Giveaway of the Day - greenTech Plus

greenTech+:

Installation:

greenTech+ downloads to a 10Mb zip file that unpacks to a dual activation and setup module and a readme document. The installed game is 10.1MbMb in size and installs to the following path by by default:

C:\Program Files (x86)\greenTech+ (Win 7 & Vista)

C:\Program Files\greenTech+ (XP)

Shortcuts are installed to the desktop and Start Menu/Programs list where you’ll also find an uninstaller. The game works in Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit, Win 7 Pro 64 bit and Win XP Pro 32 bit (I’ve not tested it in Vista yet, but will do later). The game automatically starts up when the installation wizard has completed unless you uncheck the box that says ‘Start greenTech+’. The installed folder has no folders containing music or other files just the games executable and an uninstaller, so if you wanted to change the music you’d need an editor capable of opening up the executable, then you’d have to find the specific script associated with the music and any references to the in game music that you could find.

Introduction:

greenTech+ has been redesigned to be a more action-oriented game, putting players in charge of a hurricane that can steer polluted winds into cleansing factories. But be careful, because if that cloud hits a high pressure zone, it gets dispersed into the atmosphere, causing global warming to go up. Once global warming reaches 100%, it’s game over.

The new controls in this game puts the hurricane on a grid instead of mouse control, giving me better control of how I could design the levels. Now that I knew exactly where the player can and can’t go, I can pack levels to the breaking point with a ton of obstacles and factories, even more than the original.

Not only that, but I’ve packed in thirty levels with fifty un-lockable monitors! If you thought greenTech was hard, well, greenTech+ isn’t quite as hard in the beginning and then ramps up a bit before being really hard. But it’s a much more natural progression than the original was.

Now I know what you’re thinking: man, if only this game utilized some form of 3D! Well I have news for you: (A) that’s a really weird thing to think about, and (B) greenTech+ has built in 3D support! Now, if there’s one thing I don’t like about red/blue glasses, it’s that the colour is all washed out from the image. Well, given that greenTech had no colour to begin with, this 3D works better than I think any other game out there with anaglyph support. But don’t take my word for it. Throw on your red/blue 3D glasses and view the future with one of the screenshots I’ve posted

Edited reference and images accessed HERE on the 27th Nov 2010

The Game:

You can change the colour of the screen display while in game via the options menu. There are 50 different screen colours such as red, sepia, orange, white, teal and even anaglyph screens that give you a 3D effect if you have those red and green glasses., but each one has to be unlocked by completing a level first. Each successive level you complete will unlock one of the screen types/colors. The game comprises of a set of three tutorials (you can see all of these via the link I’ve provided in the images section below), which have to be worked through before you can start a new game. These are avoided if you are returning to a previous game. Once you’ve worked through the tutorials (basically reading several pages and navigating through them using the X key) you start with tier one levels. There are six tiers each one getting successively harder.. The following are the key bindings you will need to know, though they are always displayed on the screen, so there’s no need to memorise them.

Controls:

Arrow/cursor keys – Navigate through menus and levels
X – load game or next page
S – toggle music
E – options
Q – levels
Z – New game or credits

In Game Controls:

Esc – close game
X – Move clouds faster
Z – Move clouds slower
Arrow/Cursor keys – Move

greenTech+ is a strategy game released by Vertigo games and recently updated from greenTech to the + version (see below for differences between the original and the + version). The aim of greenTech+ is to successfully manoeuvre pollution clouds from factories to one of many air cleansing facilities using your mouse while avoiding touching you or the high pressure winds. Touching these increases global warming. Although the message about global warming is present, it is small enough that the player could ignore it if he or she felt they needed too.

greenTech takes a step back from many of Mr.Chubigans other impressive works of art, not because it’s not good, far from it. But because it remains a stunning piece of art while staying both casual and simple. This is certainly not a bad thing, as the game play included in greenTech is easy enough to understand that it could be enjoyed by people of many ages while being in-depth enough that even the most hard-core of gamers could sink their teeth into. Before playing, the game requires you to complete the tutorial which although is very easy to understand, can occasionally feel like it drags along a bit and takes too long which isn’t ideal for a casual game. However, overall the game play is easy to pick up but as with all good games, challenging to master.

The art style in greenTech is very unique as it attempts to mimic the graphic style of the old excessively green, flickering CRT screens seen in the early 70s. Thankfully, the game does this very well with simple and elegant graphics complementing the game play nicely. The game includes no particle effects as such to keep the graphics style simple. For some people it may feel as though the game features too much green however for the most part the game gets away with its innovative art style very well.

In addition to the unusual graphics (by today’s standards) and unique game play, greenTech also features an excellent soundtrack. Most people would probably expect some dorky 8-bit tune to coincide with the graphics, however thankfully this is not the case as the game includes a beautiful 11 minute classical soundtrack that almost makes the whole process feel romantic.

The majority of the above review was taken from a YoYo games review. Reference and images accessed HERE on 26th Nov 2010

Images:

You can see all the tutorial screens plus some in game images showing a selection of the different color schemes you can choose once they are unlocked accessed HERE

Video:

You can see a video of greenTech+ game play HERE

greenTech+ Forums:

If you have any issues or bugs with greenTech+ you can post them in Vertigo’s greenTech+ forums which you’ll find HERE.

Conclusion:

The retro graphics and classical music may put some players off, but don’t let that happen, this is an excellent game released by Vertigo and deserves a place in anyone’s indie games folder. The need for 3D glasses for some parts of the game is a bit of a downer , but they are not essential as you can still play these levels due to the monochrome feel to the game. The 3D effect just adds a different flavour to the game. It’s possible to buy these glasses from some toy stores. (I got some for the kids when I bought them a 3D poster each a few years back and the glasses were conveniently stuck to the bottom of the poster with blue tack. They are the traditional green and red lens glasses, not the more modern grey glasses. You could even adapt an old pair of glasses by using acetate sheets which are readily available from arts and crafts stores.

Overall I’d give greenTech 7 out of 10 for originality and solid game play. It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but personally I think it’s worth at least one more point, but then, I like unusual games . Give me something like this compared to a time management or HOG any day.

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First of all I had to discover that the big circles are worlds that can get polluted when poluted clouds hit them.
I knew about the clouds but nothing was told about this kind of interaction, only that you had to bring clouds to the cleaners to stop pollution. You can see the pollution level rise as a percentage.

Secondly I had to discover how to handle the clouds. I was thinking that hurricanes would blow the clouds away but this is done in a more metereological way, de huricanes are big depressions attracting the clouds.

Thirdly I had to discover that the mouse is not involved in this game only the characters displayed in the screen. I wrecked some worlds by trying to use the mouse here.

The graphics are strange and rather retro indeed but this does not say anything about playing the game, it gets very hard after a while.
Only I wish there was a better tutorial, because now I cannot disciminate between difficulty because I don’t know how to play and difficulty how to play the level. What keys can I use for what etc.
What can I do with the unlockable monitors? Change my screen color?

Making 3D possible is quite a novelty and I think a nice extra.

The music (mp3) will be in a subfolder in the temp-folder only when playing and you can change it there (only on a per session basis).

Interesting game though, a bit different I might add.

……………………..Moderator comment………………….

Hi Swandyke, did you not read the review at #1 above, (not a very good one I admit), but it did list controls and it also said that the game lacked mouse controls. The game used to be controlled by the mouse but the latest updated version was changed to keyboard control to give better control over the various elements of the game.

Yes thats exactly what the unlockable monitors are for. They add a little to the monotones. Instead of seeing green all the time you can select from a wide variety of colors and styles.