Star Warrior 2: Defenders

#35

I love this game also yet can't seem to get past stage 32 , I've been trying for over a week now , am I a poor player or something I'm not getting.

Reply | Comment by John Roberts – 14 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#34

I love it.

Reply | Comment by james k. momanyi – 14 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#33

This game is VERY COOL! It's as simple as that! I can't imagine any negative reviews when the game is given to you.
The graphics are perfect, the mouse "targeting system" works GREAT for me and YIPEE it has 40+ levels man! I have only played the first level so far BUT it's FUN and that's what games should be!

CHECK THIS OUT>>> I hope we get another chance at the "Exosyphen Studio" games "Hacker Evolution", etc.

Thanx GGOTD!

Reply | Comment by Jay Allan – 14 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#32

I'm running this on a Win7 32-bit computer with no problems. I didn't need compatibility or to run as administrator.

The game itself is great -- the graphics look good, the sound effects are well-placed (especially scrap metal ricocheting off your turret). It's a fun game.

Reply | Comment by Nathan – 14 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#31

Game ok, would be great if mouse control was altered significantly. eg a small target circle to point the direction and eg press right button to move turret in this direction.

As is, the mouse control is very tricky, and is going to take time and a lot of practice to get used to.(I play guitar very well so dexterity isn't a problem, neither is coordination - usually!)

If this was a real life turret, the enemy would win hands down every time! I have to get the direction either Up/ Down or Left Right and even then it isn't reliable. As for targetting in any other direction, it's extremely hit and miss! Bit of a shame as the graphics and gameplay are otherwise fine!

Game also gets too difficult too quickly!

With improvements could be a real keeper, but for now, it's play just occasionally.

Reply | Comment by Charles L – 14 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#30

Sorry, Daniel, but I have to disagree with you on the uninstaller part, especially the second part. That's essentially the Macintosh formula: the user doesn't need to know anything about computing. That would be great if it were true, but it isn't, and this is an example of Joe Average (not you) being unintentionally misled. The perceived consistency here is an arbitrary consistency - in that it isn't always necessary - especially today with the amount of hard disk memory that's available. Without going into it too deeply (I don't mean you, but for the other folks "listening in"), Windows is a modular system. To perform a common function - like, say copy, to use an over simplistic, but easily visualizable example - no need to write that code into every program. The developer can simply call on the Windows module - in this case a DLL, dynamic link library - that has that basic code in it. Windows loads it into memory and it performs the basic function as many times as necessary, for as many programs as your running that need it.

This is fine, if your program needs that. But if it doesn't need to call on much in Windows - and games usually require functions different from standard Windows functions - then why not let it be as self contained as possible. Besides, the old theory was this would make programs a LOT larger than necessary. But, I find that's greatly exaggerated. I make a point of looking for free standing programs whenever possible, and most free standing utilities I've found are a lot smaller than that "limitation" is supposed to make them. Besides, with today's gigabyte and even terabyte drives, space isn't the premium it used to be. Yesterday's puzzle expanded to 25 mb and today's game to 128 mb. I've got them both, and got PLENTY of gigs left. Besides, the extra space wasn't because of redundancy, but because of the each games' graphics.

The perceived consistency is the "one size fits all" theory, vice my preferred "right tool for the job" theory. Installers were only created because of necessity for programs that made changes to your system - and could potentially screw your system up - and because some folks couldn't figure out how easy it was to create your own shortcut. My philosophy is why buy a turbo charger if all the roads you drive on can easily be handled by the standard engine. That's an unnecessary addition to the machine.

I understand what your saying about the old XCopy technology (still being used, but goes back to DOS) but I don't see that as exactly what's happening here. Most of these games ARE compressed archives. They don't really have installers, either. They're mostly RAR archives unpacked by WinRAR, or what ever folks have to uncompress them. No uninstaller because there's no installer. Just an unpacker.

The bottom line is that these programs don't interact with Windows on a modular level, but sort of interact with Windows by riding on top of it. The advantage: you don't have to worry about the program creating compatibility problems with other programs or about the program making changes which could impact your system. The program either works on your machine or it doesn't. Even if crashes your machine that's because it didn't get along with your hardware, but that can happen with any program and rarely causes permanent problems. One miscalculated addition to your registry CAN cause you permanent problems, though, I admit it doesn't happen that often.

I say all this respectfully. I just feel developers should start with a simple model and add complications ONLY when they really are enhancements, but I haven't written hardly any code, so I might be missing something.

Sorry, Daniel, but I have to disagree with you on the uninstaller part, especially the second part. That's essentially the Macintosh formula: the user doesn't need to know anything about computing. That would be great if it were true, but it isn't, and this is an example of Joe Average (not you) being unintentionally misled. The perceived consistency here is an arbitrary consistency - in that it isn't always necessary - especially today with the amount of hard disk memory that's available. Without going into it too deeply (I don't mean you, but for the other folks "listening in"), Windows is a modular system. To perform a common function - like, say copy, to use an over simplistic, but easily visualizable example - no need to write that code into every program. The developer can simply call on the Windows module - in this case a DLL, dynamic link library - that has that basic code in it. Windows loads it into memory and it performs the basic function as many times as necessary, for as many programs as your running that need it.

This is fine, if your program needs that. But if it doesn't need to call on much in Windows - and games usually require functions different from standard Windows functions - then why not let it be as self contained as possible. Besides, the old theory was this would make programs a LOT larger than necessary. But, I find that's greatly exaggerated. I make a point of looking for free standing programs whenever possible, and most free standing utilities I've found are a lot smaller than that "limitation" is supposed to make them. Besides, with today's gigabyte and even terabyte drives, space isn't the premium it used to be. Yesterday's puzzle expanded to 25 mb and today's game to 128 mb. I've got them both, and got PLENTY of gigs left. Besides, the extra space wasn't because of redundancy, but because of the each games' graphics.

The perceived consistency is the "one size fits all" theory, vice my preferred "right tool for the job" theory. Installers were only created because of necessity for programs that made changes to your system - and could potentially screw your system up - and because some folks couldn't figure out how easy it was to create your own shortcut. My philosophy is why buy a turbo charger if all the roads you drive on can easily be handled by the standard engine. That's an unnecessary addition to the machine.

I understand what your saying about the old XCopy technology (still being used, but goes back to DOS) but I don't see that as exactly what's happening here. Most of these games ARE compressed archives. They don't really have installers, either. They're mostly RAR archives unpacked by WinRAR, or what ever folks have to uncompress them. No uninstaller because there's no installer. Just an unpacker.

The bottom line is that these programs don't interact with Windows on a modular level, but sort of interact with Windows by riding on top of it. The advantage: you don't have to worry about the program creating compatibility problems with other programs or about the program making changes which could impact your system. The program either works on your machine or it doesn't. Even if crashes your machine that's because it didn't get along with your hardware, but that can happen with any program and rarely causes permanent problems. One miscalculated addition to your registry CAN cause you permanent problems, though, I admit it doesn't happen that often.

I say all this respectfully. I just feel developers should start with a simple model and add complications ONLY when they really are enhancements, but I haven't written hardly any code, so I might be missing something.

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Reply | Comment by watcher13 – 14 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#29

Installed on Win7 Ultimate 32 with a 3.2 Ghz Intel Processor and a 1 gig Nvidia card along with 4 GIgs of ram. Goes to the init screen and then out to a black screen. Oh well....

Reply | Comment by J Wood – 14 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#28

those screenshots of the game look really cool as a desktop background.
thats as far as i got so far. lol

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

lol. If you follow the photobucket link you'll get slightly better resolution images, though they are about half what the original screenshots were. The forum images are only 400 x 300 pixels.

Reply | Comment by vvqueen – 14 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#27

Hmm... so you REQUIRE a middle mouse button? In that case, I'll have to pass on this one. I use a trackball (which doesn't have an MMB).

(Insert standard rant about 'why do developers ASSUME your HID has a 'middle button?' here. ;) )

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

I've not used the middle mouse button yet. You can play the game quite adequately without it. :)

Reply | Comment by Cad Delworth CEng MBCS CITP – 14 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#26

The first problem with no uninstaller is that from the users standpoint there's no way to know if no uninstaller means it was an xcopy install (and thus can be removed by deleting the folder) or if something is screwed up and the installer either didn't create the uninstall entry or something deleted it after the fact. With software that's installed by copying files out of a zip that's not a major concern because no installer has run. When was has it does become an issue.

If all you need is an xcopy install, tools like innosetup can create one in less than an hour even if you never used the tool before. Unlike install shield would have you think it doesn't need to be a difficult process.

The second problem with not having an uninstaller falls under the category of consistency and following OS behavioral guidelines. Simply put the user experience should be consistent for all software on a system; as defined by MS that means providing an entry in add/remove programs to uninstall an application. These guidelines go well beyond just saying you need an uninstaller; the one for vista is roughly 1000 pages long; I've never looked at the win7 version to see how much its size has changed.

Reply | Comment by Daniel Neely – 14 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#25

Works great on my dell dual core amd machine running XP pro. I have 3 gigs of ram and onboard graphics. Thanks game giveaway of the day. I love blowing lizards and saving the world,lol.

Reply | Comment by Michael – 14 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#24

Install ok Win7 Ulit x32 4Core. Runs Ok. First 2 novice rounds ok but by 3rd the scrolling & movement gets too awkward to keep up with.
Yes does then get dizzy, due to the weird motion and way it sends in
enemy stuff from 4 axis points at once. Held my own for a bit just by holding LMB for full fire and random moves to try and luck out.
Die no matter what. Didn't seem to have earned any RMB rockets tho that maybe do some auto tracking that might help. Erased ok.

Reply | Comment by beergas – 14 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#23

No uninstaller, but I have a program that keeps track of the before and after installation so I installed it full of anticipation because I tend to like these type games. But anticipation turned to disappointment.

I have 1 Gig of RAM (should be enough) 3+ gig microprocessor, integrated graphics, and a very good gaming mouse. Perhaps a good graphics card and more RAM would make the difference. In any case things run smoothly for a while and then it starts to get choppy and eventually hangs up briefly; enough so that I haven't been able to make it through the first round without a failed mission.

And so it will be uninstalled and I cannot give it a thumbs up. Perhaps a video card and another gig of RAM would help.

Reply | Comment by jeck – 14 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#22

An additional comment, increasing mouse sensitivity made the game controls smoother; which was the opposite of what I expected. The game itself was still underwhelming, but with sensitivity cranked it was at least easily playable.

Reply | Comment by Daniel Neely – 14 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#21

Jack, I feel your missing out here. I'd hate to see you lose out over what I consider an unnecessary appendage. Frankly, an uninstaller is only necessary when a program makes changing to your system, either by placing files outside it's own folder or changing your registry. The problem with either of those actions is that they have the potential of harming your computer. Many of these games are free standing and it's very unlikely that such software will cause any computer problems. To me that's SO much more valuable than the bells and whistles of having an uninstaller or start menu items or desktop shortcuts, the last two which you can easily do yourself. After all, the only uninstall you have to do is delete the game's folder. And I never have to worry that doing that won't get everything. Although, I admit, some of the programs do store game progress, and sometimes settings, in either the AppData>Roaming folder in Vista or Documents and Settings in XP. In that case, I agree that an uninstaller would be nice. But even then, those folders are easily deleted.

No offense, but I think most people are just brainwashed about desktop shortcuts and the need for uninstallers. If the program doesn't overwrite system or common files, or place stuff in these folders, or write to your registry, an uninstaller is pretty much unnecessary. Confucius said, "Simplicity is difficult, complication is easy". He meant it's human nature to want to take simply effective ideas and muck them up with bells and whistles, exceptions and adjustments, and the like. (He really did say that, though I think he was quoting an earlier Philosopher.) It's like a car, extra doo-dads mean extra time and expense to fix.

It may be just me, but I wish everything on the main page was freestanding, too. A lot of people - though I'm not saying it's even slightly close to a majority - would have a lot less problems if that were the case. Embrace free standing software, folks (also called standalone or self contained software)! :) Truly, you'll be glad you did!

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

Got to agree with you on that one. One of my pet hates from years ago was all the flashing lights and uneccessary knobs found on music system amplifiers. (and music systems) all you needed if the amp was a good one was a volume control. If you wanted to twiddle with the sound even more, the addition of a graphic equalizer was fun

Jack, I feel your missing out here. I'd hate to see you lose out over what I consider an unnecessary appendage. Frankly, an uninstaller is only necessary when a program makes changing to your system, either by placing files outside it's own folder or changing your registry. The problem with either of those actions is that they have the potential of harming your computer. Many of these games are free standing and it's very unlikely that such software will cause any computer problems. To me that's SO much more valuable than the bells and whistles of having an uninstaller or start menu items or desktop shortcuts, the last two which you can easily do yourself. After all, the only uninstall you have to do is delete the game's folder. And I never have to worry that doing that won't get everything. Although, I admit, some of the programs do store game progress, and sometimes settings, in either the AppData&gt;Roaming folder in Vista or Documents and Settings in XP. In that case, I agree that an uninstaller would be nice. But even then, those folders are easily deleted.

No offense, but I think most people are just brainwashed about desktop shortcuts and the need for uninstallers. If the program doesn't overwrite system or common files, or place stuff in these folders, or write to your registry, an uninstaller is pretty much unnecessary. Confucius said, "Simplicity is difficult, complication is easy". He meant it's human nature to want to take simply effective ideas and muck them up with bells and whistles, exceptions and adjustments, and the like. (He really did say that, though I think he was quoting an earlier Philosopher.) It's like a car, extra doo-dads mean extra time and expense to fix.

It may be just me, but I wish everything on the main page was freestanding, too. A lot of people - though I'm not saying it's even slightly close to a majority - would have a lot less problems if that were the case. Embrace free standing software, folks (also called standalone or self contained software)! :) Truly, you'll be glad you did!

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

Got to agree with you on that one.  One of my pet hates from  years ago was all the flashing lights and uneccessary knobs  found on music system amplifiers.  (and music systems)  all you needed if the amp was a good one was a volume control.  If you wanted to twiddle with the  sound even more, the addition of a graphic equalizer was fun

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Reply | Comment by watcher13 – 14 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#20

win7 x64 here. Wouldn't run in compatibility mode for me. I got a blank screen with sound. Editing the cfg file to run windowed instead of full screen did work. Setting my resolution to 2560x1560 allowed me to get something extremely close to full screen anyway.

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

Nice one Daniel. Glad you got it to work. :)

Reply | Comment by Daniel Neely – 14 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#19

Had the same problem as Dan. Controls are imprecise for me. I experimented and turned off the "Simple Controls" in level 1 novice and the display rolls continuously - so much inertia/rolling that it wouldn't even stop close enough to a mine to keep it on the screen. So that's not the answer, at least on this level. And why isn't this setting explained? Inverting the x-y axis definitely helped but I'm not sure why. It didn't seem to make right/left into up/down, as I would have expected, but maybe I was so dizzy I didn't notice. :) Adjusted mouse sensitivity 3 times. Helped the first time, didn't seem to help after that. Maybe I need to turn it all the way up. All of these could be easily explained in the help.

I don't want to sound bitchy, I'm not necessarily down on this game or unhappy GOTD offers what it does. This is just a general bitch, but I don't understand while practically every developer GOTD offers puts a lot of effort into writing the back story (even when struggling with English) and very little into writing help. Is this normal in the game industry? Is it considered more of a challenge - or just more fun - to discover much of the games mechanics while you go? Like those folks who dislike reading computer manuals and would rather learn by playing with their machines? I can understand that, it's certainly valuable to experiment. I, however, fall in the other category. I dislike reinventing the wheel.

This game certainly looks like it has value and interest and is well designed. The control problems may be platform specific, so it might work pretty well for most others. I understand if Space Cadets in this fictional universe have to spend considerable time learning their equipment, but it's not that much fun for me. Don't know if I'll spend the time getting used to this so I can unlock the fun in it. After all, I could just as easily play something else. No vote for me, because it might be great for others. I'll remain neutral.

WR - I'm a little surprised. Your text seems to be enthusiastic about this one, but your vote is only 6.5 out of 10. I've seen you talk less complimentary about games that you scored a 7. Is that just because you feel there's a lot better competition out there? As always, thanks for your detailed reviews. Am curious to hear your response.

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

Hi Watcher, With the bigger, more expensive brothers to 'the arcade game' there are usually some form of decent help menu, but not always; wheras with arcade games it's much less usual to get a help file attached. From my own experience (after purchasing well over a thousand arcade games plus the thousands of freeware arcade games I've either tested or just played) it seems most games do lack a decent help file, or link to a help file. Sometimes you may find helpful information within the games folder, but it's not always linked to. And yes, my score reflects my own experiences with these types of games. I have a large stock of space arena games, some of which are much better than this one. As for the scoring, I rarely give a game more than 8, so 6.5 is actually not that bad, despite its seemingly average connotations. I'd say 5 is an average game, 6.5 is bordering on a decent game, but doesn't quite make it as a game worth buying in my own opinion. Perhaps I should occassionally expalain my own scoring system. Although using numbers gives a quantitative feel to the proceedings in reality these scores can only ever be qualitative, so what 6.5 means to me is very subjective may only be a 5 or less to some and an 8 or more to others.

I often see games scored on several parameters with a short written statement saying why the gamer likes the game. More often than not those that give a positive statement will often score all the categories with full marks, whereas others go the opposite way, despite in many cases its obvious to those not as into that genre of game there are some bad points. I've always tried to score the game on several merits, but then i'll average those scores to give an overall impression of the game. I think giving too many score ratings is a good idea, but time limitations tend to stop me from adopting such a practice.

Had the same problem as Dan. Controls are imprecise for me. I experimented and turned off the "Simple Controls" in level 1 novice and the display rolls continuously - so much inertia/rolling that it wouldn't even stop close enough to a mine to keep it on the screen. So that's not the answer, at least on this level. And why isn't this setting explained? Inverting the x-y axis definitely helped but I'm not sure why. It didn't seem to make right/left into up/down, as I would have expected, but maybe I was so dizzy I didn't notice. :) Adjusted mouse sensitivity 3 times. Helped the first time, didn't seem to help after that. Maybe I need to turn it all the way up. All of these could be easily explained in the help.

I don't want to sound bitchy, I'm not necessarily down on this game or unhappy GOTD offers what it does. This is just a general bitch, but I don't understand while practically every developer GOTD offers puts a lot of effort into writing the back story (even when struggling with English) and very little into writing help. Is this normal in the game industry? Is it considered more of a challenge - or just more fun - to discover much of the games mechanics while you go? Like those folks who dislike reading computer manuals and would rather learn by playing with their machines? I can understand that, it's certainly valuable to experiment. I, however, fall in the other category. I dislike reinventing the wheel.

This game certainly looks like it has value and interest and is well designed. The control problems may be platform specific, so it might work pretty well for most others. I understand if Space Cadets in this fictional universe have to spend considerable time learning their equipment, but it's not that much fun for me. Don't know if I'll spend the time getting used to this so I can unlock the fun in it. After all, I could just as easily play something else. No vote for me, because it might be great for others. I'll remain neutral.

WR - I'm a little surprised. Your text seems to be enthusiastic about this one, but your vote is only 6.5 out of 10. I've seen you talk less complimentary about games that you scored a 7. Is that just because you feel there's a lot better competition out there? As always, thanks for your detailed reviews. Am curious to hear your response.

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

Hi Watcher, With the bigger, more expensive brothers to 'the arcade game' there are usually some form of decent help menu, but not always; wheras with arcade games it's much less usual to get a help file attached. From my own experience (after purchasing well over a thousand arcade games plus the thousands of freeware arcade games I've either tested or just played) it seems most games do lack a decent help file, or link to a help file. Sometimes you may find helpful information within the games folder, but it's not always linked to. And yes, my score reflects my own experiences with these types of games. I have a large stock of space arena games, some of which are much better than this one. As for the scoring, I rarely give a game more than 8, so 6.5 is actually not that bad, despite its seemingly average connotations. I'd say 5 is an average game, 6.5 is bordering on a decent game, but doesn't quite make it as a game worth buying in my own opinion. Perhaps I should occassionally expalain my own scoring system. Although using numbers gives a quantitative feel to the proceedings in reality these scores can only ever be qualitative, so what 6.5 means to me is very subjective may only be a 5 or less to some and an 8 or more to others.

I often see games scored  on several parameters  with a short  written statement saying why the gamer likes the game.  More often than not  those that give a positive  statement will often score all the categories   with full  marks, whereas others go the opposite way, despite in many cases  its obvious to those  not as into that genre of game there are  some  bad points.  I've always tried to  score  the game on several merits, but then i'll average  those scores to give an overall impression of the game.  I think   giving  too many score ratings   is a good idea, but  time limitations tend to stop me from  adopting such a practice.

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Reply | Comment by watcher13 – 14 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#18

I downloaded, extracted (to its permanent location), and activated this program without any difficulties at all (although you may wish to warn future GGotD users that they are extracting program files, NOT setup files). While it was inconvenient, I didn’t have any difficulty creating a shortcut.

The game itself is quite nice – the graphic quality is excellent and the sound quality is good, but using the mouse is awkward. I guess that it is better than being forced to use WASD keys, but call me old-fashioned - I prefer to use a joystick to control my spacecraft and its weapons!

I don't think I would recommend this game to my friends as-is. I think the $9.99 price is too high (despite the excellent video quality) I think a $6.99 price would be more appropriate for a casual game like this one, where there is no real strategy involved, and the only AI involved is how fast can your computer throw things at you.

Thank you GGotD, and Some Company, for providing this great little game for free today.

My System: HP Pavilion d5200t (running under Vista Ultimate SP2 64-bit) w/4Gb RAM, 1000Gb RAID HDD, NVidia GeForce 9800 GT video card w/512Mb memory, Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi audio card.

Downloaded using Mozilla Firefox 3.5.7

Reply | Comment by Doug S. – 14 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#17

Windows 7 installation went of without a hitch.

Set to XP compatability.

The game runs fine on basic Intel chipset video.

I like the fact that Alt F4 gives a quick clean exit.

Sympatico.

8 out of 10, quick and dirty shooter with no pretensions.

Reply | Comment by Geoff Taylor – 14 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#16

Runs under Win 7 but all I get is a black screen. Tried running as admin - same result. Tried compatibility mode and tried a few different settings. The program crashes immediately. Bummer... it sounded so fun.

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

Check out the free Gametop version. There's aone thats very similar called Star Rage

Reply | Comment by Joe – 14 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#15

Installed with some hassles from Norton Sonar.
After getting it out of quarantine, I installed it into the Games Folder, W7 64 bit, was warned that the game may not have installed properly, so I reinstalled.
Seems to be working fine.
The mouse movement is way too sensitive even on the lowest setting.
I put it on "simple controls" in the "Options" settings.
Those controls seem slighty "too stiff".
Hopefully the next version will fix both!
Graphics 7/10 Gameplay 5/10.
I'll keep it anyway, as I have no other Shooter at the moment!
Thanks GOTD!
Hrad

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

Check out the Gametop versions. I've linked to Gametop in my first comment above (#1)

Reply | Comment by Hrad – 14 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#14

That's odd... "Star Rage" from Gametop.com is free, and has "most" of the features from "Star Warrior 2 Defenders". Could they be from the same company?

~Joji~

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

After seeing that the game is being sold at alawar teres a good possibility that it is. :)

Reply | Comment by Joji – 14 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#13

I had no problems with win 7
I using a quad core amd chip with 6 gigs memory and it opened and ran with no problems.

Reply | Comment by me again – 14 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#12

can't get it to run.... locks up from the get go.. any help?
xp 2.4 chip 768 ram

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

Sounds like its your RAM that's the problem. 750Mb of RAM is actually rather small these days. Try Game Booster. That may solve your problem. It's a freeware program that turns off all unecessary services and back ground processes. That should free up enpugh RAM to get the game running You can download it from the following address:

http://www.iobit.com/gamebooster.htmlPlease do let us know if it slved the problem, thank you.

Reply | Comment by cowhead – 14 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#11

Looks like an interesting game. I tend to like space type shooter games. But again, my big problem with this game is that same problem I have with most GGA games; NO UNINSTALLER.

I mean come on GGA what's the deal. We have super fast computers today with gobs of memory and loads of storage space and now up to Windows 7. All of this and you can't provide an uninstaller.

That's the main reason I will no longer be downloading any GGA games in the future. I mean I don't get it; every single piece of software I've downloaded from GOTD has an uninstaller, so why can't an uninstaller be provided with the games too.

I just don't get it.

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

I agree; it's a bit of an annoyance not having an uninstaller, especially as most of the games when I've downloaded the demo do have one. There's got to be a reason why they don't include them, but I can't tell you. sorry.

Reply | Comment by jeck – 14 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#10

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

Thank you for the kind words; I agree with your sentiments wholeheartedly. I've deleted the comment as requested. :)

Whiterabbit

Reply | Comment by Emy – 14 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#9

Worked fine on my Windows 7 (x64). I didn't even have to adjust compatibility mode.

Reply | Comment by Campy – 14 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#8

I don't meet System Requirements because I have Windows 7. I will wait on next giveaway.

Reply | Comment by matrix – 14 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#7

Installed on windows 7 ult ok, but when I ran it I got black screen.

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

I don't have Win 7 yet, so not sure wheter there's a compatability mode. If there is, have you tried it?

Reply | Comment by Clive – 14 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#6

For what it's worth: nice graphics & sound — but you will need a capable computer to do it justice.
As for plot comparisons... the reptile race reminds me of Marvel's Badoon and, yes, the game is in the genre of the Wing Commander (WC) series et al.

Reply | Comment by V – 14 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#5

This game looks like Protector by Alawar.

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

Well spotted Kola. I though I had all of Alawars space shooters, but have missed this one. One of the problems with alawar is they only show the latest games on their catalogue, and most of the older games are no longer seen, but are still available if you know the title of the game.

The game is the very same game apart from a title change and we don't get the developers splash screen or the configuration window that allows you to switch off a lot of the visuals.; however the actual game play is the same. The company is called CCCP games as opposed to some company. I think someone discovered this fact previously when the first version of this game was given away last year by Some Company.

Reply | Comment by Kola256 – 14 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#4

Unable to install.......The installation does not even start.

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

Try re-downloading the game. :)

Reply | Comment by Chakotay – 14 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#3

Seems like it'd be a fun game, but the controls are VERY hard to use. The mouse seems to be the only way to do it and it's very "floppy" (best word I could think of). Sloppy, slippery, ungainly and clumsy also come to mind. The default mouse sensitivity is at the lowest setting, but a couple notches higher didn't change things except making it harder to center on targets. It has some kind of inertia built into the movement that makes it really awkward.

The targeting graphics are also so "busy" that it's hard to see what direction to turn for aiming. Even at the novice setting the game just moved too fast for me to get used to it. Thanks anyway -- maybe with a good joystick I'd do better. There is a similar game available from Gametop tats got a much more sedate speed; you may find that one easier to play. (see my link above in comment #1)

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

There is a mouse sensitivity slider and an invert toggle, which can be found via the options menu. I found adjusting the mouse sensitivity and inverting the mouse improved the game significantly. There are arrow prompts to tell you where incoming meteors and enemy droids and ships are coming from. also the arrows change color if a power up is available.

Reply | Comment by Dan – 14 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#2

How could anyone even give this a negative? Nothing but farmland troll trash. Wing Commander series is very similar, so if you liked WC you will like this.

Reply | Comment by Bindy – 14 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#1

There was no Demo available for me to review. So the following review was written hurridly after the game was posted. It's only a short review, but covers most of the salient points. you may find I've added extra information about the game in my moderator comments, for example I mention about incoming threat indicators and being able to pick up a powerup via these indicators.

As with most games from the Game giveaway project I had to change the installation path otherwise it would have installed into the last game giveaways location. It says in the readme that it installs to C:\Games\SW2.

The initial download is 52.3Mb, but once installed the game expands to 128Mb. The majority of this is textures with a smaller but still significant proportion going to the music folder.

The Game

A very colourful and well constructed updated version of Star Warriors which we were given last year. ( http://game.giveawayoftheday.com/star-warrior/ ) There are some definite improvements to the overall game, with a improved introduction to each level and a more standard main menu. There are lots of similarities between the two games, but they are not the same game as we’ve previously experienced from this developer, for example Alien Terminator.

You are a gunner set up in a stationary orbit above the planet you are defending. An alien race called the Gi’Kan are attacking in force with robot drones and ships that drag meteorites down to the planet below. The aim of the game is to stop the cities on the planet below from being destroyed by these meteors and to protect yourself from the alien incursion.. You have to protect your position from incoming threats such as mines and enemy space ships. Each level comprises multiple waves of attacks, with successive levels getting harder and harder. It’s basically a three dimensional space invaders/asteroids/missile attack game, with excellent graphics, though some will probably think they are a little dated already.

The options menu allows you to adjust the sound effects and in game music volume as well as adjust the mouse sensitivity. You can also invert the mouse (which I found useful). There’s also a toggle for simple controls; however the controls are pretty basic anyway.

Controls:

Rotation of gun emplacement (360 degrees 3D)……………x & y mouse movement
Fire Lasers…………………………………………………...LMB
Fire Rockets………………………………………………….RMB
Repulsing Field……………………………………………....MMB

There are 40 levels divided up into five episodes:

Episode 1……..Academy
Episode 2……..In the line of fire
Episode 3……..Space Invaders
Episode 4……..Alone in Space
Episode 5….…On the Front Line

There are four difficulty levels to choose from Novice, Experienced, Professional and Veteran. The easier levels run slower than the harder ones and it seemed like there were more enemies on the harder levels. As you progress through the levels the difficulty is ramped up steadily till by the time you are approaching the last level in an episode you are being attacked from all sides.

Each level starts with an introduction that includes the title of the level, a short description of the mission, your task and what weapons are available. During game play you can pick up bonuses. These will show up around the periphery of the aiming reticule. You can hold several power ups at once, but they don’t last very long. These include repair droids, as well as weapon enhancements.

Images:

You can see a slideshow of around 40 images via the following link:

http://s571.photobucket.com/albums/ss160/Whiterabbit04/Star%20Warrior%202/?albumview=slideshow

or alternatively by clicking on the grid button to the bottom left of the screen just above the thumbnail images from the slideshow you can see all the images on one page. There’s a slider that will increase the size of the images a little. You can see larger versions by either continuing with the slideshow or clicking on individual images.

Conclusion

Initially I though it was too similar to the previous Star Warrior version, but soon realized that a lot of work had gone into improving this new version. Overall I was quite impressed with the game. There are lots of this type of shooter available from some game distributors such as Reflexive arcade, and you’ll find similar ones for free from Gametop (see link below), but that aside I found the game entertaining and challenging enough to want to continue to play. Overall I’d give the game a 6.5 out of 10. I particularly liked the dual mode of attack. That is both your gun emplacement and the planet below were being attacked, so you needed to keep an eye out for meteors getting past you, otherwise you’d find the cities below destroyed.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Other Information:

Music

There are several MP3 files to be found in the games music folder, which is located in the Nitro folder. You should be able to exchange these for music you like. I’d make back ups of the music you are replacing just in case something goes wrong. I’m not sure whether you need to rename the mp3 for them to work.

Alternatives:

Check out the following thread in the forums where you’ll find loads of space orientated games for free:

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/2724?replies=17

Also there’s several commercial quality games available from Gametop:

http://www.gametop.com

and freegamepick:

http://www.freegamepick.com/en/

Though do watch for browser hijacking and toolbars because both sites have become a little more aggressive recently. Make sure you monitor the installation wizards steps to ensure any tick boxes have been unchecked, otherwise the games are excellent.

There was no Demo available for me to review.   So the following review was written hurridly after the game was posted.  It's only a short review, but covers most of the salient points.  you may find I've added extra information about the game in my moderator comments, for example  I mention  about incoming threat indicators and  being able to pick up a powerup  via these indicators.

As with most games from the Game giveaway project I had to change the installation path otherwise it would have  installed into the last game giveaways location. It says in the  readme that it installs to C:\Games\SW2.

The initial download is 52.3Mb, but once installed the game expands to 128Mb.  The majority of this is textures with a smaller but still significant proportion going to the music folder.

The Game

A very colourful and well constructed  updated version of Star Warriors which we were given last year.   ( http://game.giveawayoftheday.com/star-warrior/  ) There are some definite improvements to the overall game, with a improved  introduction to each level and a more standard  main menu.   There are lots of similarities between the two games, but  they are not the same game as  we’ve previously experienced from this developer, for example Alien Terminator.

You are  a gunner set up in a stationary orbit above the planet  you are defending.  An alien race called the Gi’Kan are attacking in force with robot drones and  ships that drag meteorites down to the planet below.   The aim of the game is to stop the cities  on the planet below from being destroyed by these meteors and to protect yourself from the alien incursion.. You have to protect  your position  from incoming threats such as  mines and enemy space ships.  Each level comprises multiple waves of attacks, with successive levels getting harder and harder.   It’s basically a three dimensional  space invaders/asteroids/missile attack game, with excellent graphics, though some will probably think they are a little dated already.

The options menu allows you to adjust the sound effects and in game music volume as well as adjust the mouse sensitivity.  You can also invert the mouse (which I found useful).  There’s also a toggle for simple controls; however the controls are pretty basic anyway.

Controls:

Rotation of gun emplacement (360 degrees 3D)……………x & y mouse movement
Fire Lasers…………………………………………………...LMB
Fire Rockets………………………………………………….RMB
Repulsing Field……………………………………………....MMB

There are 40 levels divided up into five episodes:

Episode 1……..Academy
Episode 2……..In the line of fire
Episode 3……..Space Invaders
Episode 4……..Alone in Space
Episode 5….…On the Front Line

There are four difficulty levels to choose from Novice, Experienced, Professional and Veteran. The easier levels run slower than the harder ones and it seemed like there were more enemies on the harder levels.  As you progress through the levels the difficulty is ramped up steadily till by the time you are approaching the last level in an episode  you are being attacked from all sides.

Each level starts with an introduction that includes the title of the level, a short description of the mission, your task and what weapons are available.  During game play you can pick up bonuses.  These will show up around the periphery of the aiming reticule.  You can hold several power ups at once, but they don’t last very long.  These include repair droids, as well as weapon enhancements.

Images:

You can see a slideshow of around 40 images via the following link:

http://s571.photobucket.com/albums/ss160/Whiterabbit04/Star%20Warrior%202/?albumview=slideshow

or alternatively by clicking on the  grid button to the bottom left of the screen just above the thumbnail images from the slideshow you can see all the images on one page.  There’s a slider  that will increase the size of the images a little.  You can see larger versions by either continuing with the slideshow or clicking on individual images.

Conclusion

Initially I though it was too similar to the previous Star Warrior version, but soon realized that a lot of  work had gone into improving this new  version.  Overall I was quite impressed with the game.  There are lots of this type of shooter available from some game distributors such as Reflexive arcade, and you’ll find similar ones for free from Gametop (see link below), but   that aside I found the game entertaining and challenging enough to want to continue to play. Overall I’d give the game a 6.5  out of 10.   I particularly liked the  dual mode of attack.  That is  both  your gun emplacement and the planet below were being attacked, so you needed to keep an eye out for meteors getting past you, otherwise you’d find the cities below destroyed.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Other Information:

Music

There are several MP3 files to be found in the games music folder, which is located in the Nitro folder.  You should be able to exchange these  for music  you like.  I’d make back ups of the music you are replacing just in case  something goes wrong.  I’m not sure whether you need to rename the mp3 for them to work.

Alternatives:

Check out the following thread in the forums where you’ll find  loads of space orientated games for free:

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/2724?replies=17

Also there’s several commercial quality games available from Gametop:

http://www.gametop.com

and freegamepick:

http://www.freegamepick.com/en/

Though do  watch for browser hijacking and toolbars because both sites have become a little more aggressive  recently.  Make sure you monitor the installation wizards steps to ensure any tick boxes have been unchecked, otherwise the games are excellent.

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