-Platformer combined with Tower-Defense combat is out today!
Discover a beautiful place lost to time, brimming with dangerous beasts, forgotten ruins, and powerful relics. Switch between four different characters at anytime, each with their own unique, upgradeable arsenals. Each of the 18 expansive levels concludes in a Tower Defense Battle – adapt your strategy to ever evolving challenges! Aegis Defenders is available for Steam, Sony PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch.
EXPLORE
Uncover a Gorgeous 16-bit World
The look and feel of Aegis Defenders is a love letter to an era of games when the sprite graphics of games like Chrono Trigger, Super Metroid, and the Legend of Zelda captured our imaginations. Featuring 16-bit inspired sprite visuals, every detail in the world of Aegis is painstakingly hand painted.
BUILD
Defense Inspired Combat
Aegis Defenders features fast-paced, flexible combat fueled by defense mechanics. Players must utilize Bart’s ability to craft powerful defensive and offensive structures as well as Clu’s arsenal of firearms and traps to survive an onslaught of monsters coming from all directions. With the ability to combine and upgrade Bart and Clu’s abilities on the fly using our “Fusion System,” no two playthroughs are alike.
DEFEND
Dynamic Character Swapping
The dynamic character swapping feature allows players to switch between up to 4 characters at anytime. Survival will depend on the player’s ability to utilize the passive abilities of inactive characters just as effectively as active characters.
TOGETHER
Cooperative & Tailored Gameplay
Too dangerous to go alone? Play the entire story campaign cooperatively with a friend using our drop-in/drop-out splitscreen co-op, or if you’re looking for a challenge, try testing your skill with our multiple difficulty tiers.
FEATURES
Play as up to four different heroes at once using our dynamic character swapping system, each with their own unique set of equipment and abilities:
BART: The Engineer
CLU: The Hunter
KAIIM: The Monk
ZULA: The Thief
Utilize an arsenal of over 20+ different turrets & traps to defeat massive waves of enemies
Play with a friend at any time with Drop-in / Drop-out local splitscreen Co-op
Upgrade your equipment through an in-game shop and unlock new “fusions” that allow heroes to combine turrets with themselves or even each other
Experience an epic story that spans across the world of Elam
Strategize your way to victory across 18 different levels and an estimated 8-10 hours of gameplay
The post Aegis Defenders, co-op 2D Action-Platformer combined with Tower-Defense combat is out today! appeared first on Armchair Arcade.
February 7, 2018
Pay what you want for Humble Book Bundle: Geek Gals
Here’s the link. Offer expires 2018-02-21 11:00:00 PST.
Who run the world? Gals. Pore over a gal-lon of books by, for, or about ladies, including Paper Girls, Bitch Planet, Jem and the Holograms, The Fangirl’s Guide to the Galaxy, Lumberjanes, and Getting Started with Adafruit Flora. Plus, your purchase will support Girls Who Code. Gals: we run this motha.
Pay what you want. All together, these comics and books would cost over $311. Here at Humble Bundle, you choose the price and increase your contribution to upgrade your bundle! This bundle has a minimum $1 purchase.
Read them anywhere. The books in this bundle are available in PDF, ePUB, and MOBI formats, and most of the comics are available in CBZ, PDF, and ePub, so they work on your computer, e-readers, iPads, cell phones, and a wide array of mobile devices! Coady & The Creepies, Teen Dog, and Slam! are available in PDF and CBZ. Instructions and a list of recommended reading programs can be found for the books here and the comics here.
Support charity. Choose where the money goes – between the publisher and Girls Who Code via the PayPal Giving Fund. For details on how this works, click here. If you like what we do, you can leave us a Humble Tip too!
The Humble Book Bundle: Geek Gals
The post Pay what you want for Humble Book Bundle: Geek Gals appeared first on Armchair Arcade.
February 6, 2018
Review: BESTEK Cordless Stick Vacuum – 2 in 1 Handheld/Upright Lithium Rechargeable Vacuum
Although we have a still functional Dyson DC07 upright vacuum from back in late 2007, with three floors in our house, including a basement, it’s not the most practical solution to keeping our mostly non-carpeted floors clean. While the Dyson has a generous power cord length and a 17 foot hose, both are still restrictive in their own ways. Enter the BESTEK Cordless Stick Vacuum, one of a new breed of more versatile vacuums.
How it arrived.
The box.
The BESTEK is a 2-in-1 that can function both as an upright vacuum and as a handheld vacuum. It has a removable, rechargeable lithium battery (26V 500MA 150W) that, once fully charged, provides power for up to 25 minutes using its low power mode, which is more than enough for most cleaning tasks, particularly given how light and flexible the actual vacuum is (1.6KG, or 3.5lbs.). The light weight and quick access really do make short work of vacuuming.
What’s inside.
The accessories.
In use, the vacuum is reasonably quiet, particularly in comparison to our old Dyson. The dirt bin capacity of 0.4L, or about 1.6 US legal cups, is more than adequate for doing a floor or two before needing emptying, particularly if cleaning is done on a regular basis. In fact, that was the biggest downside to using the Dyson for us. It made clean-ups more of a chore than they already were, so we reserved thorough vacuuming for once a week at best, and often a week or two longer at worst. Now, with the BESTEK, we can do multiple cleanings throughout the week without a second thought.
The heart of the unit.
In upright vacuum mode, the swivel head makes maneuvering easier. It’s similarly easy to pop off the main part of the vacuum, snap in the desired attachment, and use it as a traditional handheld, which is easier to get into couch cushions and trickier parts of stairs. While I would prefer that to be a one-step process like on some other vacuums of this type, it’s still a quick enough changeover.
Here’s a short video:
A post shared by Bill Loguidice (@bill_loguidice) on Feb 6, 2018 at 3:00pm PST
While the BESTEK comes with some attachments and the required AC power adapter, it doesn’t come with a dock, stand, or wall mount of any type. The AC adapter plugs directly into the battery, which you can remove or just leave in the vacuum.
Overall, in terms of value, performance, and ease-of-use, the BESTEK definitely delivers.
Pluses:
– Great value
– Light
– Good suction power, particularly in its high power mode
– Good run-time
– Comes with different attachments
Minuses:
– No dock or wall mount
– Switching to handheld mode is a two step process
Summary:
A lightweight, high performance, and versatile 2-in-1 rechargeable vacuum.
Thanks to BESTEK for the review unit.
The post Review: BESTEK Cordless Stick Vacuum – 2 in 1 Handheld/Upright Lithium Rechargeable Vacuum appeared first on Armchair Arcade.
Name your own price for Steam games in The Humble Bundle’s Best of 2017
Here’s the link. Offer expires 2018-02-20 11:00:00 PST.
Bundleception. 2017 feels like a dream, doesn’t it? Well, this bundle is real, and it’s full of favorite games from last year’s bundles. Get titles like Five Nights at Freddy’s: Sister Location, GoatSimulator, and Dead by Daylight. Plus, not to put ideas in your head, but your purchase can even support a charity of your choice. Mind: blown.
Pay what you want. Normally, the total cost for these games is as much as $137. Here at Humble Bundle, though, you choose the price!
DRM-free and on Steam. All of the games in this bundle are available on Steam. Death Road to Canada, Turmoil, and Hacknet are also available DRM-free. Pay $1 or more to access Steam keys. Please check out the full system requirements here prior to purchasing.
Support charity. Choose where the money goes – between the developers and a charity of your choice via the PayPal Giving Fund. If you like the bundle or like what we do, you can leave us a Humble Tip too!
The Humble Bundle’s Best of 2017
The post appeared first on Armchair Arcade.
February 5, 2018
Name your own price for great mobile Android games!
Here’s the link. Offer expires 2018-02-19 11:00:00 PST.
Fun – now, with extra mobility! Death Road to Canada? Star Vikings Forever? Even the titles of the mobile games in this bundle are awesome. Pick up a few new games to keep you and your Android device happy wherever you go. Plus, you can support a charity of your choice with your purchase!
Pay what you want. Here at Humble Bundle, you choose the price and increase your contribution to upgrade your bundle! This bundle has a minimum $1 purchase.
DRM-free for Android. All games in this bundle are available DRM-free exclusively for Android. (Mushroom 11 comes with an artbook in PDF, too!) Some games may have minimum device requirements in order to run properly. For more information, please check the full system requirements here. Android is a trademark of Google Inc.
Support charity. Choose where the money goes – between the developers and, if you’d like, a charity of your choice via the PayPal Giving Fund. If you like the bundle or like what we do, you can leave us a Humble Tip too!
The Humble Mobile Bundle 22
The post appeared first on Armchair Arcade.
The VR Sale is LIVE in the Humble Store!
The VR Sale just launched in the Humble Store on Monday, February 5 at 10 a.m. Pacific time! The sale will be live through Friday, February 9 at 10 a.m.Pacific time. Here’s the link!
The post The VR Sale is LIVE in the Humble Store! appeared first on Armchair Arcade.
The Apple II and the Mockingboard – promise unfulfilled
As I continue to optimize what remains of my collection, I’ve been focusing a bit lately on my Apple IIe Platinum (after a few hours with a nice multi-cart on my Atari 1200XL). Previously I “fixed” the keyboard, and now I have both a single and dual Mockingboard configuration working (and, after this posting, I set up my CFFA3000 v1.3).
For those who don’t know, the Mockingboard was an expensive add-on card for the Apple II series, first released in 1981. It went through several revisions and clones (including modern recreations) over the years and was really the best way to enhance the Apple II’s meager built-in sound capabilities (of course, the Phasor was no slouch, just hard to find).
As with most add-ons, the catch with the Mockingboard was the lack of support. Here are the known software titles that support it (not counting some modern homebrew stuff, like Alien Clonepure):
Adventure Construction Set
Apple Cider Spider (Sierra)
Berzap! – A clone of the classic arcade game, Berzerk!
Broadsides (SSI)
Crimewave – Speech supported
Crypt of Medea – Speech supported
Cybernoid Music Disk
Guitar Master – Guitar tutoring
Lady Tut, specific Mockingboard version
Lancaster (Silicon Valley Systems)
Microbe (Synergistic)
Mockingboard software (Sweet Micro Systems)
Mockingboard Developers Kit
Mockingboard Speech Developers Kit
Music Construction Set, different revisions do more as released
Music Star – The OEM version did not support the Mockingboard, it was later patched by the underground to use the Mockingboard instead of the proprietary hardware that shipped with it.
Night Flight
One on One – Opening sequence music only
Phasor software (Applied Engineering)
Popeye
Rescue Raiders v1.3 – (SSI263 speech only)
Silent Service (Microprose)
Skyfox
Spy Strikes Back
Thunder Bombs
Ultima III, original release did not support the Mockingboard
Ultima IV
Ultima V – Supported two Mockingboards
Under Fire (Ralph Bossom’s)
Willy Byte
Zaxxon, specific Mockingboard version
Not a big list and it’s sometimes hard to find the Mockingboard-specific versions. Now, I kept an original, boxed Mockingboard, as well as one of the new Mockingboard v2.1 recreations with slots for the two speech chips, which I also populated (2 x SSI-263P Speech Synthesizer). Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, I could find no way to test the speech. I’m still hoping someone has an answer, because the programs that claim to support speech don’t seem to support it (at least the versions I tried).
I had better luck testing the music capabilities of the Mockingboard v2.1 in slot 4. Most games that said they worked with it – including the Penguin titles that only support the original model of the Mockingboard – worked fine.
Since I’m only aware of one game, Ultima V, that supports two Mockingboards and a full 12 voice soundtrack, I popped the original Mockingboard in slot 5 and decided to give it a go. It turns out that each Mockingboard needs to be connected to its own set of speakers, but I had an ace-in-the-hole with a guitar amplifier, which could take and mix both inputs at the same time. Here’s the result:
Testing dual Mockingboards on an Apple IIe with 12 voices using Ultima V.
A post shared by Bill Loguidice (@bill_loguidice) on Feb 4, 2018 at 6:06pm PST
Now, to be honest, I really couldn’t tell a great deal of difference between one card with six voices and two cards with 12 voices. It seemed like only occasional notes/additions were played on the secondary card (tested by pulling each plug side), so I don’t even think Ultima V uses all 12 voices. It’s maybe 8 or 9. I could be wrong, though.
As for me, I’m keeping the modern Mockingboard in there and will eventually get around to selling the original Mockingboard. It’s hard enough finding a use for one card, let alone two. Disappointing, but understandable given the cost of these at the time.
UPDATE: Thanks to my shoddy memory, I forgot that Great Hierophant on AtariAge put together a brilliant spreadsheet with far more software support info.
The post The Apple II and the Mockingboard – promise unfulfilled appeared first on Armchair Arcade.
February 3, 2018
Firmware update for 8Bitdo AP40 Apple II Retro Receiver and Bluetooth Controller
As I continue to optimize what remains of my collection, I’ve been coming across items that inevitably need firmware or other updates. One such device is 8Bitdo’s AP40 retro receiver, which is a Bluetooth dongle for Apple II computers that can work with a cosmetically matching 8Bitdo controller or other types of Bluetooth controllers. Originally a Kickstarter, where I procured mine from, both items are now available exclusively – and expensively – from 8Bitdo’s official AliExpress store (Update: it looks like they just carry the extra special edition of the gamepad now, no dongle anymore).
Anyway, the reason there’s a need for a firmware update is that the stock firmware (at least at the time I got mine) does not support the full range of the Apple II’s analog zones. Unfortunately, the official 8Bitdo support site does not list the product at all anymore, so I both contacted 8Bitdo support and also asked at the Apple II Enthusiasts Facebook group. As is par for the course, I received a helpful response first from the Facebook group.
While it still doesn’t provide the full analog range, there is a beta firmware that does significantly improve it. It’s available here via Facebook.
I then heard back from 8Bitdo’s support. They stated:
"Hello there.
AP40=N30/F30 Pro
http://support.8bitdo.com/
AP40 is a special edition, just download N30/F30 Pro firmware.
Thank you for contacting us."
So that’s option 2. Or it would be if they didn’t misunderstand and give me the update instructions for the gamepad rather than the dongle. I updated the gamepad anyway, which is, fortunately, still supported and usable with more than just this particular dongle should I so choose (I won’t).
This is my package from the Kickstarter. I also got an adapter for older Apple II systems, but that’s no longer needed since I’m just down to the Apple IIe Platinum.
Supposedly, updated firmware or not, testing results can vary wildly on a system-by-system basis. In my own testing with the MECC Computer Inspector Disk (also available from the Apple ][ Disk Server) on my Apple IIe Platinum, I found that the beta firmware gave me a good range, but not nearly as good of a range as an original Apple II joystick, in this case a Kraft. Neither gave as good of a range as paddles.
The calibration of the Bluetooth setup was not as good as the standard Kraft joystick.
Regardless of my own results and how your own may vary, at least there is an option for improved performance over the stock firmware. After clarifying to support that I wanted a new firmware for the dongle and not the gamepad, I received this response back:
"Hello there.
The firmware is the same.
Many thanks."
So they don’t even make the beta firmware available. It’s stock all the way for them. Unfortunate to say the least.
Games like Choplifter! are playable with the Bluetooth setup, but there’s no way to adjust the calibration, meaning you have to constantly stay in control of the helicopter, i.e., there’s no neutral hover state.
It was frustrating tracking all of this down, but thanks to the Apple II community and, to a far lesser degree, 8Bitdo’s own support, I was able to sort through it. While this will not be replacing my trusty Kraft joystick any time soon, this does now at least make for a somewhat reasonable backup in case that ever goes kaput. The main downside with 8Bitdo’s controller setup is that there are no analog trim pots, which are pretty essential for tweaking a controller on a per-game basis. So basically the default analog range and tuning of the 8Bitdo controller will either work well for a particular game or it won’t. There’s no way to tweak it one way or the other. As such, we still have to hold out hope for a true, modern analog controller replacement solution for those of us who still like to use original Apple II computer hardware.
Classic Apple II joysticks, like the pictured Kraft, have physical adjustment levers, which is what many Apple II games need.
The post Firmware update for 8Bitdo AP40 Apple II Retro Receiver and Bluetooth Controller appeared first on Armchair Arcade.
February 2, 2018
Dark Souls III is the new Humble Monthly Early Unlock game!
The Humble Monthly for February released Friday, February 2 at 10 a.m. Pacific time, which means it’s time for the new Early Unlock game! The Early Unlock game for March is DARK SOULS III + Ashes of Ariandel DLC! (Customers in those few regions that DARK SOULS III + DLC is unavailable will receive Civilization: Beyond Earth – The Collection). Humble Monthly subscribers can get the game right away for $12, plus more games to come on Friday, March 2 at 10 a.m.Pacific time.
The post Dark Souls III is the new Humble Monthly Early Unlock game! appeared first on Armchair Arcade.
