Another interesting game. Personally, I ignored the whole global warming/pollution aspect and just looked at it like a puzzle game - one can imagine the clouds to be anything (insect awarms, toxic gases, etc.) and avoid the political aspect of it entirely.

I also found both the radar effect and the green background to be distracting and did much better once I was able to change the background from green to a whitish color. Still, I found the game to be quite challenging especially since I kept having to look down to make sure I was pressing the correct fast/slow button.

I would like to add "control remapping" to the suggestions list so I could change the keys to something that works better for me.

Thanks to GOTD and Vertigo for the game and Whiterabbit for the thorough review.




......................Moderator Comment...................

Thank you for your feedback karolb.

@14 : Duncan Fisher: "I’m on a mac..."
Crossover Games from Http://www.codeweavers.com is easy, fast, low impact and fairly cheap. It runs Windows games on a Mac running OSX. I don't know about IOS/Lion, I've given up updating the wife's box.

18 : McSpocky : "I LOVE that the premise of this game is to fight global warming."
To each his own, Sir, but I would love a world without Winter. A world where I didn't need heating in my home, ever. A world where the air is dense, warm and wet enough for dragons to fly. Fifty-foot flying pterosaurs darkening the skies like passenger pigeons.
Earth has been many Celsius hotter than it is now. We are in fact in the middle of a massive Ice Age and just barely coming out of it, to return to more "normal" weather.
If AGW is happening - doubtful - it is a *GOOD* *THING*. Through another log on the fire, run your five-ton SUV a few more miles, chuck another prawn n the barbie... but make snow and ice obsolete terms, save for their use to decribe things like Mimas.
Global Warming is *necessary*. This planet is too damned cold and has been for the last couple of millions of years. It's well past time we made it tropical from pole to pole. As it usually is.
The game? She doesn't like tricksy 3d effects. It wears on her. Most especially after her strokes. She doesn't have the processing capability to cope with it anymore.
And, as you can guess, I am not happy with envirowhiner, greenie, treehuggeer propaganda. It looks like a well-done game but if I want pro-Ice-Age tax-loving dogma, I'll just watch the BBC News.
I'll pass, thank you.
HTS




......................Moderator Comment...................

Thank you for your interesting feedback :lol:

I tried to download this twice and it keeps giving messages that it didn't download correctly - file corrupt.

any clues?

don't really need another game, but I thought my son would like it. Sorry I didn't catch this post in time for you to try



......................Moderator Comment...................

Try using another archiver such as 7-Zip or J-Zip. I've had problems using winrar on some giveaways. It threw up the same message, yet when I used one of the free archivers it worked.

When such things happen it's worth deleting the giveaway cookie from the Temp internet file or rebooting your modem and/or router

This game would have been cool as hell. If it were still 1978 and it was for my Atari 2600. All cheap shots aside though....

I will say one thing for those who may think it is the Eco stuff that may be driving a lack of positive response. While that is probably true for some, I find that the one thing that make players go yuck quickly is what they consider jenky controls. This lasted less than 2 minutes with me as I found it uncontrollable.

Players do not mind learning how to play a new game, but controls are an instinctual thing to most. Game styles that players favor are predicated more by how they naturally handle the controls than most people will admit to. For example, you will not find many heavy handed, slow reactors mastering driving games. Nor will you find those who prefer Mouse over Keyboard on the Starcraft 2 rankings.

While learning a new game and thinking strategy over is something that can be easily swapped out with a change of games. One natural tendencies with controls are not.

The problem I see here is that the game appeals to one kind of player by description (strategy minded). However, its controls seem geared to players who would be good at modern driving games. This is just one of those parings that really do not mesh on any level.


......................Moderator Comment...................

Thank you for your feedback Anidem

Edited... I should have read my comment more carefully before posting the first time.

I LOVE that the premise of this game is to fight global warming. There are very few things happening in our world today that are as important as global warming, and too many people just pooh poohing the idea of global warming away. To those people, your grand children and their grand children are going to be wondering why people today weren’t intelligent enough to care about global warming and do something about it. People need to wake up.

For this reason alone, I am downloading and installing the game!

Pretty good. I like the music, so maybe I'm retro(??). 3D is a great idea. My suggestion to the developer is change the global warming to global cooling. Seeing as we'd just had our two worse winters ever it's obvious that the pollution is causing cooling due to the pollutants blocking the sunshine.

.....................Moderator comment.......................

Hi Dean, the air quality is better than it has been for many years since the advent of smokeless fuels. I can still remember the sulperous smells from all the coal fires that used to burn in my home town back in the 1960's. since the clean air act was brough in in the UK air quality has improved vastly, that said..... better not go any further, lol

Seeing as it is a 'green' game this is probably not going to change any time soon but perhaps you need to add #14 to your list of suggestions. It is a pretty fun little however my son, who seems quite interested in the premise, is colorblind. This poses an issue. Not one that can be fixed I think although I have noted several games lately that have had a colorblind mode.




..................Moderator comment...............


Good point Melissa, my son is also color blind (red/green)

This game isn't made because of some political agenda. Greentech was originally a submission to the Yoyogames competition 4 which had "Save the planet" -theme. It won the first prize $1000.

http://glog.yoyogames.com/?p=501

I have played the free version before the commercial version appeared and didn't like it that much. Gameplay is easy to get hang of and graphics are quite unique indeed. I didn't find many long-lasting appealing elements though (besides unlockables), but that's entirely subjective opinion.

I'm looking forward to seeing more quality Game Maker creations here on gaotd.


..................Moderator comment...............

Thank you for your feedback :)

I'm on a mac, I'm guessing there's no mac alternative for it out there? Would love to give this a go, would install it on my Windows computer but it's at home and I won't be there any time soon.

Looks interesting.

......................Moderator comment...................

We seem to get games from Vertigo around this time each year, so there's always next year.

Just want to second the comment about the whole green political issue. For me, I was ready to give managing pollution a shot until I saw the goal was to prevent global warming. You cannot print my reaction to that. I play games as an escape from that kind of thing.

I'm a programmer but have no idea how games are written. Seeing so many different games where the basic concept stays the same, I have to assume it must be easier to change the presentation than start something completely new. If that's the case, perhaps this game could be morphed into a different one that didn't involve such a sensitive issue as its goal.

Also, I watched some gameplay video and agree with the suggestion to toggle off the radar effect.


..................Moderator comment..............

I think the developer must have some interest in environmental issues judging from previous tiles (Sandbox of God) and his most recent title OilBlue). Thanks for your feedback.

Found it difficult to control the hurricane. I have to hold the directional keys longer to get it to move, but when it does, the hurricane moves too fast.

I tried wearing my 3D glasses for this game and the graphics looked alright. However, watching the screen for some time made my eyes tired. Tried the red screen after unlocking it, and it was less taxing on my eyes. (I think it depends on which colour your eyes receives better. But personally, if I had to unlock 10 levels just to unlock the colour that suits my vision, that would just be unfair.) I think I prefer playing without the 3D glasses.


..................Moderator Comment..................


Tanks for your feedback. Yes, mouse controls would be great. If you have a hulti button mouse it would then be possible to program the buttons for the other functions so disposing of the keyboard.

The background music was surprisingly decent, apart from the annoying sound effects.

Due to the terrible controls which affected my gameplay experience, 5/10.

Suggestions: Enable mouse control.

Mike may be right, but it's hard to try to appeal to someone whose first/gut reaction to a message with which they disagree is an unprintable degree of hatred and resistance.

Mike, sometimes it's OK to listen to someone's opinion without agreeing with it. Even if it feels like you're being "force-fed."

#1: "Conclusion:... I was quite surprised when GreenTech+ only got a 31% positive vote out of the 353 when it was given away last year... Whiterabbit-uk"

In case it's of any use to you, Whiterabbit, or the devs...
I *think* it may be a cultural thing -- regardless one's personal feelings, opinions etc., in the US there's no denying that there's quite an incessant stream, an inescapable drone about being green (environmentally friendly) along with other politically correct pronouncements. A great many people resent it, not because they disagree, which they may or may not, but because of its force-fed nature. I know my immediate, gut reaction to the title, greenTech+, was unprintable. The timing may also be unfortunate, as there's a lot of political conflict right now that, vastly oversimplified, pits environmental issues against economic recovery & jobs.

That said, I don't know how appropriate this is for the comment section here, so please feel free to not post this, & use your own discretion on passing it on to the devs.


....................Moderator Comment..............

You could be right Mike. I was one of those w ho joined all the environmental groups when i was at uni and even did a post graduate environmental degree concerming environmental impact assessment. The kowledge gained from that certainly opened my eyes, but not for the green movement but against it. Take for example the argument regarding carbon emmissions, the earth's natural emissions still far outweigh the emissions that are generated by man, yet all we hear now is ways to reduce our carbon foot print. Crazy stuff really.

This game is different. I like it though. I like what Whiterabbit said about putting these games down for no reason. If people whined about everything free in life, they surely must be spoiled. MANY THANKS to GOTD.

Like this game. Really straight from the '80-s. Music and sound is hopeless. I mean, stereo and fullrate bits in a modern tempo decided me to turn th sound off. Why not use the C-64 SID music or the Atari 2600? Will make the game more that '80 feeling.
Regards all from the Netherlands.....

I downloaded this last time it was on & personally thought it was one of the worst games I've ever tried to play. I found the controls horrible & deleted this after about 60 seconds of use.


.............................Moderator comment..................

You need a lot more than 60 seconds to get a idea as to what this game can offer, but hey, each to their own. :lol:

I love my astro avenger very much, archers duty is kinda nice.This one, is certainly not my cup of coffee.Tastes a little bitter!!! Didnt enjoy it very much thanks.

Was für ein müll, wer spielt sowas ???!

...................Moderator comment................

Translated using google translator:

What a waste, who plays something?!

It all depends on what sort of games you like. This game for me is great for filling in those odd moments when i'm trying to decide what other games to play from my massive library of games.


Es hängt alles davon ab, welche Art von Spielen, die Sie mögen. Dieses Spiel ist für mich zum Befüllen in den ungeraden Momente, in denen ich versuche zu entscheiden, was andere Spiele aus meinem riesigen Bibliothek von Spielen groß.

The screen is flickering, or more precisely: it behaves like a rader screen with a sweep that comes downwards every second or so. It's very irritating and takes away the otherwise nice candlelight impression of the game. The sweep make me nervous. Is it intensional? Can I get rid of this every-second-radar-sweep? - - - I downloaded the game because it promised red-blue-3D (or red-green-3D) effects. I would like more such 3D-games given free by GOTD. The 3D should be during the entire game and should preferable be adjustable to fit different combinations of colored glasses (red-blue, red-green, and slightly different nuances of those) and also other parameters as for example screen size, viewer distance from screen and distace between eyes.


........................Moderator comment....................

completeing levels un-locks new skins, though I'm not sure about the radar effect. I can see what you mean, but it wasn't as much of a bother for me. i'll add a suggestion to my list above for the developer with a suggestion to be able to toggle off the effect.

If I remember well you have already published this game ...


....................Moderator comment...................

Yes the game giveaway team do re publish games. It's become very hard to get new games from developers. some of the developers who used to contribute to the project such as Alawar and Realore now have their own game giveaways as does several other game developers. That and the recession has hit the gaming side of the giveaway project hard. Still we do get the occasional original game that hasn't been published. tomorrows game is one that we've not seen here before.

There will always be new community members who won't have seen these games before, so repeats can be a good thing. :)

Is this the latest version of greenTech+? Because the File Size is the same with the giveaway on November 27, 2010.


....................Moderator comment...................


There is no indication that this is a new version, so I would presume that it's the same versio, especally as the file size is the same. Though it doesn't necessarily mean that is the case. Vertigo games do update their games, but you can usually tell because of version numbers.

Developers rely on good feedback to improve their games. If you download this game please take some time once you’ve played it a while to leave some constructive feedback either positive or negative. The more constructive feedback we get, the more likely developers are going to give more games away. The giveaway site already has a very good standing with the search engines. Developers want their products out there on the WWW, this site has the potential to do that. The game giveaway project gives away on average between 9 to 17 thousand downloads for each game depending upon what genre and how obscure the game is. That’s a lot of homes these games are being downloaded into and a lot of 'potential' cash that’s being lost by the developers. If we get better games because of better feedback, the community are likely to continue to benefit from the generosity of the developers. Satisfied community members are then more likely to visit the home sites of those developers and purchase games that they may not have bothered with before they discovered the developer via the game giveaway site, thus giving the developers more incentives to give away even more decent games.

Please leave some feedback once you’ve checked the game out. It can be positive or negative, but please explain why your reasons for the feedback you post. You could also leave suggestions for improving the game, for example, this game could do with a levels editor, add more power-ups, describing the ones you think would be suitable, add some mini games (which seem all the rage in some arcade games now) or enable the user to be able to change the in game music easily.

Thank you in advance to all those who take the time to post a constructive comment.

Regards

Whiterabbit aka Stephen

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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 10.1Mb in size and installs to the following path by default:

C:\Program Files (x86)\greenTech+ (64bit)


C:\Program Files\greenTech+ (32bit)


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, Vista Home Premium 64 bit, Vista home Basic 32 bit and Win XP Pro 32 bit . 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+ was originally given away last year (Nov 27 2010) where it received a positive user rating of 31% out of 353 votes and 28 comments, which you can read accessed HERE. There is no indication that this is a newer version to the previous one given away.

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 videos of greenTech+ game play HERE , HERE , HERE and 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:



I was quite surprised when GreenTech+ only got a 31% positive vote out of the 353 when it was given away last year. That was just over 10% of those who downloaded the game. There were just over 3000 downloads which is one of the lowest download number since the project began over four years ago. As with all Vertigo games you can expect something different from the usual match three, hidden object or time management game, which for me is one of the reasons I like this game. There’s nothing wrong with those genres. I have loads of examples from all three of the mentioned genres, but there comes a time when there’s very little you can do to add more originality to an already oversubscribed genre, well at least with the technology we have at the moment.

The retro graphics and classical music may put some players off this game, but don’t let that happen, this is an excellent game that i'd say is ideal for filling those moments when you can't decide what to play, or are looking for something totally original. It's not earth shatteringly brilliant, but it definitely has a charm of it's own. It was released by Vertigo last year and IMO deserves a place in any serious gamers indie games folder. The need for 3D glasses for some parts of the game is a bit of a downer if you don't own any, but they are not essential as you can still play these levels due to the monochrome feel to the game, plus you don't necessarily need to use the 3D effect as there are oads of different skins to choose from (em>once you've unlocked them). The 3D effect just adds a different flavour to the game. It’s possible to buy those 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 always conveniently stuck to the bottom of the poster with blue tack. :) They are the traditional green and red lens glasses, (or blue and red), not the more modern grey ones you now get when you go to see a 3D movie. You could even adapt an old pair of glasses by using acetate sheets which are readily available from arts and crafts stores.

Scoring:

Graphics - 6
Game play - 8
Audio - 7
Re-playability – 7

Total 28 out of 40 which equals 7 out of 10



Overall I’d give greenTech + 7 out of 10 for originality and solid game play. Unfortunately 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. (I've never liked Time Management games apart from Alawars Farm series and I over did Hidden Object games a few years ago when I was Beta testing arcade games; that said I still like the better ones like the 'Dream Chronicles' series

My advice is don't let the graphics put you off this game and at least give it a try. Once you've mastered the game you may find it quite rewarding.



Suggestions:


1) ... Add more events to the game including attacks by akien space craft that try to destroy the cleansing factories. This would give the game more re-playability and add some new points of interest; also opening the game up to shmup fans.

2) ... Include a levels editor

3) ... Create a multi-colored level or re-create the game in full color graphics; this could either be a total replacement for ths game or an add-on

4) ... Add different types of storm clouds that have different effects

5) ... Include difficulty levels

6) ... Add a better tutorial, maybe a video tutorial accessible from a help menu, plus a document detailing all the nuances of the game plus walkthroughs for those who find it too hard to cope with.

7) .. Release the game as open source so that it could be modded by the gaming community

8 ) ... Enable the user to toggle off the radar effect that causes the screen to flicker.

9) ... Create multi language versions

10) ... Add some mini games

11) ... Include achievements and awards

12) ... Include some secret levels

13) ... Include power-ups

=============================================

Alternative Games:

If todays game isn't for you then definitely check out tomorrows game. it's one we've not had before. There has been some decent free games posted over in the forums. Just look for posts beginning with Week...... or check out the Free games synopsis which you'll find on the front page in the stickies. alternativelt all the major digital games suppliers have games for sale at knock down priices, Impulse and direct 2 Drive plus Steam are well worth visiting. My platform of preference Steam have a great weekend sale that includes the latest version of civilization (version five) for 66% off or some indie games including altitude and cogs for 50% off each (you can play the full version of altitude all weekend for free with no obligation to purchase, plus theres a 24 hour sale that at the moment has Eufloria for sale, though that ends in a little over 5 hours (6pm GMT).

you can find the Steam Sales and others via the didimatic link:

http://didimatic.com/dd/en/onsale/

it llists all the games that are on sale and how much they cost from the US, UK, australia and Europe. you may find them cheaper in some countries, so if you have friends in those countries ask them to gift the games to you. (of course pay them via PayPal or some other method).