Currently, a mod can allow you to play Skyrim without any driver-side modding. The Ultra Low Graphics Mod for low-end PCs by Iyzik has compacted all that is necessary for you to play a sort-of-playable [...]]]>

Trying to play Skyrim on a netbook really feels like death.

Remember our past attempts to get Skyrim to work?

Currently, a mod can allow you to play Skyrim without any driver-side modding. The Ultra Low Graphics Mod for low-end PCs by Iyzik has compacted all that is necessary for you to play a sort-of-playable game on your netbook.

Certainly, it looks better than the driver-side mod, but it comes at a cost of frame-rate.

The ULG download contains a script that modifies Skyrim’s .ini files beyond what the game allows you to. This means playing with lower-end textures that even a Morrowind player would describe as “ghastly”.

However, our initial tests show that this mod only gets you a maximum of 15 frames-per-second at 800×600 pixels when played on our system that has a Nvidia ION 2 processor. An error pops up when window mode and 800×450 pixels was selected.

Intel GMA integrated graphics users are still out of luck as the demands of the game are too high.

You’re better off with the driver-side mod.

All of this can be done without additional software. In order to [...]]]>

Red Orchestra 2 streamed from the laptop using Steam’s new In-Home Streaming

Steam’s new beta, In-Home Streaming, will allow you to play almost all the games you can play on a regular desktop/notebook. It works by using your main computer to do all the graphics rendering and processing, and then streaming it to your netbook.

All of this can be done without additional software. In order to activate your In-Home Streaming, you need to activate the Steam beta on two computers. In order to do this, open your Steam client and look for the “Steam” tab on the top-left corner. Click “Settings”. Find “Beta Participation” and click “Change…”. Once in, select “Steam Beta Update” from the drop-down menu.

Look for this in order to activate In-Home Streaming.

The streaming process means your netbook requires nothing more than a good internet connection in order to play games. However, this means that your laptop needs to have more power than usual for you to have a smooth game as it has to encode and send the video.

When Red Orchestra 2 loaded up on the netbook, it felt marvelous. Never had it seemed possible to play such a taxing game on a netbook.

However, playing an online game did show the limits of In-Home Streaming. For one, the internet connection faced many slow downs leading to lag and then suddenly speeding up. This led to the server accusing me of using a “Speed Hack”.

By default, the server compresses the video sometimes to save on bandwidth. You’ll notice a visual quality drop as compared to playing the game on your full-spec computer. The video can sometimes look like a 360p YouTube video played full-screen.

Cities in Motions 2 would not run on an ION 2-equipped netbook. Here it is being streamed.

Steam recommends that you have a minimum of a quad-core CPU for the main computer while the netbook should have a GPU that supports hardware accelerated H264 decoding. You could also lower your resolution and turn off vertical sync.

They also recommend you use a wired network although modern wireless networks work have been reported to work fine.

Steam allows you to set the quality to suit your preference. In “Settings”, you will find a tab called “In-Home Streaming”. There you can decide if you prefer to prioritize quality over smoothness and set limits to the bandwidth.

Add the game to your library by

Immerse yourself in open-map warfare with guns and vehicles.

Steam is offering ARMA: Cold War Assault until Monday 10 a.m. Pacific Time. ARMA: CWA was originally named as Operation Flashpoint and features a large fictional Eastern European map where you will have battles with tanks, aircraft and different weapons such as assault rifles and rocket launchers.

Add the game to your library by following this link.

In VVVVVV, you play as Captain Viridian who has just lost five of his spaceship’s crew members and now he has [...]]]>

Play as Captain Viridian, toggle gravity’s direction while avoiding friendly ghosts and devious spikes.

A mishap happened and your ship was about to crash, leading everyone to hurriedly run to the teleporters. Every one manages to escape into an alternate dimension but you find yourself alone after teleporting.

Good timing, toggling gravity’s direction and some careful consideration would serve you well when playing this game.

In VVVVVV, you play as Captain Viridian who has just lost five of his spaceship’s crew members and now he has to find them. They are littered around the dimension you teleported in. In search of them, you need to deal with the many roadblocks placed around this dimension including spikes and monsters of varying hilarity: monsters with stop signs on their head, friendly ghosts or a speaker shooting out “LIES LIES LIES LIES LIES”.

However, unlike most platformers, VVVVVV requires you to toggle gravity’s direction to get past obstacles. This means you’re either on the floor or the ceiling and this leads to interesting situations where you will have to use quick reflexes and some calculated moves to get past unique obstacles. This game does jog your brainpower quite a bit because of its many levels with a combination of enemies, conveyer belts that can either slow you down if you run against it or speed you up, spikes and crevasses where you can duck from your enemies until it’s safe.

Every level is different and it gives you a challenge every time because no two levels are the same, but thankfully there are checkpoints littered around the game that will save your progress.

What’s even better is that this game does allow you the freedom of exploring the dimension while you’re in search of your other crew members. While not necessarily a sandbox game, this game requires you to move around a universe in search of different areas where your compatriots could be. In search of them, you will find computers littered with cryptic-but-humorous messages and tokens that will unlock more of the 8-bit, looped-but-never-boring, music track. Slowly but surely, you will reveal larger areas of the map and discover discrete areas all blend into one.

The game runs very smoothly on a netbook and you could get it to play in either windowed mode or full-screen mode. However, the game was made for a 4:3 aspect ratio monitor, which means that you would have to deal with stretching or you will have to find a way to force your graphics drivers to not stretch the game (Intel GMA click here).

Like

Plays great on a netbook

Gravity toggling is really interesting

Interesting music

Dislike

4:3 resolution is suboptimal for today’s displays

Verdict

Great fun, great music at a great price.

Gameplay: Great!

Graphics smoothness: Excellent!

Work needed to get game to play: None (optional 4:3 resolution optimization)

You lead a team of up to six, recruiting members between battles, and each member with his or her own stats such as perception, luck, charisma, [...]]]>

Good tactics is unnecessary when it’s six versus one

Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel puts you in a typical Fallout post-apocalyptic wasteland. But unlike other Fallouts, this game focuses on combat and removes role-playing to a large extent.

You lead a team of up to six, recruiting members between battles, and each member with his or her own stats such as perception, luck, charisma, etc. To complement their skills, you arm them with weapons such as rifles, knives and machine pistols. You send them out to missions to kill enemies such as raiders, supermutants and other Fallout creatures.

The game requires you to think of your approach strategy. You could use a long-ranged rifle and shoot your enemies, but did you take cover? Do you want to go prone? Or perhaps you are up for wanton destruction and just wanna command your team to eliminate your enemies with no strategy?

The game allows you to choose between playing it real-time or turn-based. The former can be rather difficult to play because you will have to manage a whole squad. Oftentimes, you’ll have problems keeping track of what every member is doing and suddenly you’ll see them down on health or just taking hits because you didn’t tell them to attack. Rather, it is better to play this game in its turn-based mode, which confers more order and predictability to the game.

You can choose the difficulty of the game to suit your skill level. Although at lower difficulties, the AI definitely shows its linearity and lack of imagination. The AI sometimes would just do stupid things such as charge at you when he’s facing six versus one. After a while, you learn all their antics and things become predictable.

Each mission takes quite a while to complete as maps are big and combat is slow. Easier missions can take 30 minutes while harder missions can take several hours. Difficulty also affects how long the game lasts.

The GOG version of the game, offered free once, runs well on the netbook. The default resolution of this game, 800×600 pixels, will run on most netbooks. But because modern screens are not four-by-three in ratio, you will need to modify settings in your graphics drivers so that it won’t stretch the image.

Like

Many hours of entertainment for turn-based fans

Dislike

Real-time mode doesn’t work well

Verdict

It runs well on a netbook and plays excellent.

Gameplay: Excellent!

Graphics smoothness: Great!

Work needed to get game to play: Minimal (GOG version)

They say that if you download it today, you will get to keep it forever, much like the previous Left 4 Dead 2 promotion last year.

Follow this link to get to [...]]]>

Steam will offer Red Storm 2 free today.

According to Steam, they will offer the base version of Red Orchestra 2 for free for 24 hours starting later today.

They say that if you download it today, you will get to keep it forever, much like the previous Left 4 Dead 2 promotion last year.

Follow this link to get to the game’s download page.

The game has not been tested on a netbook.

Pieces of pipe come in various shapes and they come randomly, [...]]]>

Gas is flowing! Boss is demanding! The crowd is complaining!

Obstacles abound!

Pipe Trouble is similar to the game Pipe Mania; a game where you must install pieces of pipe that link the start point to the end point. Netbookist first encountered it at the Bit Bazaar Winter Market.

Pieces of pipe come in various shapes and they come randomly, so you would have to think how best you can assemble them such that you don’t waste various pieces.

Like Pipe Mania, Pipe Trouble pits you against the pressure of ensuring your pipeline is ahead of the gas flow. In addition, Pipeline includes two major elements which you have to care about : your boss and the people of the land. Your boss wants you to build pipelines as efficiently as possible (i.e. short and direct so as to save money), however, the people want you to build your pipes with as little disruption as possible (i.e. don’t build over their farms, forests and possessions).

Getting judged at the end of every round

These two interests conflict, and if you anger the locals, they’ll start stonewalling your project. They’ll send protest teams that will linger around your pipes and block you off. If you anger the government, you’ll get fined or they might blow your pipe up.

After every round, you’ll get judged on your performance. Your boss and the people will give you a score out of three stars each, and ideally, you would have attained six. Along with the score, a tidbit about the pipeline will be read which can range from telling you about gas prices to fears from the local population about environmental pollution, giving the game a shallow storyline.

Unfortunately, the game is not made for the PC. The full game can only be bought for the Android and iOS, although you can play a full level on the website.

Link

Steam is currently down and reports have that you must both add it to your account and install it to be able to keep the game.

Link

As you sit in your booth, you call people to show their papers. You check whether the names, serial numbers, dates and data match. If all is good, [...]]]>

Dealing with immigration: the best way to understand the word "bureaucracy"

Papers, Please puts you in the hotseat of an immigration officer in a fictional country of Arstotzka where you get to decide who gets in, and who doesn’t.

As you sit in your booth, you call people to show their papers. You check whether the names, serial numbers, dates and data match. If all is good, you can approve this person. If it isn’t, you deny or detain him or her, depending on the severity of the issue.

Detecting a discrepancy of wrong issuing city by cross-referencing your official handbook and a person's passport

There is a backstory to the game. It goes like this: a border has just open and you have been given the job as the one and only immigration officer in this border. For thirty days, you will go to work and every person you correctly approve or deny will reward you with money, along with bribes, bonuses and other one-time events.

You have a family to take care of, which will cost you money to upkeep due to rent, heat and food. Your efficacy at work will determine if they flourish or perish.

The game gets increasingly complicated. You start of dealing with two or three documents, but because of different world events such as terrorism, deteoriating relations between nations, and disease, you will increasingly need to deal with more paperwork, weapons and dilemmas.

A dilemma you will encounter: do you help your government or assist a clandestine anti-government group? Do you take bribes? Each choice you make will lead to a different ending, of which there are 20.

A miserable ending awaits if you make the wrong choices

The game runs very well on a netbook and you can probably play it with a trackpad should you wish. It is certainly advantageous to play with a mouse since speed is of the essence in this game.

The only issue is that you must play fullscreen, because windowed mode is way too big for a netbook’s display of 1024×600. Fullscreen resizes it down, but oddly, it will scale it down such that Papers, Please will only take up half the screen, leaving a substantial perimeter of black bars on all four sides as evident on the first two screenshots.

Papers, Please offers some of the best value for money and an addicting factor that is up there with highly rated regular games. You can play it through once to get the story, or you can play it again and again to experience the different endings. It’s fantastic.

Like

A unique game with a good replay value

Great storyline, thrilling endings

Fun because of the constantly changing environment

Dislike

Suboptimal fullscreen scaling

Verdict

Great fun, great value, good replay value.

Gameplay: Great!

Graphics smoothness: Excellent

Work needed to get game to play: None