ScottVee Gaming

Another game from the classic era (1990s) that I played a lot back then.  "Master of Magic" by Microprose.  There is a version available from gog.com for $2.99 which comes nicely packaged with a launcher app called "Gog Galaxy" that knows how to setup DOSBox behind the scenes so the game just came up full screen, ready to play. Of course, considering the anticipation, I got one of the worst starts I have ever seen.  I was stuck on a tiny island no more than 5x5 hexes.  Nowhere to build a new settlement, and the few pieces I did build ran out of money quickly due to bad location of my only town.  But it was nice to see those old familiar screens again. This was a clone of the original Civilization (which I also played for hours on end), except that your generals are wizards who have spells that can affect the battles.  There are also power nodes of various elements, and a whole other dimension you can expand into.  Instead of the usual troop types and tanks (etc), y

Continuing my previous post of retro "2-1/2 D" games from the 90s, I was able to get Moraff World running in DOSBox at a usable size by hitting Alt-Enter for full-screen mode. After playing for another hour or so and finally dying, here are some tips and observations: The main hazards are the unmarked pits ("chutes") that drop you down to lower levels where you are less likely to survive.  As soon as I fall into a pit, I look for the nearest ladder back up, but sometimes fall down another pit before I can get there.  Once you have found a pit, it stays on the map as a "*" symbol.  I ended up down on level 10 as a level 2 PC, and it did not go well. One time I fell down a chute to a room with no ladders or doors.  You can bump into walls to look for secret passages, and sometimes walk right through the wall.  But when there are no exits at all, you have to hit D to dig a hole in the floor.  This is pretty funny, with some text messages to entertain you.  Od

About the Merge X3 game I mentioned a few posts ago.  One thing that bugs me with the 2048 games is that they can go on forever.  In this case, if you do get stuck (no open spaces left) it only costs 30 gems to clear the middle of the board and keep going.  I have 4500 coins, so that is essentially endless.  I only used that hack one time. Drag drag drag.  It's not the best use of a human mind ;-) but sometimes we're just in that mood for doing nothing. When I saw that the overall player rankings are based on the highest tile discovered, I only had about 8 tiles to go to move up to the top.   ... and there I am.  #1 player in the world. I do enjoy playing less-popular games, since you have a greater chance of actually ranking in the top zillion players.  For me, for now, getting to #1 counts as beating the game.  Been there, topped off.  On to the next challenge. I won't uninstall it right away.  I will keep an eye for future updates and see what they come up with. Nov 11 u

We played the Pirate's Cove mini golf course, and with only a few people playing, we could take our time.  We forgot to get a scorecard but whatever ... we don't play for points anyway.  Just hit the ball and have fun, though with the freeway 100 feet away the whole area smelled like gas.  We were behind a couple who never heard of the rule to pick up your ball after five shots and move on.  So I had time to check out the design of the place.  The first big structure looked like the final scene of Butch Cassidy but with stairs up and over and down to the next hole, then stairs back up the fake mountain with the water pouring down the side.   We were overtaken by a couple with two hyperactive little girls who walked all over the hole we were at, so we just let them go first and move on to bug other people.  Around hole 7 there was an orange cat in the bushes, looking content with itself.  Around hole 9 we both felt suddenly faint.  That was fun.  We alost gave up and left but th

Saturday off.  We dropped Dory at doggie day care and went out to Boomers in Vista to play around and try some miniature golf. The air hockey table took our $1 swipe, but there was no puck.  By the time I got a new puck from the lady at the prize table, the air hockey table was only barely blowing air, so it was a half game that went on way too long, and Anne ended up hurting her back.  Off to a good start. We played a round of miniature golf and will cover that separately. The arcade games were mostly disappointing.  About one out of four card swipes did nothing: took the money and did not activate.  I'm not sure we ever got a full minute of play time on any of the big machines on the main floor.   There was a two-seat fishing game with cute graphics.  You hit a button to drop your hook down, and it hooks the first fish in the way and then you crank a handle to reel it up.  Really well implemented: it was a challenge to get past those top annoying fish to get tp the good ones

This game-in-a-game just appeared in Backpack Merge.  You have to clear Stage 3 to get the button.  It's a simple roll-and-move game, and your goal is to get stars and bonuses.  The stars count on the bonus bar at the top, so it takes 40 stars to get that first bonus.  Come here when you see the red dot on the game icon on the main page, and click the green Go button to claim dice for completing quests.  You can get a purple "magic die" by watching an ad. Then, on the main board, click to roll dice and move.  Some of the odd bits: - the crystal ball at top left highlights one of the stars on the board -- I could not see a reason - the train zooms you over to the right to the 300 magic dust - the jail at top right gives you three chances to roll doubles (feels like Monopoly) but you always get out anyway - the checkerboard on the right edge appears to swap the entire board from a right-half to a left-half. - the lucky die lets you pick a number from 1 to 6 to move where yo