Menneisyys
07-28-2006, 08:53 PM
A new version of the great Asteroids (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroids_%28computer_game%29) clone (“Asteroids on crack”) Realms has been recently released. If you don’t know the game (I won't elaborate on it more as you can also read the linked review), I really recommend Sponge’s review of the game (http://www.pocketgamer.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3245). Note that the review is pretty old – it was written way before Enslave’s (the best space shooter as of now) debut on the scene. I don't know whether Sponge would also give it a score of 8 out of 10 now.
As the homepage of the game (http://www.spacetimemobile.com/index.php?page=realms) now contains the word VGA two times (“Supports VGA Pocket PCs!”, “Pocket PC VGA Screenshots and Video”), I was eager to find out whether it is just a marketing trick to fool people into thinking it really makes use of the high resolution of VGA devices as with many other titles (see for example the example of Sky Striker (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=1056&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1)).
At the same time, I also had the chance to see whether the game has significantly been enhanced since the original version released in early 2003 (http://www.pocketgamer.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1921). For example, the lack of multiplayer (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/menneisyys/102005MPPPCGames.asp) (in melee mode) and the monotonous, repetitive in-game music has always been the Achilles’ heel of this title.
Native VGA resolution support: YES!
While the menus (along with the pre-rendered images in the menus) are exactly the same (example here (http://www.winmobiletech.com/kuvat/RealsmNewVGA-InMenu.bmp.png)), the game does support the high resolution of VGA screens.
An example screenshot of the previous version running on my VGA devices is here (http://www.winmobiletech.com/kuvat/RealsmOldVGA.bmp.png) (another screenshot here (http://www.winmobiletech.com/kuvat/RealsmOldVGA-2.bmp.png)); the same with the new version is here (http://www.winmobiletech.com/kuvat/RealsmNewVGA-InGame.bmp.png), here (http://www.winmobiletech.com/kuvat/RealsmNewVGA-InGame-2.bmp.png), here (http://www.winmobiletech.com/kuvat/RealsmNewVGA-InGame-3.bmp.png) and here (http://www.winmobiletech.com/kuvat/RealsmNewVGA-InGame-4.bmp.png). As can clearly be seen, the in-game graphics is indeed VGA. This is certainly great news.
It’s worth noticing that the authors of the game haven’t re-rendered anything (this is why, for example, the menus or even the in-game texts and status messages (for example the one in the lower left corner) are intact and pixelizated) – they’ve just let everything to be displayed as before, just without pixel doubling. This may be a bit problematic if you are used to the large sprites of the previous, non-VGA-optimized version(s) and/or you have a PDA with a small(ler) VGA screen (for example, the 3.5” Fujitsu-Siemens N560/C550 or the 3.6” Pocket Loox 720 or even the 3.7" Dell Axim x50v/x51v, as opposed to the 4” iPAQ hx4700 and Toshiba e800/e830) and/or bad eyesight. This “let’s not render a different image set for VGA devices to save time” case is similar to that of, for example, Resco Sokoban (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=914&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1), where players have also complained about everything too small on VGA devices.
Compatibility, speed
I’ve tested the game on all my three VGA Pocket PC’s (Dell Axim x51v / A12, WM5 iPAQ hx4700 and Pocket Loox 720). Of the three, two (the Axim and the Loox) run the game flawlessly, without any performance problems (the Loox doesn’t need Picard’s GAPI hack). The WM5-upgraded HP iPAQ hx4700, on the other hand, is unable to run the game – Realms.exe just crashes upon start. Old (QVGA), 2003-dated Realms versions still ran great on the WM5 hx4700.
It worked flawlessly on my QVGA test devices: I’ve tested it on my WM2003 HP iPAQ 2210 and the WM5 (slowish) HTC Wizard. I haven’t noticed speed/performance problems on either.
Also, there is another bad news about the new version: it’s no longer compatible with Pocket PC 2002 devices (the old versions were).
Other changes
I haven’t noticed anything – the in-game, pretty repetitive (it just can’t be compared to those of Enslave), mono music tracks are exactly the same as in the original version. The (not very good) in-game sounds ditto (they can’t be compared to Enslave’s great sound effects either). The same stands for everything else (menus, available realms, available upgrades, lack of multiplayer etc), it seems – the only change is the support for VGA.
Compared to Enslave
Now that Enslave, the, in my opinion, best space shooter game is out, let’s compare the two titles. Compared to Enslave, Realms is considerably worse in the music, sound, action and the overall enjoyment factor departments. The only real advantage of Realms is the in-game support for VGA resolution in my opinion.
If you’re a die-hard Asteroids fan, you may want to prefer Realms; if you’re just a casual player looking for a great space shoot’m up game, check out Enslave first.
Verdict
If you have a VGA device, it’s worth upgrading. Otherwise, there doesn’t seem to be many changes in the game.
If you haven’t played Realms before and you don’t necessarily want to play Asteroids but prefer more traditional shoot’m ups, go for Enslave first. I’m pretty sure you’ll like it more.
As the homepage of the game (http://www.spacetimemobile.com/index.php?page=realms) now contains the word VGA two times (“Supports VGA Pocket PCs!”, “Pocket PC VGA Screenshots and Video”), I was eager to find out whether it is just a marketing trick to fool people into thinking it really makes use of the high resolution of VGA devices as with many other titles (see for example the example of Sky Striker (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=1056&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1)).
At the same time, I also had the chance to see whether the game has significantly been enhanced since the original version released in early 2003 (http://www.pocketgamer.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1921). For example, the lack of multiplayer (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/menneisyys/102005MPPPCGames.asp) (in melee mode) and the monotonous, repetitive in-game music has always been the Achilles’ heel of this title.
Native VGA resolution support: YES!
While the menus (along with the pre-rendered images in the menus) are exactly the same (example here (http://www.winmobiletech.com/kuvat/RealsmNewVGA-InMenu.bmp.png)), the game does support the high resolution of VGA screens.
An example screenshot of the previous version running on my VGA devices is here (http://www.winmobiletech.com/kuvat/RealsmOldVGA.bmp.png) (another screenshot here (http://www.winmobiletech.com/kuvat/RealsmOldVGA-2.bmp.png)); the same with the new version is here (http://www.winmobiletech.com/kuvat/RealsmNewVGA-InGame.bmp.png), here (http://www.winmobiletech.com/kuvat/RealsmNewVGA-InGame-2.bmp.png), here (http://www.winmobiletech.com/kuvat/RealsmNewVGA-InGame-3.bmp.png) and here (http://www.winmobiletech.com/kuvat/RealsmNewVGA-InGame-4.bmp.png). As can clearly be seen, the in-game graphics is indeed VGA. This is certainly great news.
It’s worth noticing that the authors of the game haven’t re-rendered anything (this is why, for example, the menus or even the in-game texts and status messages (for example the one in the lower left corner) are intact and pixelizated) – they’ve just let everything to be displayed as before, just without pixel doubling. This may be a bit problematic if you are used to the large sprites of the previous, non-VGA-optimized version(s) and/or you have a PDA with a small(ler) VGA screen (for example, the 3.5” Fujitsu-Siemens N560/C550 or the 3.6” Pocket Loox 720 or even the 3.7" Dell Axim x50v/x51v, as opposed to the 4” iPAQ hx4700 and Toshiba e800/e830) and/or bad eyesight. This “let’s not render a different image set for VGA devices to save time” case is similar to that of, for example, Resco Sokoban (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=914&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1), where players have also complained about everything too small on VGA devices.
Compatibility, speed
I’ve tested the game on all my three VGA Pocket PC’s (Dell Axim x51v / A12, WM5 iPAQ hx4700 and Pocket Loox 720). Of the three, two (the Axim and the Loox) run the game flawlessly, without any performance problems (the Loox doesn’t need Picard’s GAPI hack). The WM5-upgraded HP iPAQ hx4700, on the other hand, is unable to run the game – Realms.exe just crashes upon start. Old (QVGA), 2003-dated Realms versions still ran great on the WM5 hx4700.
It worked flawlessly on my QVGA test devices: I’ve tested it on my WM2003 HP iPAQ 2210 and the WM5 (slowish) HTC Wizard. I haven’t noticed speed/performance problems on either.
Also, there is another bad news about the new version: it’s no longer compatible with Pocket PC 2002 devices (the old versions were).
Other changes
I haven’t noticed anything – the in-game, pretty repetitive (it just can’t be compared to those of Enslave), mono music tracks are exactly the same as in the original version. The (not very good) in-game sounds ditto (they can’t be compared to Enslave’s great sound effects either). The same stands for everything else (menus, available realms, available upgrades, lack of multiplayer etc), it seems – the only change is the support for VGA.
Compared to Enslave
Now that Enslave, the, in my opinion, best space shooter game is out, let’s compare the two titles. Compared to Enslave, Realms is considerably worse in the music, sound, action and the overall enjoyment factor departments. The only real advantage of Realms is the in-game support for VGA resolution in my opinion.
If you’re a die-hard Asteroids fan, you may want to prefer Realms; if you’re just a casual player looking for a great space shoot’m up game, check out Enslave first.
Verdict
If you have a VGA device, it’s worth upgrading. Otherwise, there doesn’t seem to be many changes in the game.
If you haven’t played Realms before and you don’t necessarily want to play Asteroids but prefer more traditional shoot’m ups, go for Enslave first. I’m pretty sure you’ll like it more.