Was not able to play the game after I downloaded it, all I get is a black screen and believe me its not my video drivers, I can play some of the best games out there way more graphic intense than this one. The game looks like it may be good from screen shots but I cant play it.

Thanks for the download anyways will try it on my older machine.

This is a really fun and addictive clone. 3D First Person Perspective Space Invaders with power-ups. Nicely done.

Tried it out on my Kojinsha SH8 UMPC in both 800x600 and 1024x600 modes (all that's available) and could only get the black screen after "file loading" message. After waiting a few minutes of nothing happening, I clicked the mouse button and got the music but no visual. The SH8 is running Xp Home sp3. You think that DirectX needs to be installed, or does Xp automatically come with it?

In any case, thanks, GGaotd!

Reading Stephen's review I decided to try out this game. I love the graphics and the Space Invaders style of play, but I fail to see the challenge of the game when it comes to dodging the bullets of the enemies spaceship. It seems all too easy to just stay in the far left or far right and never get hit.

This game was played on an Acer Aspire One , D255 , Intel Atom n450 1.66 ghz, Intel X3150 graphics. Ran super smooth. Sorry to hear there are some that are having problems with

***Slightly Off Topic***

For those people who downloaded yesterday's game Kings Smith 2 and could not get it to launch on a Netbook, you must travel to C:\Program Files\Kings Smith 2 and edit the she.ini file and set the resolution to 800x600. It will then play but lags in certain areas of the game on a netbook.


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

Thanks Jason

Most of the games offered here on GGOTD aren't games that I typically would like. This one however, caught my eye and held my attention for a few minutes. I vote positively for this game, as it's a great time waster, and is quite nostalgic of the old Atari game Space Invaders.

It’s a space shooter reminiscent of a 3D space invaders clone , though in reality its nothing like space invaders


You state it's not reminiscent of space invaders itself, but of a space invaders "clone"? confused


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


I've just spoken to a couple of giveaway members via Team Speak (I play several online games with them) and they 'get' what I’m trying to say. Basically I'm saying that it looks like a 3D version of space invaders (imagine you’re in an original space invaders game, but not as a 2D game but as a 3D game), but in reality, this game is nothing like the original space invaders. My review goes on to explain why (i.e. It has power ups, it doesn't have blocks to hide behind and it's not in 2D, also the original space invaders didn't have boss fights, though it did have a space ship that occasionally wandered across the top of the playing arena, which this 3D game doesn't. )

Or, in just a few words, it reminds me of (reminiscent) space invaders, but it's not the same.

Whatever your opinion, to me it reminds me of space invaders, but it's nothing like the original game. That's my opinion. It seems rather shallow to critisize someones opinion, especially when you are arguing semantics. Why not post your own opinion of the game instead. ;-)

It’s a space shooter reminiscent of a 3D space invaders clone , though in reality its nothing like space invaders


well is it is, or isn't it?

Total downloads so far 15 hours into the game giveaway are just under 6 thousand.

If you are getting a black screen after booting up the game, try changing your screen resolution. This game was created when high res' monitors were not available, (or were in their infancy).
The comments section will continue to be moderated for anther 2 or 3 hours then I won't be able to moderate till the end of the giveaway.

If you do have issues after the giveaway has finished post your comments, or requests for help in the game discussion forums. Thank you.

W.R.

Simple game, but too simple for me.... how to uninstall? Do I simply delete the game folder from me C:Games folder? Not found in Add/Remove programs, nor is it showing in my Uninstaller program.


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

The game is free standing and as such has no extras installed elsewhere on your computer, including the registry, so all you need to do to uninstall the game is to delete the folder (C:\games\). I did mention all of this in my review above. ;-)

What is the version of this 'Last Galaxy Hero' game today??


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

sorry, I meant to post the version numbe this morning, but got distracted (my childrens homework, lol). The version number is v1.3.01, which is an update on the previous version we were given back in Nov 2008 (v1.2.02)

Fun shooter game, runs faster if you load it to a virtual ram disk. Could not get A,D mouse to work properly, but using left arrow and right arrow with the usb mouse works fine.

P.P.P.P.S. Thanks to graylox & all who found the name of yesterday's intro music (Greensleeves). The first time I heard it was on the PC game "Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood (Sierra)"'s ingame cassette tape. The tape was long lost and the game was forgettable standard adventure fare, but the music has been haunting me for 20 years. Thanks to you, I can finally put that piece of memory to rest.

Here's the game (now abandonware):
http://www.myabandonware.com/game/conquests-of-the-longbow-the-legend-of-robin-hood-22f


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

You will find the music file in the installed games music folder. I posted the path yesterday. It's in the Ogg format, but you can easily convert it to MP3 using one of the freeware audio converters. :)

Very nice game, thanks! The older-style graphics are plenty detailed, giving a great sense of place and making me recall many fond afternoons in the local videogame arcade. It's got a nice balance between challenging gameplay and good graphics, but is not too tough in the beginning to turn me away - I'm no master gamer, but I love to have fun, and this game gives me that. One commenter suggested that the ships look too much like the background, but in the pseudo-3D environment presented, this seems to me like camoflage and is an appropriate part of the challenge. My five-year-old daughter says "It's awesome!". This is a game that I'd be happy to pay for. Nice job to the design team - hope to see more of their work out in the marketplace.

The gameplay reminds me of the Beachhead series (on PC & arcades), with less movement and firing options. Both games can only be regarded as casual games; little depth to gameplay meant things got boring/repetitive quickly.

The graphics are typical of StarAshes games. Their 3D engine is able to produce smooth motion at high res even on my ~10-year-old lappy, which is saying a lot. They do however seem to recycle a lot of their 3D models; many objects used here were also present in their earlier shumup offering a few weeks ago.

The sound effect is also typical of StarAshes/casual games fare. Using OGG formats meant it's easy to produce personal mod packs for upgrading the sound (e.g. more bass-heavy firing and explosions), however the lack of popularity on this game would mean there are little incentive to do so.

Overall an ok rail shooter game for free, although I wouldn't expect to pay for this game. I would, however, pay for the earlier shumup offer (what was its name again?), if it had more levels. It unfortunately ended right when it got interesting (after ~6 levels). I guess that was the reason arcade shumups often had endless levels by recycling from the beginning. Keep up the good work StarAshes/GGAOTD/WR!

P.S. For people having black screens, check if your monitor supports the resolution of 640x480. Switch to that if it's available. I believe the game attempts this resolution first.

P.P.S. Thanks WR for the links to Battlezon & Universal Combat!

P.P.P.S. I loved King's Smith 2 from yesterday, even if only for its music selection. Are there other free sites offering download of this game?


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


I don't think you can get King Smith free from any of the free sites yet.

Loads up on xp sp3 no problem its an old sort of 3d first shooter but a good simple one I agree its not one ill play often but at the same time its a good free time waster I am not a big gamer so its fine for me plus for older machines it runs well and even if you have a basic 3D card it will play in 3D !! but all said its free and thats what counts ;-)
just saying

I was frustrated that (to me) the vertical axis control was "inverted". I expected to be able to change it in Options, but it didn't allow for that. This is the first game I've come across that didn't allow the user to choose their preference for "nose up / nose down". Other than that I think I would like this game, but I just keep instinctively moving the sights the wrong way. I made this comment for the developer, so they'd hear constructive feature requests to help improve the game.

I installed this game and got nothing but a black screen. no uninstall and wasnt listed in add/remove either. I deleted the file so i hope it is gone. on this computer i play both RIFT and World Of Warcraft so my computer isnt the problem here. come on guys.

Agree with #9. Way too old school. Shoot big boulder things, then small ships, grab the little bonuses. Repeat. Sloppy movement. Thin look. Die easy even on Easy setting after a few levels. Options help as to Difficultly, Sound Music (boy set that to 0 quickly!). Do have to redo those each time run game. Saves I guess follows what user posts indicate. Never did look for any Menu so guess game does it after certain amount of levels but I was gone by then.
At least ok Win 7. Uninstall folder easily to avoid brain bomb.
And thanks for Mod comment in #4 pointing to Battlezone link that also has a couple other releases of oldie shooters Wraith of Earth types. A few may need Dosbox prg to run. Worth a try tho for a better looking, in depth play model.

Interesting notice from Kasperky when after I launch the game... "Behaivor similiar to PDM.Keylogger" detected. Anyone else get this?

All I get is a black screen when it starts up and then nothing. I'm using Win 7 OS. Used to have this game on Win XP OS and never had a problem with it. I followed the earlier advice and updated my graphics driver and found it was up to date already. Any more suggestions on how I can get this game to work?


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

A shot in the dark, but maybe changing your screen resolution may cure the problem. The game is six years old. Newer monitors have much larger resolutions than back then (I think) (I know I was still using a 19 inch screen at the time).

simple fun with this game. You can steady your aim if you align the cross-hairs with the mouse and fire with the space bar.

Good little game for those times when distractions from the worries of the world is needed. Downloaded and installed with no glitches on my Win7/64 laptop.
Thanks GOTD and Stars Ashes. Please keep up the good work. What you do is really appreciated by many of us--there are those of us who just do not take the time to say so. I know, because I WAS one of those for quite some time.
Thanks again.

I found each new game to be boring. All those that I played were carbon copies of the last: same double-barreled pair of artillery; same two types of enemy ships, and same land view. I found that after five games, there was nothing to be excited about or to look forward to in playing again. I quickly experienced all that the game could offer me. From game-to-game, there ought to be more creative, different and colorful scenery and targets.

any one get black screen on home edition Visa you have to wait little longer ,that take time to loading so mine is working okay
good luck,
thanks GATO

ya me to I put all my games in a Game folder in, well you know

Game is not bad

bug
when you exit the game and come back it removes all your scores
and what is with the load game? you can't save it... unless it's not on the main menu...

over all worth having

thanks to GOTD and the makers


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

I think you have to complete a specific number of levels before the game saves (though I may be wrong). A lot of games from the time this game was made (2005) were like that. For example, complete five levels or even 10 to be able to save progress to that stage, (for example Ricochet - the breakout game). One of my favourite shooters from that period called Conflict Vietnam; a third person shooter had a similar save function, though with that game you could only create two saves per section. It was really difficult to decide when to save because if you saved to early you’d really struggle finishing the level. In fact I never completed that game because one of the stages was so hard I'd always use up my saves too early and could never get past the end stages of the level. Frustrating....... ;-)

Game does not create shortcut, must find it in c/games.Gets a bit twichy and jumpy when playing, then had an error lastgalaxyhero.exe has encountered an error and must close. xp sp3


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

Try updating your graphics drivers.

why is it (The game installs to C:\Games\LastGalaxyHero by default.)

the Default should be
32 bit programs
C:\Program Files (x86)\Games\LastGalaxyHero

and

64 bit programs
C:\Program Files\Games\LastGalaxyHero
yes I know it's not a 64 bit


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

Because the developer chose to do so; it’s not set in stone that all programs should be installed to those folders. You can easily reroute the game to the program files (x86) or Program files if you wish to do so during installation.

There are many members (including myself) that prefer to install their games into a dedicated games folder, though I usually install my games to a separate hard drive rather than use the drive that has the windows platform installed to. ;-)

Slightly reminiscent (if only from its look) of the old battlezone game. Where as a tank driver you had to suit other tanks, utilising what you could see and also a 'radar screen'. Other versions of this style of game (again I hark back to the C64) involved shooting big black blocks.

What these games had, but Last Galaxy Hero lacks, is the facility to move freely around the landscape and fire at enemies from anywhere.

The enemies in this game look a tiny bit like the rocks in the background of the scene, I found the firing system slow and boring too. Worst of all for me was the movement... It's as if you're facing some baddies in a valley and you're on a little track which runs from side to side, thus making it a bit like space invaders - without the look, and with slightly more random movement from the invaders.

The game has limited playability, for me. The graphics are passable and the sound what you might expect. The noise of the guns firing could get irritating, as there's no variation in it (unless the guns change at later levels - I didn't hang around long enough to find out)

The controls are easy enough; Cursor keys and spacebar (which for laptop users like me is better than combinations of mouse and keys), but frankly it isn't enough to salvage this game from the "doubt I'll play this much" section of my computer.

only 3/10 from me. Sorry.


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

Thanks for your insightfull review. You can download the full version of Battlezone for free via the following link:

http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/26459/Battlezone.html

Last Galaxy Heroes was originally given away back in Dec 06 and then again twice in 2008 (version 1.2.02). It’s a space shooter reminiscent of a 3D space invaders clone , though in reality its nothing like space invaders. It received a positive 85% of 149 votes the first time it was given away shortly after the game giveaway project started. Then 51% of 330 votes in January 2008 then again in November 2008 it received a positive 41% of 548 votes. You can check out all the comments from each giveaway by following the links below:


Nov 08:

http://game.giveawayoftheday.com/again-galaxy-hero/#comments


Jan 08:

http://game.giveawayoftheday.com/hero-last-galaxy/#comments


Dec 06:

http://game.giveawayoftheday.com/last-galaxy-hero/#comments

Get ready for the galaxy mission! Hard times fell upon the galaxy and you are the only one to save it. The problem is that you have only one space tank to destroy the attacks of space shooters. The planets wait for you to save them!

Reference: http://www.realore.com/lastgalaxyhero Accessed 28th Nov 08



Installation:



The downloaded zip file is 11.7Mb in size and unpacks to a read me that give you the terms and conditions and information about installation plus a dual activation and set up module. The installed game is 19.3Mb in size. If you are new to the game giveaway project all you ‘usually’ have to do is double click (unless you’ve set the clicks to single click) on the module and it’ll install and activate automatically.

The game installs to C:\Games\LastGalaxyHero .....{by default}.

However, during the installation wizards progress you are given the opportunity to select your own installation path if you wish; (it's highly recommended, especially if you have a second HDD or a partitioned drive as it will help to keep your system running smoothly - the more you fill your root drive (usually the C: drive, the slower your computer will run – if you’ve got a decent sized hard drive of more than a few hundred Gigabytes it’s always a good idea to partition it into at least two drives so that you can keep the platform (usually windows) and other essential applications separate from other programs and games.
There is no shortcut installed, so you’ll have to create your own. (Right click, select ‘Send to’ then from the drop down menu select ‘Desktop (create shortcut)’. This will place a shortcut on your desktop. If you want a shortcut in your Start menu/programs list check out the tutorial in the game discussion forums. You’ll find the thread in the stickies (I think it needs updating though as it was created before Win 7 was released and there are some folder changes). There is no uninstaller, however if you decide the game isn't for you, remove the game by manually deleting the installed folder. It's self-contained which means there shouldn't be any entries in the registry and there are no files written to other areas of the computer. (I’ve checked the registry and found no registry entries related to the game) If you still wish to check the registry for yourself to see if there are any orphan entries you can use the registry editor by typing regedit in the run command (in XP) or typing in the search box (in Vista or Win 7) you will open up the registry editor. It's always a good idea to create a restore point before you make any changes to the registry just in case you mistakenly delete something you shouldn’t have. (I've been editing the registry for many years and to my knowledge have never caused a problem due to deleting registry keys). Once the registry editor is open, click on the computer icon that’s situated above the five registry hives ( HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, HKEY_CURRENT_USER ....... etc.; then click on Edit, (which is situated in the toolbar along the top of the editor); from the drop down menu select Find or Find next then type in the key word/s, in this case Last Galaxy Hero, then click on Find next. If any registry keys associated with Last Galaxy Hero are found (right click on the entry in the left hand pane of the editor and select delete, or in some cases in the left hand pane (if in doubt, leave the key - you can always post a request for help over in the forums).


I’ve tested the game in Win XP 32 bit, Vista Home Premium 64 bit, vista home Basic 32 bit, Win 7 Pro 64 bit and win 7 Ultimate 64 bit and the game works well on all platforms with no installation issues (apart from the lack of a shortcut).


The Game:

Once installed you are presented with a hard to see main menu options and help menus, well that is if you are red – green colour blind. I can see it okay, but my son who inherited the condition from his maternal grandfather said he couldn’t see the menu very well. It doesn’t help that it’s superimposed over a screenshot of an in game image. That said the game is quite enjoyable; at least from my point of view; one of my favorite arcade genres is space shooters.

The main options menu allows you to change the screen resolution from 640 x 480, 800 x 600, 1024 x 768 and 1152 x 864 in 16 and 32 bit formats, as well as sliders for music and sound effects. The music is okay if turned low and the sound effects are what you would expect of such a game as this. (The music files are OGG; you can change them for music you like if you find the music annoying, but you must convert your preferred music to the OGG format as well using an audio converster (you can find a couple of decent ones in the giveaway freeware section). You can also select the difficulty from this window as well as choose to play the game in windowed mode. The second options menu is accessed while in game by using the Esc key, which brings up a menu that allows you to abort the mission and restart, exit the game or enter a second options menu that again allows you to change the music and sound effects volumes and also allows you to change the X and Y axis speeds of the mouse as well as select between two control modes. Both use a combination of Mouse and Keyboard, though with the standard control you can use both mouse and keyboard, though you have to use the arrow keys when using the keyboard. The second option called A D and Mouse utilizes the A and D keys as opposed to the arrow keys for left and right. Both modes have their advantages, which is probably personal to each of us.

The help menu is basic, but that’s all you need. It details the power ups you can collect and bonuses of which there is a limited number, these comprise of weapon upgrades (as you would expect from a space shooter) and armour improvements as well as bonus points of various sizes. Bonuses are gained when you destroy one of the 12 different enemies that you will find in this game. There’s a simple HUD (heads up display) that shows you your weapon and armour strength as well as the number of lives (repair droids) you have at the bottom of the screen (plus a few others detailed in the help menu) as well as the number of bonus points and your score, which are found at the top of the HUD. To progress to a new world you have to attain a specific number of bonus points; for example, to get to the second world you require 15000 bonus points and to get to the third world 20000 bonus points etc. (I’ll let you discover the rest); before you enter a new world though you have to fight one of the five bosses that you’ll meet on your journey to becoming the Last Galaxy Hero :lol: You must move your gun emplacement left or right to capture the bonuses and power ups, which remain where they are until you move directly beneath them. the danger here while you wait for the bonus to drop down to you is that you are vunerable to alien weaponry. The enemies shoot back at you and only need to hit you a few times to destroy your emplacement unless you’ve collected plenty of armour bonuses. These are easily missed though as they move towards you from the lowest axis of the guns vertical movement, which you are usually pointing at the sky, so watch out for those bonuses. You start with 3 lives on all difficulty settings, but there are power ups in the form of repair droids that you can collect, which give you extra lives. You lose a life when your shields are reduced to zero, see the in game help pages, (which are accessible from the main menu when you first start the game up), for details of each power up and bonus'. There are three difficulty settings Easy, Medium and Suicide. Aliens shoots back at you faster on the higher difficulty settings. :lol:

The game is quite easy for the first few levels, but gets harder as you progress through the levels; that is, unless you are a seasoned 'galaxy hero', :lol: especially when playing it on the suicide mode.

The game controls include mouse, keyboard and joystick. You can use a combination of each one or individually, which makes the controls very versatile. There is an option to change the control keys, but this is very basic I’ve detailed the differences in the second paragraph of the ‘intro and game section’ above. There are 5 different worlds to explore (see the Googled images below to get an idea), and at the end of each world you encounter a boss. I've taken about 15+ screen captures from the November 2008 review and added another 25 captures from the latest giveaway.


If you miss today’s game, lose it to a format or decide you want it after the giveaway has finished, the good news is that it’s available for free 365.25 days a year over at Gametop, though it’s had a name change to Star Gunner. You can download it via the link below. For those who are not familiar with Gametop games, your browser is always opened when you shut the game down, though there’s no malware installed. Gametop have recently been adding a toolbar and or asking if you want your home page changed to Gametop, so ensure the appropriate boxes (if presented) are unchecked. I recently checked to see if there were any toolbars etc and the file appears clean of any extras:

Download link for Gametop version:

http://www.gametop.com/download-free-games/star-gunner/


Screen captures:

All on one page:

http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/Whiterabbit_01/gaotd/Last%20Galaxy%20Hero/

As a Slideshow:

2008:

http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/Whiterabbit_01/gaotd/Last%20Galaxy%20Hero/?albumview=slideshow
or

2011:

http://s571.photobucket.com/albums/ss160/Whiterabbit04/Last%20Galaxy%20Hero/?albumview=slideshow (25 images)



Googled Images:

http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&q=Last+Galaxy+Hero&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2



System Requirements:


• CPU………………………………..........Pentium III 700

• Operating System…………….……Win98/2000/XP/Vista (The game was released in 2005 and hasn't been updated since it was updated for Vista, but it works in win 7

• 3D emulation………………………....DirectX 8.0 or higher ….

• Computer memory…………………128 MB RAM

• Video Card memory………………..32 MB Video RAM


Conclusion:

This is a decent 3D space shooter on the lines of a three dimensional space invaders, where you have to destroy wave upon wave of oncoming space craft. Some may find it a little retro in its graphics and design when comparing it with many other games that have been released over the last few years, but the game play is solid.

I had loads of fun playing this the first time it was given away and was pleased to see it in the first rerun as I’d lost it to a format. It’s worth a good 6.5 out of 10 for its game play, which is very basic. Despite it being fun I did find it soon became a little stale if I tried to play it for longer periods due to the repetitive nature of the game. Ut's definitely good for some mindless fun when all you want to do is turn off for a while.


Other similar games:

There are loads of other space themed shooters that you can get for free from Game top, MyPlayCity and FreeGamePick, (there were 11 full version commercial games at Gametop the last time I looked) which are linked to via the free shoot ‘em ups thread posted over in the forums. Make sure you check out all the posts in the thread though because I’ve posted several in different posts, plus others have posted suitable games as well. Most are in my opinion much better than today’s giveaway, but if you like space invaders, it’s a great 3D version. My favorite free space game is Universal Combat, which was converted to abandonware a few years ago by it’s developer. It’s a 3D space shooter of epic proportions which is well worth the download if you like space orientated games. You can find details and a link to the download page via the space shoot ‘em up thread that I’ve linked to below:


http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/2724?replies=33

I'd also check the free games synopsis which has most of the games listed in the forums, tohough I've not updated it since before Christmas, so there are a lot of games not listed, but you can find these by sifting through the game discussion forums and specifically looking for the free games project posts. There have been several excellent freeware space shooters posted since i last updated the synopsis.

after installing, I opened and saw nothing except black screen ????


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

Try updating your graphics drivers.

Downloaded and installed this game. It is an excellent game from what I played and it is not like some standard shooting game.

To some the graphics are not up to par as today's games go, but for me I like it and it does not lag down the PC.

It is easy to uninstall if you decide that you do not want it. Just delete the folder it creates in the Games directory on the hard drive.