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Freeware Files: ASCII Zombie Games, Nethack Doom, and Huge Space Adventures!

David Murphy — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:00:00 -0600

There's one thing I think of when Daylight Savings Time hits: zombies. Seriously. All that extra time in the dark just fuels the undead flames for an eventual takeover by our semi-bulletproof, plant-hating masters. It only makes sense, then, that I use this weekly freeware roundup column to provide you with some kind of effective training for fending off the gruesome hordes. And beyond that, you'll also find a few more fun freeware games to busy yourself with as the angry, moaning masses slowly overwhelm your pitiful human defenses.

Now that we've established the plot, let's check out the titles!

DoomRL

It's no secret that Nethack is one of the greatest roguelike games of all time. Roguelike, for those not in the know, is a word that's used to describe this particular gaming genre of ASCII-based dungeon crawls. The "rogue" part of the description is actually a game--a 1980s graphical adventure title that's widely regarded as being one of the first of its kind. In this interesting little mashup, we have a combination of Nethack-style gameplay with plot elements from the popular Doom game, which is itself widely regarded as being one of the biggest catalysts for the first-person genre style of gameplay.

Like Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant, these two titans are meeting in an epic battle of text-based dungeon stomping. And yes, this game even comes with achievements of-sorts.

Download it here!

Darkwind

Fans of the MMO genre will surely remember that one failed attempt at a vehicle-based shooter that pretty much went from launch to death in short order. I believe the name of the game was Auto Assault, a far more alliterative title than "Darkwind." Still, this turn-based title is what you'll have to work with if you want to relive the glory days of driving around and killing stuff. And if that's not your bag, be sure to check out the game's economic functions as well. Hey, someone has to drive the truck.

Download it here!

Bombie Zombie

I know, I know--this is the game you were waiting for this whole time. Well don't let me take any more lengthy paragraphs to explain the subtle nuances of this zombie-killing game. In Bombie Zombie, there are a ton of zombies running around. Your job is to kill them, only... you have but one weapon to use: land mines. If only classic Atari games were this cool.

Download it here!

Strange Adventures in Infinite Space

This space exploration game is a bit of a misnomer, because it's not quite as infinite as the title might have you believe. Actually--for better or worse--the game is designed to take only 15 minutes or so to make it through each playthrough. Like a Diablo dungeon, every new adventure you take starts with randomized variables, making no two space explorations entirely alike. More than 21 ship types and 70+ weapons, gadgets, and other ship add-ons await you!

Download it here!

Magnello

Lead a ball into a hole. It's the classic theme behind any number of puzzles you can find in the real world today. But here's a twist I bet you don't come across as often. In Magnello, the ball is magnetic and the hole is electric. And did I mention that the levels are far more challenging than you might except from such a simple concept? Yeah. Grab your nearest stress-busting device and give Magnello a whirl.

Download it here!

David Murphy (@ Acererak) is a technology journalist and former Maximum PC editor. He writes weekly columns about the wide world of open-source as well as weekly roundups of awesome, freebie software. Befriend him on Twitter, especially if you have an awesome app or game you're dying to recommend!

Highly Anticipated Bombing of Moon Decidedly Unspectacular

Ryan Whitwam — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 21:06:48 -0500

NASA just crashed two probes into the moon. Don’t worry though, they totally meant to do it. The two probes were slammed into the lunar surface at over 5000 miles per hour in order to throw up a plume of debris that could be analyzed for signs of water ice. Those non-science types watching online were hoping for a visible plume of dust from the impacts. They were disappointed.

The expected 6-mile plume of debris didn’t materialize, but according to NASA scientists it went just fine on their end. LCROSS principal investigator Tony Colaprete said, “I saw variations in the spectra. I'm thrilled—that's a very good sign. The spectra is where the science is."

The Centaur probe hit the surface first, while being monitored by the LCROSS probe. The LCROSS then took the plunge itself. The area of impact was selected because the craters near the South Pole are never completely illuminated by the sun, meaning ice could be present. Colaprete said in the press conference, “If there's water there, or anything else interesting, we'll find it."

NASA Wants to Form an Interplanetary Internet

Paul Lilly — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 19:00:53 -0500

The rocket scientists at NASA hope to have a communications network ready by 2011 capable of efficiently transferring data between Earth and various probes, rovers, and spacecraft whizzing around the solar system, Discovery News reports. As it turns out, creating an interplanetary Internet is no easy task, even for the brainiacs at NASA.

"The communication delays are huge, and they are variable, because the planets are in orbit around the sun," says Vint Cerf, co-inventor of the Internet's TCP/IP protocol.

On the International Space Station, NASA has been performing tests of network technologies called Delay Tolerant Networking (DTN) protocols. Computer scientists -- including Vint Cerf -- began working on DTN as far back as 1998 as a way to overcome issues in networks that lack continuous network connectivity. Whereas it takes just milliseconds for packets to go from source to destination on Earth, those same packets take at least 8 minutes when traveling from Earth to Mars. Not only that, but packets have to contend with constant motion of celestial bodies.

Image Credit: timtim.com

Lord British (aka Richard Garriott) is in Space!

Paul Lilly — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 11:02:12 -0500

You won't find Lord British ruling over Britannia anymore, and after doing all that he could for the Ultima universe, Richard Garriott has started exploring ours. Literally. Garriott blasted off into space today in the Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft mounted on a three-stage rocket. The $30 million flight ticket buys Garriot a 10-day excursion to the International Space Station (ISS).

While he might be the first virtual Lord to blast into space, he isn't the first in this family. That distinction belongs to Richard's father, Owen Garriott, who spent three months on a U.S. space station back in 1973, almost a decade before the first Ultima game saw store shelves. Owen, now 77, will support his 47-year-old son from mission control in Moscow.

Richard won't be collecting runes in space, but he doesn't plan to sit idly by, either. To help pay back companies who he says have contributed a "meaningful percentage" towards the ticket price, Garriott plans to carry out an experiment on behalf of the contributors, which involves protein crystal growth.

Image Credit: RichardInSpace.com

Outer Space: No Vacancy Until 2012

Paul "One4yu2c" Lilly — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 14:25:13 -0500

Every once in awhile, a company comes up with an idea that's out of this world (Heelys? Brilliant!), but I never thought anyone would take the concept so literal. Well color me corrected, because Galaxy Suites Limited is on course to give mile high club inductees new heights to catch their thrills. If all goes to plan, you'll be able to book a 3 night getaway roughly 250 miles above earth in an oribital station they're dubbing a Space Resort. And this isn't the distant future either, they're shooting for the year 2012. All that's required is a "briefed astronaut training process" on Galactic Suite's island spaceport that lasts a few weeks, and you'll be ready to go where, well, man has gone before.

But before you get all starry eyed with anticipation, there's some things you should know. As of right now, none of this exists, reminding me of the whole OLED keyboard hype that people are still waiting for. There only exist rendered images; no spaceport, no space resort, no custom spaceship, and no abundance of investors. That last point could prove particularly tricky, with costs reported to be in the $3 billion range - ouch! And if it does all come to fruition, you'll need to come up with $4 million to join what's sure to be a waiting list filled with movie stars and wealthy tycoons. But hey, if you're going to drop $4 mil, could you think of any cooler way to do it? Me either.

I'm skeptical they'll pull it off by 2012, or that Galactic Suites Limited will even be the ones to orchestrate it all, but what I don't doubt is this concept being implemented sometime during my lifetime. The real question is, how long until Fox puts together an other worldy reality show?