Adobe Captivate 4 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I have been using this program full time since Aug 2009 developing thousands of slides, on numerous topics. The following is my ongoing journal. I foresee using this program for several more months before the product cycle ends...
Pros
1. Capturing a procedure is done fairly well. See item 12 below in the cons section. However, the output leaves a lot to be desired. If your presentation has a certain look and feel that you would like to match the raw capture is going to require editing - a lot of editing.
2. The on-board quiz/test generator is very easy to use and links to an LMS if one is setup to accept the data.
3. Setting up conditionals in the program for data-gathering and program manipulation is easy (provided you know what variables you would like to use and have a clear understanding of if...then statements).
4. Importing audio is easy. However, it must be edited and its final form before importing it to captivate. See items 7 and 19 in the cons section.
5. Rescaling of a project from one dimension to another, i.e. 800*600 to 1024*768 is very successful without distorting or compensating aspect ratio for the objects contained within.
6. The animation option is useful with the standard animations available, but they are limited and rather generic looking. Without an animation tool for creating/editing animations this feature is somewhat useful but limited in its applicability.
7. The ability to export the output in several output formats is a plus. However, the usefulness of these formats is condition specific.Cons
1. Captivate is operationally difficult to use.
2. Sometimes Captivate will not publish html/swf files with file names (title) exceeding more than a few characters - behavior is inconsistent. No Adobe documentation on file naming exists within the product manual or help files.
3. Over all object positioning and alignment in the development window is tedious. After custom alignment has been performed objects may move without prompt. Causes a great deal of rework.
4. Button object alignment using the text button feature appears normal in the development file but "may" be disjointed in the published version. Auto-align does not necessarily fix it.
5. Sometime hyperlinks to external files from within an .exe fail - inconsistent.
6. Sometimes hyperlinks revert to default file locations.
7. Open File or URL feature - This feature does not work as advertised. Sometimes designators to another file/url that are supposed to open in the current window fail. The current program just stalls and no action takes place. The only method I have been able to count on consistently is to designate that the file be opened in a new browser.
8. "Text to Speech" feature is to robotic sounding for final audio production.
9. The audio editing capabilities of Captivate are too rudimentary for audio editing.
10. Object orientation is limited to upright - no rotating of objects within the development environment.
11. Presentation Slide audio only appears on one time line. Additional audio must be created, removed, and reattached to other objects on the page if the audio is to be associated to an object event and not to timeline position.
12. The default TOC feature is clumsy unless you anchor it to a specific position.
13. Captured procedures require a great deal of editing and timing adjustment to be useful mid-stream in a presentation. Not as straight-forward as advertised.
14. Users must wait for captivate generated html pages (final output) to fully load before clicking any object of the page will stall and must be reloaded.
15. The global setting feature is great, unless you apply it.
16. The lock slide/object feature is slow to respond if using more than a few objects (20 or more) on a slide.
17. Roll-Over images, Roll-Over text, and the zoom area features are difficult to manage once more than a few instances are needed.
18. The over-all limit to 45-50 slides per presentation is a serious limitation for developing complex topics. Exceeding this causes many performance issues during and after development. Development file size that exceeds a few megabytes seems to cause the program to behave inconsistently. Source files are prone to crashing, and are generally unrecoverable.
19. Sometimes (often) saving a file fails but the program doesn't crash, it just closes. The Adobe Connect Pro user community recommends copying the slides to another file and save the new file.
20. Audio elements or queues sometimes have an inordinate amount of pops, static and clicks.
21. Hyper linking to files outside of a captivate file does not guarantee navigation back to the original file, and does not guarantee that the file will return to the last page viewed from the hyper-linked page.
22. The in-development review feature doesn't really show all the elements of a slide as it is intended. Review requires fully loading one of the simulated options or actually publishing the file to see if it functions as expected.
23. The Flash video option is useless without a flash generator/editing program to support it.
24. Sometimes, zooming into a slide when editing will render the file unusable.
25. Sometimes slide objects become unusable and must be replaced. If a slide object cannot be deleted the slide must be completely recreated.
26. Slide editing becomes increasingly sluggish as numerous elements are added to the slide.
27. Once an object has been created it may not be editable. Sometimes an object will accept a modification of settings, but not reflect those changes in the working or final version.
28. Font scripts in some text boxes are cut off by two or three pixels. The phenomenon seems to be largely absent if a text box is created and not adjusted for font size, color, or position. Of course there are adjustments for each of these properties and not being able to customize the properties without causing a flaw in the final product is in contradiction to the very existence of the property adjustment!
29. Button pause features do not necessarily pause slide audio!
30. Scripts and variables for custom interactions are very difficult to use. The scripting dialogue is inadequate, it does not behave predictably, and there is very little documentation on the topic available from either adobe or the public domain. Without this feature, complex navigation feedback is impossible.
31. The program locks up quite often. No matter whether you save often or not, just a few minutes of work in captivate is a lot of lost work. So, unless you're in the habit of saving after every single action you have performed, you will lose some work every time you use captivate.
32. When using the preview feature (F8) the program will occasionally stall. It's a waiting game. The program may restart after a few minutes (6-10) if you're lucky. This behavior is inconsistent. Wednesday Jan 6th around 9AM, program locked up for 15 minutes when running a preview. The same file had been being used for preview without any disruption in process prior to the malfunction. Same file acted normally until Friday the 8th when the program locked up again on a different file. This event started at 8:45AM. The condition is maintaining itself at 9:08AM. Program is now active again at 9:10 AM. Using the preview feature again at 10:05 AM. The program has stalled and is still inactive at 10:14 AM. At 10:18 AM the program is still inactive. At 10:24 AM the program is still inactive. At 10:30 AM the program is still inactive. At 10:35 AM the program is still inactive. At 10:41 the program is still inactive. Program cleared and started responding again at 10:46 AM. Tuesday, January 12, 2009: I started the F8 preview three times this morning and each of the two first times the preview opened, functioned normally and closed. I initiated a third time at 9:05 AM and it has stalled taking my system hostage for the last 18 minutes. The program released itself at 9:24 AM.
33. When adding an image to a slidelet the first attempt at configuring the new image in the slide may appear fuzzy or out of focus in the development window and the final output after publishing. Usually redoing the image add work will clear up the focus. While this isn't usually a crisis, it does require that the developer do the same task twice on a regular basis.
34. File/slide progress can be stilted from a non-identifiable cause. After developing numerous slides with similar elements one slide started pausing after .1 seconds, and remained in this mode for the entire progress of the slide. Nothing I could find with any single element of the slide had the property to allow for this type of behavior. The only way to get the slide to progress was to continually click the play button. It was possible to skip the slide by forcing advance using the customized buttons, but the only way to see the entire contents in the timeline for the slide was in .1 second increments - like watching a film one frame at a time. Resolution: created a whole new blank file, imported all existing slides and objects from offending file into new blank file. Problem solved...
35. Linking programs together is problematic. When developing a project I had decided to use the linking feature that would allow the end of one file to prompt the opening of another. But somewhere in the development process the feature stopped working - yes at one time it worked flawlessly. Now none of the files will...Read more›

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With Adobe Captivate 4 software, you can rapidly author professional eLearning content with advanced interactivity, software and scenario simulations, quizzes, and other engaging experiences--no programming or multimedia skills required. Boost your productivity with templates and collaboration workflows. And deliver content virtually anywhere by publishing to Learning Management Systems and Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro software.

Go Beyond Screen Capture to Author Rich eLearning Experiences
Screen recording and demosCapture and record screen activity and effortlessly synchronize audio and video.
Software simulationsDevelop and deploy engaging computer simulations and skill assessments.
Scenario-based trainingRapidly develop soft-skills training with complex branching scenarios.
PresentationsDesign engaging, interactive Adobe Flash Player compatible and multimedia presentations online.
QuizzesCreate and deploy interactive tutorials and randomized quizzes with randomized answer options.
ScreencastsCreate informal learning content such as podcasts and screencasts.

Top New Features
SWF commenting Accelerate content creation cycles with real-time reviews in Adobe Captivate Reviewer. Reviewers can add comments to your SWF files while playing them without having Adobe Captivate installed, and comments will be imported to the appropriate slides in your project.
Text-to-speech functionality Keep learners tuned in to your content thanks to automatic voice-over functionality that turns text to high-quality speech in a few clicks. Need to change the text? Just click once to update the audio.
Expanded output options Embed Adobe Captivate movies in Adobe PDF files to enliven text-based instructional content, or embed your movies in Adobe Flex content using ActionScript 3.0 publishing. Output AVI files for streaming on the web or publishing to YouTube.
Adobe Photoshop layer support Preserve layers in imported Adobe Photoshop (PSD) files so you can easily edit or animate individual image areas for just the right effect.
Customizable widgets Create more compelling learning experiences by including widgets such as games and question types. Widgets can be created in Adobe Flash Professional software, easily shared via the Adobe Exchange, and customized to meet your content needs.
Roundtrip PowerPoint workflow Leverage existing Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 (PPTX format) slides in your projects. Import slides with audio and interactivity, easily update the content, and keep your PowerPoint and Adobe Captivate files in sync with the dynamically linked import option.
Variables and Advanced Actions Use Variables to personalize the learning experience by using learner-provided data, such as the learner's name, throughout a scenario. Use Advanced Actions to further configure and modify the experience by enabling conditional actions, or more than one action in an interaction.
Professional project templates Use enhanced project templates that make it easy for subject-matter experts to contribute instructionally sound content without compromising structure.
Streamlined workflows and enhanced usability Enjoy workflow and usability enhancements, including inline editing of text captions; support for panning to optimize viewing on small screens and devices; and support for right-clicking in simulations.
Table of Contents and Aggregator Enable learners to easily navigate through content and track their progress with a multilevel Table of Contents. Also, use the new Aggregator to combine multiple content modules to create a complete eLearning course.
Top Reasons to Buy Adobe Captivate 4
Rapid content development Get started quickly with a friendly user interface, built-in tutorials, and the ability to create software training by recording any application. Add audio by converting text to speech in a few clicks.
Efficient collaboration Collaborate effectively with features like templates, which enable team members to contribute content without modifying a project's design, and the new Adobe Captivate Reviewer, an Adobe AIR application that lets reviewers enter comments directly on your SWF files.
Easy SWF file creation Keep learners engaged with smoothly integrated audio, video for Adobe Flash Player, and rich interactivity. Adobe Captivate automatically generates a SWF file--complete with a preloader, playback controls, voice-over, and table of contents--from slide-based content, which can be e-mailed or delivered via websites, blogs, intranets, and online help systems.
Roundtrip PowerPoint workflow Leverage existing Microsoft PowerPoint slides in your projects. Import slides with audio and interactivity, easily update the content, and keep your PowerPoint and Adobe Captivate files in sync with the dynamically linked import option.
Rich media and image support Create engaging eLearning experiences by incorporating images, animations, audio, and video in multiple file formats. Use the built-in library to quickly access and manage project media files, drag and drop objects from the library onto slides, or import libraries from other projects.
Complex interactivity without programming Increase content effectiveness by easily adding interactivity, including quizzes with scoring, branching, and different kinds of interactive elements. Enhance content with Variables, Advanced Actions, and new customizable widgets such as games, charts, and new question types.
Integration with eLearning applications and SCORM- and AICC-compliant Learning Management Systems Leverage existing resources by integrating simulations with other eLearning tools. Adobe Captivate supports SCORM 2004, SCORM 1.2, and AICC, and offers one-click publishing to Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro software.
Robust assessments Create quizzes from a large variety of question types, and improve assessments by randomizing questions from a question pool. Shuffle answers at runtime to display multiple-choice options in a different order each time.
Custom controls, templates, and Skins Develop and customize captions and playback controls to match corporate identity or an application's interface. Create eye-catching Skins with tables of contents to display any set of Adobe Captivate projects.
Support for multiple formats, including AVI and PDF Author once and generate multiple file formats for easy distribution. Output to AVI for viewing on YouTube and a variety of mobile devices; embed Adobe Captivate movies in Adobe PDF files; and more.

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The Sims: Hot Date Expansion Pack Review

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(More customer reviews)I've had the game since the day it came out. Where to start? First, the basics. The box says there are over 125 new items. There are new floors, windows, wallpapers, doors, trees, lights, tables and counters. There's even a lighted ceiling fan.
When Sims are ready to go downtown, they simply call a cab. They can invite other Sims with them or just look for their friends once downtown.
The Sims really seem to enjoy the new fish pond. They can buy fish food to feed the fish or rent sailboats to play with in the water. There's a rental shack where you get these items and it also has a picnic basket you can get.
When your Sims get a picnic basket, they spread out a blanket and then lay on it, eating and talking. If the date's going well, he might just go for a romantic kiss and then again, his date might completely reject him!
Each one of your neighborhoods has its own downtown area. When you go to the beach, you actually hear waves crashing! They can't swim in the water but, of course, you can always put a swimming pool on the beach. There are even changing rooms where your Sims can change into their swimsuits.
Another great feature of Hot Date is the "Townies." When you're downtown, you see all sorts of Sims, not only the ones from your neighborhood. You can talk to them and make friends. If all goes well, you can ask them to "Hang Out" with you and they'll follow you around doing what you do.
Let's talk food. There are all sorts of places your Sims can eat. There's an ice cream counter, hot dog stand, a place to get hamburgers, hot dogs and pizza, a diner and also a really fancy restaurant. You can create the restaurants yourself too or you can use the downtown buildings that come with the game.
There's a new grill for the park areas so your Sims can cookout. There's a new stove and when you place it downtown, you automatically hire a chef for your restaurant. When you put a dishwasher in the restaurant, you automatically get busboys that clean off the tables.
You can also put cash registers in the stores and restaurants. This automatically hires store clerks, hostesses and waiters/waitresses.
Another great thing about this game is that the people change. For example, you can go to a diner once and you'll have a male waiter taking orders. You can go again and it will be a woman. It's as if they have shift changes just like in the real world.
It's fun to watch the hostess seat your Sims and hand them menus. Your Sims will read the menus and talk about what they want to order. Then the waiter will come, take their order and take the menus.
They can also go to the bar and order drinks. You can have your Sim sit at a table and call the "barmaid" over.
Sims can shop for clothes, jewelry, candy, flowers and magazines. When they shop for clothes, they can buy outfits for themselves or for the Sims their with. One of my Sims bought a new pair of pajamas and now that's what she wears when she goes to sleep instead of the default pajamas. Everyone else in the house is still wearing default pj's because they haven't been shopping yet. Nice feature!
Also, you can put changing rooms in the clothing boutiques so they can try on outfits, swimsuits and pajamas. They'll go in the changing room and come out with the other clothes on. Then they'll prance up to the mirror and check themself out.
Sims now have an "inventory" that allows you to buy things like teddy bears, The Sims game, lollipops, chocolates, a yellow rose, a bouquet of red roses and even jewelry. One of my Sims bought his date a bouquet of red roses. The date was going well so when he gave the roses to her, she threw them on the ground and stomped on them!
In Hot Date, they also have new personality traits. Your Sims can now talk movies, parties, fitness, fashion and more with each other.
If there's a topic they don't know too much about, they can buy a magazine at the magazine stand. They'll take it home and read about it there. There are about six different types of magazines, I believe. The magazines have funny titles like MAXSIMUM and WhooNoo.
You can place speakers anywhere downtown and your Sims can listen to jazz-like music while they shop. And most everything you do downtown costs money. For instance, playing pool costs money. Turning on the jukebox costs money. Even the bubble blowing machine costs money.
Sims can also interact with over 40 new actions. They can cuddle, play footsie, kiss, make out, embrace, insult each other by shaking their fists, gossip, admire, entertain with puppets, nag about the house or their friends.
One of my favorites is the hug feature. Sims can now hug friendly, romantic, intimate or even leap into each other's arms. And they're all so funny to watch.
They can even kiss suave, peck on the cheek, fiery and more. And if your Sim is feeling frisky, he/she can "check out" another Sim or "growl" at them.
Another funny interaction is "Brag." Sims can flex their muscles. They can also primp. One of my female Sims primped by pulling out a compact and checking herself out in the mirror.
When your Sims are back at home, they now have four new beds (all singles). Really nice. And there's also the Niagara Love Tub that allows two Sims in at once. They can wash each other, play and embrace. It's really funny to hear them "playing" under the water.
I've gone into a lot of detail here but it's still not enough. There's just way too much to discover. Happy Simming!

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The Sims: Hot Date Expansion Pack represents an entirely new experience for your Sims--dating! With exciting new characters, interests, romance objects, and an all-new downtown area filled with restaurants, shops, and parks, Hot Date will get your Sims off the couch and into the singles scene. Play matchmaker for your Sims and watch them become Casanovas or Casa-nevers.
Players can have their Sims ask each other out on a date, or they can try their luck with an in-game dating service. Arrange to meet another Sim downtown at exciting and romantic locations that the player can create. Everything from a candlelit dinner, a drink at the bar, or a rendezvous in the park is possible as your Sim attempts to orchestrate an evening to remember.
Once your Sim is out with that special someone, additional interests and new interactions keep the conversation flowing and chemistry clicking. Sims can now flirt, play footsie, engage in a little tonsil hockey, or converse in Simlish about new and diverse interests. Being a fun and fascinating date gets your Sim one step closer to a goodnight kiss, or more!
Players can watch sparks fly or fizzle as their Sims meet and date a host of new characters. Sims can spurn the advances of the Jock, welcome the overtures of the Femme Fatale, find true lust with Mr. Medallion, or strike out with the Blonde Bombshell. More than 100 new objects, including the Picnic Basket, Cuddle Couch, and Love Tub, allow players to set the mood for their Sims. Find your Sim a soul mate... or just have fun looking with The Sims: Hot Date Expansion Pack.

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Prison Tycoon 3 Lockdown Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This is easily the worst game I have ever played. There are many games that are as bad, but none that are worse. Constant crashing, 90s graphics, horrible repetitive sound effects, and an overall lack of strategy make this game an embarrassment to the tycoon game industry.
What's worse, the game is almost exactly the same as Prison Tycoon 2. The graphics are not improved (in fact almost every aspect from furnishings, to guards, to the inmates themselves ARE exactly the same as #2). Don't expect a "new and improved" game from its predecessors. If you hated either of the Prison Tycoons previously released-like 99% of the gamers who played them, you'll hate this game also.
So what is this game all about? You are in charge of running a prison. You must build housing, chow halls, hospitals, guard towers and similar buildings. A security fence and gates help keep the inmates captive (although they do jump the fence and escape on occasion). Once you build a structure, you must furnish it with appropriate items; beds in the cells, tables in the kitchen, etc. The inmates freely rome the prison grounds, most adhering to the schedule you create (one of the few new features in #3). Your guards also must be scheduled to cover the three shifts each 24hr period. Once everything is built, just sit back (for hours) and wait for the prison to build up its population. There is a lot of sitting and waiting in this game, so don't expect to spend much time actually playing.
The game is seriously glitchy, and tends to crash often. To combat this, you learn to save the game every few minutes, or your gonna have to do everything all over again. As of this review, an update has been released, although it doesn't seem to help the crashing. This same problem was common in #2, and despite 6 updates, never fixed.
The idea of a "Prison Tycoon" game is great, and the potential high, however I don't think Valusoft intends to run with this. Instead they updated their glitchy Prison Tycoon 2 game and released it as Prison Tycoon 3. With so many other fantastic tycoon games on the market, I suggest saving your money and buying a game that's...well...a game.


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Caesar III Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The best way to visualize _Caesar III_ is to think of SimCity: the player creates urban environments, then attempts to profitably adjust to the influx of people, random (and not-so-random) events, and Imperial demands. You build and govern a city for awhile as part of a campaign; when you achieve the given objectives, you move up to a more challenging and involved assignment.
It's very attractive visually; the user interface is pretty good; the hotkeys make sense. The only thing that chapped me a little was the documentation: it was classic Sierra documentation, one of those books that looks and feels great until you actually need it to look up information. For example: when setting up trade routes for the first time, I experienced a shipwreck. Ok, very well, I thought, let's figure out what happens now since it seems to be blocking my harbour. I looked in many pertinent sections of the manual; not a word on shipwrecks. I just had to wait and hope it went away after awhile. Even though the manual has an actual index--rare enough with game documentation or strategy guides--it could have been better. Also lacking was an in-book reference for the tutorial; all reference for it is in-game. That's fine except that one reason you have a manual is so you can take it away from your computer and read up.
Very good game. Fine graphics. Ok manual. Superb dollar value--it has dropped in price to the point where you can hardly lose.

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Build rule and defendProduct InformationAs a provincial governor charged with spreading the glory of Rome your missionis clear; build cities foster trade and industry make money. How youaccomplish this entirely up to you. Gain wealth and power make a career out ofpleasing the emperor battle Barbarians and repel invaders or concentrate onbuilding the next Eternal City. Fail and you'll end up as lunch for the lions.Prove your strength of mind and spirit and you just may be crowned Caesar!Product FeaturesBuild rule and defend on one screen - no more switching between city province and battle screens.Use the City Construction Kit to build the perfect city or climb the ladder of Roman politics with a career.Now your citizens can give you a glimpse into the life of the common man - talk to them for clues about how to improve your city.Appease 5 gods with temples and festivals. Each god has its own sphere of influence; Please Ceres and your crops will thrive. But dishonor Neptune and watch your trade ships sink into the sea.Various new structures and challenges arise throughout your governor's career for tremendous depth of play and replay-ability.A truly intuitive helpful interface let's you jump right in and startbuilding.Additional FeaturesPlayers of Caesar III are immersed in a city simulation set inthe age of the ancient Roman Empire. Players place buildings on previouslyempty terrain and construct a city. These buildings come to life and thecity begins to evolve. As the city grows it encounters various problemswhich must be overcome. Players have specific objectives to achieve althoughmany players will not use these but rather will content themselves indesigning their idea of the perfect city.The game is structured as a career beginning with

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Rollercoaster Tycoon 2: Triple Thrill Pack Review

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(More customer reviews)"Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 - Triple Thrill Pack" finally delivers the RCT2 I wanted. It not only lets you simulate building amusement parks, complete with rides, food & drink stalls, and other attractions, but this pack includes a huge number of different coasters and examples of each type, and also allows you to try to build your own coasters. There are many other types of amusement park rides, including log flumes and water slides, merry-go-rounds and ferris wheels, go kart race tracks and car rides, and many others. There are also over a dozen scenarios ranging from fairly easy to fairly difficult. The fact that all the scenarios are accessible from the beginning of the game is a big plus.
The replay value of this game is great. I find myself coming back to see if I can better my previous rating or ending park value, or both, or add something to my previous parks to make them more interesting. I know I've spent countless hours designing little tweaks to make my parks or rides "just right".
The primary program, "Roller Coaster Tycoon II," provides many good features that are a big improvement over RCT1, but the same graphics engine is used. I really like this sim game - probably more than any other game like it. If you like amusement parks and roller coasters, and you like games like "Civilization" and other simulations, you'll love Roller Coaster Tycoon 2.
"Wacky Worlds" adds a lot of scenery like the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal, the Eiffel Tower and many others to make your park a true international experience. There are over 20 new scenarios, 50 new ride types (not all of which will be coasters), and about a total of 250 new game elements. But the total of the new elements in "Wacky Worlds" wasn't worth the price of admission all by itself.
"Time Twister" adds even more great rides and some really wonderful scenarios to the overall mix. There's a few for every age - from the Medieval to the present and beyond. There's also a few new rides and attractions. "Time Twister" also suffered from not having nearly enough material to satisfy RCT fans by itself.
But now you can Triple your fun with this all in one pack. Amazon.Com doesn't have half stars, so I can't give this game the 4 1/2 stars it deserves, but I'm sure if you've found previous games in the series interesting. you'll love tripling your fun!
If you've never tried Roller Coaster Tycoon, and you like amusement parks, you'll love the ability to design and build your own amusement park. RCT2 gives you almost everything that the old game had. But if you've already tried RCT1 you may find that this game just isn't different enough from the original, even though it includes the new scenario designer and other new features. The graphics haven't been updated much at all - and the graphics were already a little dated in RCT1.
But if you =really= want the =complete= pack, do an Internet search for "RCT2 User Created Expansion Set" and download that. You will be highly surprised at the many new features, rides and other things that fan-created expansion does for this game.
Now that my predictions have come to pass and everything is available for RCT2, I very highly recommend this purchase over any of the other stand alone sets, including the incomplete "Combo Pack". But if you already =love= RCT2, then just wait a few weeks - Chris Sawyer and Atari are rolling out RCT3 - which finally has a 3D feel and a coaster cam! If you've never tried to build your own amusement park, and had a secret yen to try it, then RCT2 is a great game. Watch out Disney World - here comes Roller Coaster Tycoon 2!

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The Complete RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 Series!Product InformationTriple your thrills! Add rides and scenery to the world's greatestattractions with the complete RollerCoater tycoon 2 collection! Travelthrough time span the globe or simply create the most gut-wrenching rollercoasters imaginable. Test your Tycoon skills with 25 amazing Six Flagscoasters and 5 Six flags parks including Six Flags Magic Mountain and Six FlagsGreat Adventure. Create incredible roller coasters with the amazing RollerCoaster Designer thrill your guests with over 200 rides and attractions andtake on more than 45 scenarios that challenge beginners and experts alike.Customize your parks with themes from around the world and historic timeperiods.Product Title IncludedRollerCoaster Tycoon 2RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 Time Twister Expansion PackRollerCoaster Tycoon 2 Wacky Worlds Expansion PackProduct OverviewRollerCoaster Tycoon 2The best-selling game that started the "Tycoon" craze ramps up the funwith all-new rides features and gameplay that make creating and running theultimate amusement park more fun more creative and totally addictive! Those of you that think you have mastered the previous 'Tycoon' games andcreated the most nauseating coaster designed the ultimate theme park or managedthe financeslike a top CEO can think again. RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 provides a new dimensionof creative freedom that allows you to take your parks and rides to anunprecedented level of fun. Break ground and start from scratch open the gates to existing parks or justcreate the most gut-wrenching roller coaster ride ever - now you can play yourway. As a RollerCoaster Tycoon there are NO LIMITS!Features:New gameplay options in RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 allow you to play your way and focus on the aspects of the game you love the mostIncludes 25 coaster designs and 5 Six

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Freespace 2 Review

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(More customer reviews)Looking for a game that combines the best of all space simulators in one package? Then try Freespace 2! Freespace 2 is an AWESOME, fast-paced space simulator that is "very simular" to a wild combination of Descent, Star Wars, Star Trek, and the best space movies that you can think of. The game's story plot is very cleaverly designed and is enjoyable. The missions are beautifully designed and well planned. The manufactures of this game have obviously put hours of careful thought into making this game of the best of the year. I wouldn't be surprised if this game doesn't continue to win big in the next year also. The game play is very smooth for Pentium III computers; excellent for those that are slower. I have a Pentium II 433 and the game play is still awesome! One thing that makes this game a winner is that it comes with a variety of very nice features that most space simulator packages don't come with. Some of these features are FREE multiplayer game-matching service, in-game chat rooms with multiple public / private channels, automatic statistics tracking, smooth game play, well designed missions, beautiful movie inserts, voice read mission debriefings, the actual game play is like being inside of a live movie (a little addicting, I must admit), mission builder, campaign builder, the ability to modify your missions by selecting your star fighter, equipment, weapons, etc. Another neat feature is that this game comes with a lot of movie clips and communication that occurs in the play time. It also comes with about 40 missions that are aways fun to replay. Missions can come out differently, which is always a welcomed feature. One extra feature (which I have already used is that the game is upgradeable. This way, you can keep freely upgrading your game in case the manufactures find any bugs.) The current version is 1.20.
If you like to have fun, give this game a try. I personally don't buy very many computer games, but this is one that I WILL HAVE TO RECOMMEND. It is definately a must buy!

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The drama of the award-winning space-combat simulation of '98 continues in Freespace 2, featuring massive juggernaut warships, jaw-dropping visual effects, and white-knuckle dogfight action. Explore a vast, enigmatic nebula and battle a mysterious adversary to determine the fate of humanity.The year is 2367. Thirty-two years have passed since the Great War. The only jump node to Sol collapsed long ago, isolating Earth from the Galactic Terran-Vasudan Alliance (GTVA), a new government uniting old enemies. As the Terrans and Vasudans struggle to rebuild their civilizations, civil war erupts in the Polaris system. A rogue Terran admiral declares war against the Vasudans, and his rebellion threatens the stability of the Alliance.Without warning, the Shivans return, and the GTVA launches a crusade to eliminate their Great War nemesis. Once again, the Alliance must crush the Shivan onslaught or face annihilation.

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Cities XL 2011 Review

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(More customer reviews)*This is from my review of the downloadable version*
* I haven't encountered any crashing bugs so far. I went through the forums and looked at what some are having trouble with. So I'm reviewing and informing at the same time.
*** Just a Reminder*** If you have the original Cities XL ('09) you can get CXL '11 for half the price. All you need is your serial number. Go to Citiesxl.com. ***
**Update** There is a patch now available**So after a year since CXL was released by Monte Cristo, Focus Interactive releases Cities XL 2011. They promised some changes and a transit system complete with buses and trains (subway and elevated). The next generation city simulator gets a makeover with these much needed features. I liked CXL and was annoyed that Monte Cristo went bankrupt before it could implement its new ideas ie. G.E.M.'s Transit expansion, and a host of others. When Focus Interactive took over CXL, it seemed like a breath of fresh air and a new chapter for the city building genre.
Unfortunately, some (and for others, many) bugs from the original CXL and some new ones have marred it to the point where the forums are lit up by frustrated people. Focus has been quiet although they did fix a bug for steam users. I recently saw a post that Focus has no patches in place because they are working on releasing CXL '11 for other languages. It could be a while before we get any type of patch. They are also very quiet concerning CXL '11 and it's future. From my point of view, it seems like they are going to crunch numbers and see if it's viable to continue. Hopefully, they will. There has been no attempt at creating a city-building game after Simcity Societies (not including CXL). Simcity Societies was dreadful.
If you are familiar with Cities XL, buying the game online has your serial number emailed to you; and online activation. The download was pretty fast but bare in mind, I am using FIOS. Previously, Monte Cristo told me that I can load CXL on as many computers as I like, no limits. Focus doesn't mention it. I heard that Starforce DRM is on it but I didn't see it while going through installation. I've had Starforce before and it usually says, "loading Starforce." If anyone who has this, had seen, it, I'll change this sentence, but like I said, I didn't see it. I went through the files as well. For people who had CXL, you have the opportunity to buy CXL 2011 for half the price if you have your serial number for CXL. If you forgot it or lost it, emailing Focus Interactive Tech support is the way to go..You have to provide your username, password and email you used to sign up CXL.
There is no online aspect of the game. Previously in CXL, you had the planet mode. online mode is completely left out in CXL 2011. You can trade with each of YOUR cities or Don Madoff of Omnicorp, but no one else. It's fairly simple. Like a point and click. You have a "earth" screen that will show where the trades are going but it doesn't show your road network like Simcity 4. In the earth screen, you can also see the available areas to build a city. It doesn't truly represent what you will see when you pick that spot unlike in Simcity 4, you see what land you are getting; including all the physical features. A wishlist here would be when you are searching for an area to create your city, it would be nice to get a feel of what you are getting. You cannot change the land. You can terraform AFTER you pick your spot and name your city. Terraforming is very expensive and a little frustrating. Simcity 4 was much easier when it came to terraforming.
The same premise is back. You can build a city on the CXL "planet," picking a spot with different physical features ie. peninsula, volcano, lakes on a plain, fertile plains, tropical island, and more. Also, keep in mind what type of resources that each "plot" has ie. oil, water, holiday, water, farm. You give your city a name and go through a quick tutorial of where to place your first road, city hall, and early power/garbage zone. The tutorials at the very beginning (before you pick where you want your city) are good enough to give you the know-how of the basics. Again, you cannot terraform the land after you pick it and name it. I found one bug. I chose a peninsula and I was creating my city when I saved and closed it. When I came back to it, all of a sudden, my city became a island with peninsula qualities.
Many people are having problems installing the game, starting it, and playing it. Steam was the worst but I think a patch, fixed that. I haven't had this trouble at all. Also, people have been reporting slow frame rates early in the game. Usually the frame rates decrease when you have a sizable city. This is true. I loaded my city that I exported from CXL and yes, it was slow. Not too terrible though. It was like your large city in Simcity 4. You would think in 2010, almost 2011, the multi-core support and increased framerates for a city-building genre would be there.
The graphics are gorgeous. The people in CXL '11 are just like the original; not very realistic but better than others. There is no comparison concerning graphics between Simcity 4, CXL '11, and Simcity Societies. This one is by far better!
One thing new, you can tax different types of zones. In Industry, you can tax separately; heavy industry, office buildings, high tech etc. In CXL '11 you have industry, commercial, and residential zones. Building have been added as well as packs ie: coastal homes on stilts, Asian style homes, European....
One of the best things done in CXL is the idea of allowing us to create our own bus lines; up to 20 lines. The maps show your worst traffic and how your lines are being utilized. You can;t go crazy or else you will go bankrupt quickly. The best thing is that the bus stops are placed along your roads; they don't take up a tile as in Simcity 4. Perfect, since every bit of real estate is needed. The Metro (train) works the same way as the buses except, the station needs to be placed near a road. you can create many lines depending on the size of your depot (just like the buses; small or large). What is great, concerning the Metro, you can run your lines along side or under your lines placed already. The belief in the CXL universe is that the tracks go under the track already placed. A roundabout was added in the roads section however, it really has no use at this time. Expressways are now highways. One bug that had carried over from the earlier CXL is the way traffic moves. On a multiple lane road, cars in the left lane turn right and cars in the right lane turn left (besides going straight). The traffic lights, again are not animated. These 2 things too me are glowing issues especially since we are in 2010 and this game pushes city building realism. I'm also a realism nut :) The way cars and trucks turn is unnatural. People waiting at the bus stop looks nice, however, when the bus arrives, they mysteriously get out of the bus and get on. The windows on the bus look like the windows on the buildings. I wish we were able to change the physical features of the land we choose to put our city, otherwise, it's very expensive to terraform.
For those looking to buy Cities XL 2011, just be on the lookout concerning the bugs; there seems to be more in this one that the previous one. In the previous Cities Xl, Ive only experienced one lockup but in this one, none. Like I said, I haven't come across the crashing and error messages that others have gotten. Most people reporting the issues have decent systems. Check the forum. You need a decent video card because this one will wake up your video card. But again, the bigger the city, the game lags. Not terrible, but it's noticeable as in Simcity 4. The game was rumored to have multi-core support but it doesn't.
Besides all the bugs being reported, what makes me nervous is the way the developer is very quiet. Contacting them gets a very slow response. Sometimes, it seems like you get a generic response also. For those who remember, Cities XL '09, Monte Cristo was quick to respond and always had their news updated. Even when nothing new was reported, they seem to update their website. When emailing tech support, they responded quickly and seemed more personable. They even took the time to let you know that they've logged your issue and will send it to the development team. In other words, at least they responded. When I couldn't find my serial number from CXL '09, it took more than a few days for Focus Interactive to email me back and even their response was kind of cryptic. You had to read it a few times to realize what they were asking. Don't get me wrong, I'm not blasting Focus Interactive. I'm happy that they've added some things to CXL 2011 and cleaned up the resource trade screen. It just would be nice if they kept us, those who bought the game in the loop ie a patch will be coming, updates will be coming soon. It's like pulling teeth! Not good customer service. I feel bad for those who are looking to buy this game or have it on their wish lists but are afraid to take a chance because they might feel, "what if I get those bugs and/or crashes."
All and all, what is surprising is the amount of bugs being reported. If you don't experience the bugs, you will enjoy this game. It really requires you to thin what type of city you want to build, where, and how big. You have to keep an eye on your finances. In Simcity 4, it was easy to zone and expand quickly without any problems. In CXL '11, you can't expand quickly. When things become available, sometimes it's best not to immediately place them because it will put you in the red quickly. The passage of time in CXL '11 is by cycle, not month/day/year like in Simcity. I happen to like CXL way of passage of time. By default, the...Read more›

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With Cities XL 2011, build and develop gigantic cities on realistic 3D maps, thanks to an incredible collection counting more than 700 buildings and unique structures. You are the virtual mayor and as such, you will need to find the right balance between economic development for your city, public transportation, housing, social services, leisure activities and even special events in town. Realism has been pushed a little bit deeper with larger cities, more realistic and more sophisticated than ever before!

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Trainz Simulator 2010, Engineers Edition Deluxe, US Edition Review

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(More customer reviews)I have used Trainz since the 2006 incarnation and while it has some rough edges and somewhat arcane maintenance and updating issues, the behavior of the basic simulator and the richness of detail in the included railroad layouts is superb. This is easily the most accurately detailed Railroad simulator out there today. You can operate as either a real railroad engineer with nearly complete behavioral fidelity on both electric and steam trains or as a model railroader using a basic DCC potentiometer-like control. The rolling stock is highly detailed. The factories at which you load or deliver goods are detailed and animated to give a real operational feel to the tasks you are performing. The game comes with a great set of railroad system maps which are representative of the cottage industry that exists supporting this product. There are people out there going to great lengths to provide highly detailed working railroad layouts for this engine and some of the best are included in this edition, from backwoods narrow gauge working railroads to High Speed futuristic passenger railroads.
I think what I love the most is the freight railroads because of the planning you have to do to put together a set of consists from multiple sources and then deliver those goods to multiple destinations having to work out not only all the switching to put your loads together but also the ordering of the consists for delivery. It can be challenging to get the cars in the right order and the cab pointed in the right direction to accomplish a "scenario." The game comes with a number of layouts (Routes) each of which can contain multiple planned scenarios that will vary in difficulty. And, of course, you can create your own scenarios or just drive around exploring the detailed countryside.
I've used the Microsoft product and while enjoyable it is not as richly detailed or complex in operation as Trainz. And the Auran software folks have done a good job improving the product over time such that they never intentionally make your previous customizations obsolete - the product has been great for maintaining backward compatibility through multiple generations.
And this latest incarnation has the best tree simulations! The trees are articulate - they bend and twist as if in the wind. Much better than previous generations and competitor products. I think the scaling of the trees may be off (too large) in some of the layouts but overall the fact that the trees are not static as you drive by or look around helps with the authentic feel of this simulation.
PROs: Richly detailed, highly authentic looking and acting, with multiple layouts. Well-supported by 3rd party vendors and an active user community supported by Auran, the game manufacturer, to give you the ability to operate a massive model railroad or simulate working on a real one.
CONs: The Content Manager used to update and add layouts and components to the simulator has always seemed to be a bit arcane to me. I've slowly gotten used to it and I like the new automated update notification - but the fact that the Update notification occurs outside the Content Manager just seems to make the content management process seem even more arcane. The good news is that you don't have to do any of it for the game to work! Another con is the deliberately slowed down feed of updates. Auran wants you to subscribe to priority download service to get full high speed access - it's not mandatory but without it your downloads will be slow - on the order of 30kbits/second or somewhere close to that. I can't fault them too much for that because I imagine that a high fidelity railroad simulator like this doesn't have the business volume to support a simulator as refined and accurate as this.
Summary: If you really like detail in a railroad simulator or are a model railroading buff who never had the time build the layout you really wanted then you'll love this simulator. You'll get some layouts in this that are more richly detailed and operational than any model railroad I've ever seen. And if you're looking to see what it's like to manage 100s of tons of metal in motion and have to deal with conflicting traffic on busy mainlines and in complex switchyards then this is the simulator for you! It gets better and better every year - in large part due to the loyal users who keep adding content to what is a great railroad simulation engine!

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If you love trains, then Trainz Engineers Edition Deluxe for PC is for you! Starting with the interface which has been thoroughly overhauled to provide a more user-friendly and intuitive interface. Along with the usability improvements, content creators can also create their own menu items for their routes and sessions. Along with speed improvements to get you moving faster than ever, a large variety of upgraded content and many graphic enhancements, Trainz Simulator 2010 features: SpeedTree - Highly detailed trees breathe new life into the routes and bring the rail sim environments to life. New and upgraded routes are available with upgraded content specific to TS2010 and including SpeedTree throughout. Developed specifically to run in 'Native' mode, these provide the best Trainz experience ever. If you are not sure where to start, then check out the new tutorials. Among the topics included are: DCC Control, Industries, Junctions, Signalling, CAB Control of Diesel, Electric and Steam Trains, Passenger Stations and more. The Trainz interface has been thoroughly overhauled to provide a more user-friendly and intuitive interface. Along with the usability improvements, content creators can also create their own menu items for their routes and sessions. Backwards compatible with TS2009 content - Trainz Simulator 2010 will work out of the box with all content created for TS2009.New routes, more details, faster trains and a better interface:

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American Conquest: Divided Nation Review

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(More customer reviews)I am a big fan of Cossacks and the original American Conquest, so I was really looking forward to this expansion. The problem with the game is that it is nothing but battles. There are no buildings to be built, other than a few battlefield tents. There are no techs, no leveling up units, and no linear campaigns. The game has many of the battles from the civil war with a handful of conflicts from the Texas Seccession and The Battle of New Orleans from the War of 1812. While it is pretty fun at first to have these huge battles, it gets boring and repetive quickly. The unit amounts are pre determined, so there is nothing you can do to better your army. It is also incredibly tedious to march thousands of soldiers across the field to line them up across from the enemy troops. You can have way more men in an area getting mowed down standing in marching order by an organized enemy column and unless you spot it and make the fix yourself, there is no AI to assist you. In real life men would not just stand there and get killed because they had not been given the order to return fire. I usually find it effective to just mash charge all of my men straight toward the enemy general. Kill him and you win the scenerio even if you lose 90% of your force just to kill one man. This one could have been better.

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Take on the role of a Civil War general Texasmilitia leader or pirate captainProduct InformationThe 19th century. North America. A time and place of turmoil thatonce the smoke cleared and the blood washed away would leave a nation foreverchanged:Bravely an outnumbered ragtag American militia supported by pirates andprivateers fought off the British in a grueling series of contests duringthe Battle of New Orleans."Remember the Alamo!" was but one Texan war cry as they clashedwith a numerically superior Mexican army each determined to defend theirrespective territorial claims.Brother fought against brother forced to choose the Union blue or theConfederacy gray; meanwhile names like Robert E. Lee "Stonewall"Jackson Ulysses S. Grant Antietam and Gettysburg filled the pages ofhistory their footnotes written in blood sweat and tears.American Conquest: Divided Nation is a real-time strategy game based uponevents in 19th century American history. Building upon the successful AmericanConquest series Divided Nation offers nine historically inspired campaigns thatspan the American Civil War the Texas War for Independence and the Battle ofNew Orleans.Product FeaturesResearch and employ improvements fortify your positions wisely manageresources and lead your troops to victory in furious real-time battles.Nine massive campaigns. Walk in the footsteps of famous Generalsincluding Sam Houston Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant and prove yourmilitary mettle in more than 40 of this nation's dramatic 19th centurybattles.Five playable sides: The American militia forces at New Orleans theUnion the Confederacy Texas and Mexico. Prove your military prowessin single-player mode or demolish the ambitions of would-be armchairgenerals online.All in-game maps troop clothing weapons and insignia are based on theirhistoricall

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Zoo Tycoon 2 Extinct Animals Expansion Pack Review

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(More customer reviews)As a huge fan of all things zoo and animal, I took a gamble on this game in hopes of reigniting my childhood passions. I was pleasantly surprised to find Zoo Tycoon 2: Extinct Animals was actually a lot of fun for a kids game. At my age it isn't really a challenge at all, but the fanciful nature of the gaming system and antics of the animals are fun to watch and unfold as you build your dream zoo. I was impressed to notice that both male and female animals have different looks, and some of the dinosaurs even have feathers. Someone was doing their research at Microsoft. I'd definitely recommend this game for younger kids who want to learn more about extinct animals and anyone else who just loves animals.

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MicrosoftZoo Tycoon 2: Extinct XP Win32 English North America CD DVD Box

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Farming Simulator Review

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(More customer reviews)I live and work on a farm in so I have some knowledge on real farming. I have played every farming game from SimFarm to the recent John Deere Series. I am actually a big John Deere fan but their games are nothing compared to this. The graphics are impressive for a game of this type and the realism is impressive. I am an American Farmer so one of the complaints I do have about this is that it is based on European farms and equipment, but more equipment, including some American pieces, can be downloaded for free. Unfortunatly, there is no livestock in the game,which was disapointing. Overall this is a great game which is actually more fun than real farming is most of the time.

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TRI SYNERGY INC 811002-010603 FARMING SIMULATOR

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The Sims 2: Kitchen & Bath Interior Design Stuff Review

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(More customer reviews)In real life, my two favorite places are the kitchen and the bathroom. So naturally, I enjoy creating the same for my Sims. I hadn't really enjoyed how limiting it could be before to really give a homey kitchen and relaxing bathroom. Whether the Sim gods heard me or I just got lucky, Kitchen and Bath is a welcome addition.
You have loads of new objects for your kitchen and bathrooms to make them romantic or stylish. And the Sims benefit too with new hair styles, bathrobes and pajamas (finally adults get new jammies that don't look like like long underwear), and, of course, new wardrobe. Even 2 new houses to fit the romantic or modern mood.
At this point, there's very little that I could say is bad about the new expansion, however, with so many new objects for your Sims, you might find yourself not knowing where to begin. But hey, them's the breaks.
Overall, while nothing completely extraordinary about the newest pack, I have to agree that your Sim game library will definately benefit.

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Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 Review

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(More customer reviews)I am certainly impressed by the sexy new 3D graphics, but sadly, some features from RCT2 have been lost, and some old problems still exist or have gotten worse. I hope most of these issues are just bugs that will be corrected shortly with an update or two, although I'll never understand how such a popular game was ever released in such a state. So here are a few good news/bad news review points of RCT3.
Good News: The 3D graphics really are impressive and riding the coasters via the all new coaster cam feature is a lot of fun, especially on coasters you build yourself. The ability to zoom in and out and view your parks from any 3D angle and see some parks lit up at night is great. You can even zoom right down on a path and see your park from a Peep's perspective. Bad News: You'll need plenty of horse power in terms of CPU, memory and graphics card to get the full effect. I have a 2Ghz 2900+ Athlon processor, 512MB of memory and a 128MB GE Force graphics card. I can run the game satisfactorily at the Medium graphics settings, although refresh rates start to drop as you add more rides to a park and your park fills up with Peeps. I'd hate to see the graphics and responsiveness (or lack thereof) on a PC with minimum published requirements. The game has locked up or dropped back to Windows on me about a half dozen times in less than a week.
Good News: Peeps and/or park inspectors now respond to park esthetics, and will even complain if your theming is inconsistent or your fireworks displays are stingy. They can also recognize VIPs that visit your park and hound them for autographs, a new feature RCT3. Bad News: AI for Peep navigation has taken a few steps BACKWARDS! THIS IS THE MOST DISAPPOINTING ASPECT OF RCT3 and needs to be addressed before I can ever endorse this game. Peeps can't navigate parks very well unless you keep the pathing system extremely simple, as in a simple straight midway. Put a turn or two in a ride exit path and some peeps will have difficulty finding there way back to the main path and you'll get an alert messages to check your exit path for the ride. Peeps tend to wander aimlessly around the park, or worse yet, huddle in their groups without moving for days (and days and days and days), without queuing up for rides. Hungry Peeps walk right by food stands even when prices are free, and they zoom right past rest rooms while holding their groins because the really, really need to go to the bathroom. I'm NOT making this up!
Good News: The Terra Forming tools are fantastic, a major improvement over RCT2. Hills and mountains and canyons and craters are incredibly easy to make and look great. Bad News: Aligning sloped or raised paths with uneven terrain is a big headache, and I don't find the raised/sloped pathing tools to be very intuitive or friendly. Building structures on uneven terrain is also quite a chore and can even be tricky on seemingly level terrain. Put down two shops side by side, the first sits level with your path and the second levitates inexplicably above the path level and Peeps can't get to it.
Good News: The system for assigning patrol areas to janitors and mechanics is much easier and precise to a single square. Very slick. Bad News: Janitors and mechanics stray from their assigned areas and there's no way to see what areas of the park have already been assigned to other staff. On top of that, park staff can now get tired, bored, and/or cranky, so now you have to try to keep them happy too along with your Peeps. Oh, shops and stalls break down and need maintenance just like rides in RCT3. "Information Booth 01 has broken down"???? Yes it all adds new levels of complexity to the game, but I'm not too thrilled about it.
Good News: You can easily zoom in, zoom out, or view the park from any angle while placing rides and coasters, and they've added new track pieces like zero G rolls and hyper banked curves. Bad News: The handy feature in RCT2 that allowed you to flip the coaster to a mirror of itself image is gone. All you can do is rotate the coaster 90 degrees at a time, resulting in a lot less flexibility in building/placing coasters in your park. The new interface for building coasters, in fact the whole interface for RCT3 in general, seems clunky to me. It doesn't adhere to Windows standards. Tool tips would be nice. The game also circumvents the standard Windows save file dialog when saving coasters. If you've already saved a file with the same name, it automatically appends a sequence number to the file name rather than giving you the option to overwrite the existing file.
Good News: You can now program fireworks displays and Peeps love them, especially expensive, extravagant displays. Peeps complain if you're stingy on the pyrotechnics. Beside the 3D graphics, this is probably the most interesting new feature in RCT3. They evidently put a lot of work into this new feature, hoping to provide something more than just a 3D version of RCT2. Bad News: I have yet to find an Undo feature anywhere, something people have been suggesting in RCT forums for a long, long time. The fireworks are great, but I feel should have been saved for an expansion pack while other issues and requests from RCT2 were addressed in this release.
Good News: There's a sandbox mode built right in as promised. You don't need to use a cheat code or solve all the scenarios. It's on option on the game menu where you can build and play with out regard for funds or attendance or park ratings. Bad News: There doesn't seem to be a way to figure out why your Park Rating is dropping like a stone while playing scenarios. The Peep thought summary window from RCT2 is nowhere to be found in RCT3. The documentation states that an Opinions window is available by clicking the Park Rating on the dashboard, but there seems to be a bug because nobody has been able to make it work yet. Park Rating is much more volatile in RCT3. I've actually received an award for Tidiest Park immediately followed by and award for Best Toilets, immediately followed by a fine (yes an $800 FINE!) for Most Disappointing Park. Weird!
If and when you buy RCT3, be prepared for some frustration. The interface has changed quite a bit, and not for the better in my opinion. I would say there are a LOT of bugs, a lot more than I would expect from a game as popular as the RCT series. When I play the game, I can't help but get the feeling that it was never really played or tested by any member of the original RCT fan base before it was released. According to the official game forum, the first update will be released within days. I think it may be the first of 2 or 3 updates before the hard core RCT fans are satisfied. Don't get me wrong. This game really does have a lot of potential. But it is a pretty buggy release and I feel has lost some of what made previous versions of RCT so much fun to play.


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Platform:WINDOWS 98/ME/2000/XPPublisher:ATARIPackaging:MINI RETAIL BOXRating:EVERYONEAn All-New Roller Coaster Tycoon! Completely updated and redesigned to take the series to all-new heights. Featuring incredible 3D graphics and the exclusive new Coaster Cam you can now see your park from any angle and ride the coasters you build. From street level to blimp see your park pulse with fun and excitement like never before!Experience Incredible 3D GraphicsRide the Rides with the Coaster Cam. Build rides easier with the enhanced user interface. Light up the night with the new park lighting system. View your park from any angle with complete camera control. See breathtaking park vistas including realistic sunsets moonlight weather patterns and more!Huge Array of Guests... Everyone is Unique! Create your own family members and friends and add them to your park. Respond to the individual likes and dislikes of kids teens and adults. See fully animated individuals including facial expressions exhibit intelligent behavior both individually and as a crowd More Rides and Attractions. Create pyrotechnic wonders with the new Fireworks MixMaster. Build your Dream Park in Sandbox Mode Add music to rides and fireworks shows from your own MP3 library. Includes manyNew-to-RollerCoaster Tycoonrides and attractions. Design your park with 5 fun themes: Generic Spooky Western Adventure and Sci-fi.There are currently no downloads available for this product.System Requirements :Windows 98/ME/2000/XP Pentium III 733 256MB RAM 600MB free hard drive space 4X CDROM or faster Any ATI Radeon or GeForce 2 with 32MB RAM and hardware T&L Windows 98/ME/2000/XP compatible sound card DirectX 9.0 (included on CD) Keyboard and Mouse

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Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis - Gold Edition Review

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(More customer reviews)In my opinion this has to be one of the things that any gamer who even remotely enjoys action/first person shooters must own. This is the most in-depth game ever in this genre. You can fly, drive, snipe, lead, and any other thing any real soldier could. This is the best tactical sim. ever. Also the game has a very in depth story-line, which is one of the best, next to Dues-Ex. I enjoy almost any kind of game, but this is one of my top 3. Probably number 1. The designers are Czech, and they realistically modeled the speech. All of the Russian is pronounced correctly and the statements make sense. This is another game in which you must "stop n' drop" to have a chance in a fire-fight. Also most of the fire-fights go on at long distances, in which the enemy is barely in sight. The weapons are modeled realistically, and there is a huge variety. I always drop the M-16 and grab an ak (more stopping power). Wounds are realistically modeled. There is also a large variety of transports, tanks, copters, and a plane. With the gold upgrade, there are some new things and a new 20 mission campaign.

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The Sims: House Party Expansion Pack Review

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(More customer reviews)I've had this game for less than 24 hours so I'll give you the skinny on what I know so far:
To me, the best part is watching them dance in the Dance Cages. The way they dance and the noises they make are absolutely hilarious. They literally shake their booty!
Then there's the Mechanical Bull. You can have your Sim choose whether he or she wants to ride Easy, Medium or Difficult. So far my Sims have been knocked on their tail and one even landed on her head when she was thrown from the bull! Plus, the bull makes noises and it's just like being at a rodeo.
There's a bubble blower. New counters. New bookcases. New bars. New windows. New doors. New wallpapers. Lots of new, cool-looking furniture. New sinks. A futuristic-looking shower that has a "10" for hygiene. New stairs. Lots of fences.
Even a queue line so your Sims will be orderly in the bathroom line without walking in on each other. Oh, and there's a male and female door so your Sims will know which bathroom to go in! A "special" punch that makes the Sims do weird things (my Sims keep drinking and drinking the punch but nothing strange has happened yet). A male or female dancer will pop out of a cake (very funny).
Your Sims (up to 8 of them) can sit around a campfire. There, they can roast marshmallows, sing (you'll recognize some of the songs in that special Sim language) and they can tell stories. One of my Sims was telling a ghost story (you could tell by his actions) - Well, a ghost rose up from the middle of the fire! Everyone ran and one guy actually had a little bladder problem when he saw the ghost.
Now onto the dance floor. When your Sims dance on the special dance floor tiles, the floor changes color. They even dance differently to each music style. For example, they boogie when you play Disco, look like they're square dancing when you play Country and raise their hands in the air when you play Rap.
You've probably heard about the costume trunk. All you have to do is direct one Sim to change and they all automatically change. The different clothes styles are formalwear, beach, club, togas, western, costumes, disco and swimwear. The swimwear one isn't just their normal bathing suit either. It's all sorts of swimwear.
Instead of clicking on the neighbor's name and inviting everyone individually, there's now a "Throw Party" option on the telephone.
There are also non-player characters that show up to your party. I had some techno-looking girl show up. If you have a great party then a celebrity might show up. No word on who that celebrity is. And when your party is a bust, a mime shows up! Let's just say my first party was a bust!!
You can also hire a caterer to keep the plates filled. When the Sims walk up to the buffet table, they may grab a plate of cake or a plate of regular food. It's fun just to see what they're going to eat!
The caterer cleans up everything, talks, dances and even starts messing around with the costume trunk. He'll take clothes out and see how they'd look on him.
The Sims also play charades. Look for the "Parlor Game." From what I've seen an unlimited amount of Sims can play charades. When they get it right you hear a ding.
The reviews I read said there was going to be an oxygen bar for energy so the Sims would stay longer. I've looked and looked and don't see one. So yes, the Sims usually leave around 1 a.m. The police still show up too.
I have run into certain technical glitches. I have a brand new computer and Livin' Large ran just great on it. No problems. Not slow at all.
House Party does run a little slower and it's extremely slow when I have a whole bunch of people over. My Sims don't shake hands anymore either. Now they actually shake hands with the air. I'm not sure what that's all about. And I'll also be in one part of my Sims house and - all of a sudden - the game will kick me into a completely different part of the house. It's not enough to make me regret buying House Party, though.
I hope this review helps. I was skeptical about buying this game because I really wasn't sure if it was going to live up to its hype. I definitely think Maxis has struck gold again!

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This expansion pack delivers three new architecture styles and dozens of new objects, you decide if it's time for your Sims to get down at a rave, hoedown at a country barn dance or chow down at a tropical luau.

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NFL Head Coach Review

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(More customer reviews)I love EA's Madden Football games. I've been playing Madden since the original Madden hit the shelves for the Sega Genesis. But I was real excited when this game was announced because it sounded like it would perhaps be like Madden except that you control the sidelines instead of being on the field.
Well, after getting this on the first day it was released, and spending a lot of hours playing it, I can say that I am already bored to tears with it and highly annoyed by it.
The main problem with this game is that they went WAY overboard on the "what it's like to be a coach" thing. It is literally an hour-by-hour head coach simulation during the entire offseason. There are just SO many tedious things to do. Everything from sitting down with the owner over and over and over, and hearing all his nonesense. Then you have to attend meeting after meeting with your position coaches, which is just plain not fun. Then running practices. Blech! There really isn't anything fun about running the same play over and over and over in hopes of seeing incremental ratings changes of your players.
The college draft could have been a lot of fun, but even that they ruined by insisting on running it nearly real-time. You make a pick and literally have to sit there and wait for half an hour until you get to pick again, with seemingly no way to fast-forward that. And again the "presentation" of the draft was very disappointing. For example they make it really awkward to try to do something as simple as looking up statistics on the players you have already drafted, or the ones you have scouted (much less the ones you haven't).
It took me over 10 hours of gameplay just to reach the first game! And then what a letdown! The gameday presentation is just a shadow of what it is in Madden, and the games themselves are rediculous shams. The computer AI is poor, the play by play is almost nonexistant. The statistics are presented in an almost unreadible way. And it's buggy as heck. For example it tells you that you lost yardage on most plays where you score a touchdown. Also it's usually showing the results of a couple plays back on the scoreboard, rather than keeping up with that game as it's happening.
Argh! This game had so much promise, but it was completely ruined by adding in too many tedious elements and obviously not game play testing this near enough.

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NFL Head Coach is for the hardcore football fan who tells himself that if he were in charge of the team, he'd take them all the way to the Super Bowl. It's got the strategy and realism that real fans crave, combined with easy-to-use controls and assistance for more casual fans. It's the first 3D strategy sports game that challenges you to build and manage every aspect of a football team, from the ground up. Try to build a winning organization, year after year!

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Trainz Simulator 2010: Engineers Edition Review

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(More customer reviews)I purchased Trainz 2010 in August. I have enjoyed the game very much, but I'll leave it to someone else to review the actual game. My purpose for this review is to warn purchasers that this is not the N3V/Auran version of the game as suggested by Amazon above. It is actually third-party software distributed by "Steam/Valve". This is significant, because I have learned that it is not possible to update this version of the game with the latest patches put out by the original game developer (Auran).
The version I downloaded from Amazon was Build #43361. Auran has recently issued patches to update the game to Build 43434 and now Build 44088, to address various problems and bugs that have been identified within the game. Build 43361 was left out of these update patches, and I have learned from the Trainz community that Auran and Steam don't seem to cooperate together when it comes to authorizing updates, so this version of the game may never be able to be updated beyond it's current build.
Although I enjoy the game, I'm disappointed that I will miss out on future improvements and fixes made to the game. Therefore, I recommend purchasing the game directly from Auran instead.

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