A couple more new uploads to OHH

Both from Rafa Vico ("saboteur"). We have:

La Escoba, a Spanish card game. Only in Spanish, but I was taught this game (by a Spaniard) years ago, so might give it a shot at some point.

EXP for GP2X, an "achievement system" compatible with several games, including La Escoba.

Games, games, games!

The first (just over) three months of the year have seen six new games released for the GP2X and posted up on the OHH archive, the best hit rate for quite some time. I reviewed Liquid Counter a few days ago, but we also have:

Wizznic: an implementation of the arcade classic Puzznic
Puzzletube: a tube-based (surprisingly enough) puzzler
Rookie Hero: a hostage-rescue platformer
Starship Soldier: a retro-styled "simple but tricky" arcade game
Bermuda Syndrome: a port of the 1995 PC Flashback-style game

It's great to see the little old GP2X still being supported by a core of loyal programmers, and I certainly hope to try these games out in due course.

Game review: Liquid Counter

Liquid Counter
Genre: Arcade
Author: Drumpi
OHH download: v? (13/02/12)
Size: 1.6 MB
Licence: Freeware

Description
Sometimes simple is best, and the brand new game Liquid Counter (yes, there are still GP2X games appearing in 2012!) attempts to bring back the glory days of LCD handhelds, a little along the lines of Game & Watch consoles. The object of the game is very straightforward: you must press a certain button, or tap the screen (on an F200) as many times as you can within ten seconds. The tap version is one-player only, but the button options allow one to four players to compete. A countdown timer and a running total of score(s) are shown, and the top score flashes at the end.

Note that this game does not quite come ready to run. Two sets of runtime are provided -- one for official firmware, and one for Open2x -- and the appropriate one must be unzipped so that the runtime folder sits next to (not in!) the game folder.

Addictiveness: 6
More so than you might think, especially when it comes to multiplayer gaming. On your own, you might play this a couple of times and then shrug and move on... but when the competitive spirit is running hot, that fabled "I'll beat you all this time!" feel is very much in evidence.

Depth: 2
It would be difficult to find a less deep game than this one, given that "push a button as fast as you can" is pretty much the entire object. It only scores as high as 2 because of the multiplayer and tap options.

Controls: 6
The joystick selects which game you want to play. The A, B, X and Y buttons are the ones the players have to press. It's a bit of a squash with the full four, but probably better than trying to make others use the volume controls, trigger buttons etc.

Graphics: 6
They may be monochrome and very simple, but if the aim of the programmer was to convey a sense of old-fashioned LCD gaming, then that aim was met. The claim of "beautiful" in the OHH description is over the top, but "retro aesthetic" certainly isn't.

Sound: 3
Beeps. Squawky, basic beeps. Not unbearably annoying, and probably true to the game's feel, but they don't really add much.

Documentation: 4
You can add several marks here if you speak Spanish, since there's a decent readme (well, "leeme") in that language. Unfortunately, there's no English documentation at all beyond what's in the game. Thankfully the brief instructions included on screen are enough to get you started.

Completeness: 6
The game works, but it's still a bit rough around the edges. I'd like to see an English readme, a level select, and a mute option. A combined, and ready-prepared, runtime folder would be welcome, too.

Overall: 5
Liquid Counter is a nice idea, and things like Game & Watch emulators have done quite well on the GP2X. However, it's too lacking in features, and not quite polished enough, to score more than an average rating.

GP2X OHH program list 3a - Applications: Misc Apps (part 1 of 3)

It's taking rather a long time to get through the huge (100+ programs!) Misc Apps section, so I'm splitting it into three parts. I expect I'll merge them all into one big post when I've finished. NB: I've left out the pre-rendered graphics viewer 3DNP GP2X, as the download link from OHH seems to be broken.

OHH GP2X archive - Applications: Misc Apps
Click the link above to go to the contents page for this section on openhandhelds.org, which gives rather more details for each file, and a screenshot for many. This list is intended more as a quick reference, for those who just want to scan what's available. Note that I haven't generally commented on a program's quality or completeness.

2XWord: crossword solver utility
Autorun Icon for Windows F200 Style: put on root of SD card to create icon when plugged into Windows
Autorun ini and icon for Windows: as above, but for the F100
Autorun.ini and Icon for Windows PCs: as above again, but slightly different design
Battery Test: benchmarking utility
Box2d Physics Library tech-demo 0.0001: SDL port of the 2D physics engine
BusyBox 1.8.2 (www.busybox.net): set of command-line tools
Cafix: connect a Casio fx-9850 calculator
Calculator: simple scientific calculator
CBook - EBook Reader: text reader

Clock2x: on-screen analogue/digital clock, with alarm
colourd - LCD colour correction daemon: adjust screen colours
Counter: very simple tally-keeping program
CPU/LCD-Tweaker: adjust CPU clock, RAM and memory timing
Croquet Deadness Board: tool for (American?) croquet players
dhcp client daemon: for the DHCP network management protocol
Dicey: dice-rolling app; supports many-sided dice and Fudge
DOSBox: Interactive Messageboard: requires DOSBox; shows text messages
Edge Pad: joystick-controlled notepad
Enexfi: file manager and explorer

Enlightenment for Embedded: proof-of-concept (unfinished) E17 implementation
eReader: another e-reader
F-200 wireless with WPA connect script: use the DWL-G122 adapter; requires cradle
fbGrab: grabs framebuffer and dumps it to .png file
Fcalc: touchscreen calculator, for F200 only
Fcalc 0.2: updated version of above
fetchmail: command-line POP3/IMAP mail grabber
* fGrabber - Ein fGrab Frontent: frontend for fbGrab
FlashPlay: simple Flash player
Flashplayer2x: another Flash player; fork of Pocketflash

FX00 Batery Meter: check battery levels
G(P)=2X: function plotter
GirEllO Reboot: software-reboot your GP2X
gmenu2x - MAME und NeoGeo Alias Files: gmenu2x alias files for, er, MAME and NeoGeo
GNU Netcat for gp2x: networking utility
GP2X Energy Saver 1.0: minimises power consumption when GP2X not being used
GP2X GPE: port of the GPE Palmtop Environment
GP2X Package Manager: install files as .deb packages
GP2X Samba Client: a Samba client. For the GP2X
GP2X Sierpinski Carpet: draws a Sierpinski Carpet pattern

GP2X Sleep: power-saving utility
gp2x Stereo Fix: fixes the "mono sound" problem with early firmware
gp2x stereo patch autostart: autostart file for the above
GP2X Text File Viewer - gp2x VTex v0.2: text viewer with wordwrap
gp2x USB Host Driver: attach a powered USB hub to the Ext port
GP2X USB Serial: redirect serial output to USB cable
GP2X-Write: text editor with Danzeff-style on-screen keyboard
GP2X11: port of the KDrive Tiny X Server.

* Note the slightly incorrect spelling of fbGrab

Game review: Vectoroids2x

Vectoroids2x
Genre: Shooter
Authors: Bill Kendrick / IceOnly
OHH download: v1.1.0 (23/03/06)
Size: 2.2 MB
Licence: GPL v2

Description
Vectoroids2x is a port of, startlingly enough, Vectoroids. This in itself is a near-clone of the venerable Asteroids game from the year dot. The aim is pretty simple: you control a roughly triangular spaceship, and must blast away the large asteroids which drift about and threaten to destroy you. When you hit one, it splits into two, so later on in a level there are a lot of pieces of rock to avoid. You can both rotate your ship and use its thrusters to speed you out of trouble.

Addictiveness: 7
Not bad at all, but then it is basically Asteroids, one of the all-time classics of the early years of electronic gaming. Gameplay is very simple indeed -- you don't even get a hyperspace button in this version -- but that makes for good blasting fun. You won't play this for hours, but you might play it for a few minutes quite often.

Depth: 3
This category, on the other hand, doesn't fare so well. It's just level after level of firing away at ever-increasing numbers of asteroids. You do get an extra life every 10,000 points, but that's about as exciting as it gets. The only reason I don't rate even lower on this criterion is that learning to handle your ship accurately is something of a fine art.

Controls: 6
A little odd, but effective. The oddity comes in the fact that there's so much duplication: all four of the A, B, X and Y buttons do the same thing -- fire -- while so do all three of up, L and R -- activate the thrusters. Rotating uses left and right on the joystick. So, only four actual controls to learn, but nine possible buttons to use them with!

Graphics: 7
Rather nice, and suitably retro-looking. There's a static background of Jupiter, red spot and all, while the rest of the graphics are reasonably good imitations of real vector graphics. Your score, current level and number of ships remaining are clearly shown at the top of the screen, and it's nice that your ship is blue, to distinguish it from the white asteroids. I'm not sure about the multicoloured bullets, though!

Sound: 6
As usual, it's much too loud with the official GP2X headphones, but on this occasion the problem is exacerbated by the fact that the volume controls do nothing. That makes Vectoroids2x entirely unsuitable for playing anywhere you can't be noisy. The music itself is a little frantic, but it does the job. Other sound effects are basically bloops, but that's okay for a retro game.

Documentation: 4
Not very good. The original readme is included, but there's no specific GP2X documentation at all. Nor is there any on-screen help in the game itself. Admittedly the game is very simple to pick up, but it's a slight disappointment.

Completeness: 9
Loses a point for the documentation issue, but otherwise everything seems to be there. I can't really penalise it for not having hyperspace, as the PC version this is based on didn't have it either!

Overall: 6
Vectoroids2x is a solid, playable take on the Asteroids genre. It's nothing all that special, and though fairly polished doesn't deliver anything new -- though in fairness, it doesn't try to. If only the volume controls worked, it would have scored 7, and would have been a good game for playing in short blasts on the bus.

A change of focus

I'll be continuing with the program list -- don't worry about the wait; the next category is long -- but I'm also going to return to doing some reviews. However, I won't be focusing so much on the well-known, popular games, but rather those which have had little attention. In particular, I'm interested in reviewing games which have had no comments on the archive. Same basic review format as in the past, though.

Incidentally, I still have my F100(B) console, but it now runs Open2X DR7, as I prefer it to official firmware 4.1.0 or its original 3.0.0. Oh, and me being me, don't expect me to keep entirely to my new approach. I may still slip in the odd review of something more popular, an emulator, an application, etc.

GP2X OHH program list 2 - Applications: Launchers

On to part two of the list. This installment isn't the most exciting, admittedly, especially as a large number of these programs (including GMenu2x!) fail to run properly, or at all, on my F100 with 4.1.0 firmware. Still, they may be useful to some. Next time around will be considerably more interesting, I promise!

OHH GP2X archive - Applications - Launchers
Click the link above to go to the contents page for this section on openhandhelds.org, which gives rather more details for each file, and a screenshot for many. This list is intended more as a quick reference, for those who just want to scan what's available. Note that I haven't generally commented on a program's quality or completeness.

Filer2x: simple file manager/launcher
GMenu2x: full-featured alternative frontend with direct program link creation
* Gmenu2xLinks: auto-generate links for GMenu2x sections
GP2XMB: frontend designed to look like Sony's Cross Media Bar for PSP etc
Mocca: alternative graphical shell
QuickStart: autoruns a specified program on startup if a button is held down
Selector: frontend for handling multiple command-line parameters for apps
Stilish Menu: animated menu featuring all programs on an SD card
Sycophant (formerly GP2Xcc): comprehensive graphical app launcher
Unify: simple file manager

WanX: alternative graphical frontend
zLauncher 0.4.1: skinnable launcher; supports CPU speed setting

* OHH download file is misnamed as .rar; it's actually .zip -- rename before extracting