Maximum PC anniversary RSS Feed

Hacking NetHack: The Game's Best Addons and Plugins!

David Murphy — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 14:00:00 -0600

Here we go again! In honor of devnull's yearly tournament for the still-popular ASCII dungeon romp NetHack, we're taking a look at the five greatest modifications to this ancient classic. But in case you've never even heard of NetHack before, here's the deal: it started out as an ASCII-based dungeon exploration game that, in many ways, has become a precursor to all sorts of genre-busters. Even to this day, games like Fable II have borrowed from some of NetHack's better features (a travelling animal companion, in this case).

The game's dungeons are randomly generated each time you play. You can master the nuances and inventory management skills of NetHack, but there's always that little chance that the next step you take could spell you death in any number of creative ways--in fact, finding all the possible ways to die is a near-impossible task in itself, a fun little challenge for yourself in case you get tired of trying to "ascend," the term used for beating the game.

Strap on your adventuring sword and join us after the jump for the top 5 NetHack... hacks!

Google's Project 10 to the 100 Aims to Change the World

Andy Salisbury — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 18:48:13 -0500

So you’ve got this great idea that will change the world, but you just don’t have the cash to get it off the ground. Well, luckily for you Google has your back! Google recently announced a new venture called Project 10 to the 100, a contest that allows anyone to submit a world-changing idea to Google, and they will potentially commit $10 million to implementing it.

These world-changing ideas will be submitted to Google in one of eight categories; community, opportunity, energy, environment, health, education, shelter and everything else. Once initial bulk of ideas have been sifted through, 100 ideas will be voted on publicly to determine 20 semi-finalists, and from there five ideas will be chosen for the $10 million prizes. But know that that $10 million isn’t going directly to you (should you win)! What you win is “the satisfaction of knowing that your idea might truly help a lot of people.” The deadline for submitting your idea is October 20th, and videos are allowed to supplement your proposal.

Google’s reason for offering the project is pretty noble, and I like it. On the project’s official site they say: “Never in history have so many people had so much information, so many tools at their disposal, so many ways of making good ideas come to life. Yet at the same time, so many people, of all walks of life, could use so much help, in both little ways and big. In the midst of this, new studies are reinforcing the simple wisdom that beyond a certain very basic level of material wealth, the only thing that increases individual happiness over time is helping other people.”

Maximum PC turns 10! To Celebrate, Editor-in-Chief Will Smith Cuts Cake, Not Cheese

Norman Chan — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:34:03 -0500

We just finished producing our September 2008 issue, which marks the 10-year anniversary of our magazine. The very first issue of Maximum PC was the September 1998 edition, which featured the Dream Machine ’98 on its cover. To celebrate the occasion (and the successful launch of the new website), the staff took a break from building rigs and benchmarking to enjoy some devilishly delicious cake and champagne.

The September issue will also feature a nostalgic retrospective of the past 10 years of Maximum PC, highlighting predictions we got right (and wrong), the amazing tech trends we witnessed develop, and first-hand recollections from past staff members. Gordon shares his favorite lab memories, and ex-intern Brian Lam (of Gizmodo) reveals what he learned from his tenure.

Here’s to the next 10 years!

Hit the jump for another look at the cake -- it's not a lie!