Menneisyys
11-05-2006, 06:58 PM
Thanks to great German multiplatform mobile gaming site PocketGaming.de (http://www.pocketgaming.de/), which were first to report (http://www.pocketgaming.de/content/view/249/2/) on the latest “made in Russia” game Death Drive, I've also given a try to the brand new, great Carmageddon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmageddon) / Destruction Derby (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destruction_Derby) / Twisted Metal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twisted_Metal) / Death Rally (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Rally) clone, which has just been released for the Pocket PC. That is, unlike what the title suggests, it's not a "plain" Carmageddon clone - it's just that the title length is limited and had only place for one title. That is, it's pretty much like Handy Entertainment’s Dreamway and Garga Games’ Ganxta Race (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=1393&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1) on the Pocket PC - but all in 3D, unlike these 2D games.
The game uses the same Voxel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voxel) technology used in, for example, the Comanche series, which, at its time (in 1992), was a real breakthrough on PC gaming with its (compared to alternative technologies) excellent speed and visuals. The speed advantage is present on the Pocket PC too - the game is pretty playable on, with today's standards, low-end Pocket PC's and has no problems on VGA devices either.
http://gaijin.ru/images/deathdrive_01.jpg
http://gaijin.ru/images/deathdrive_03.jpg
http://gaijin.ru/images/deathdrive_02.jpg
The homepage of Gajon Entertainment (http://gaijinent.com/company/about.htm)’s new game is here (http://gaijin.ru/projects/dd_pocketpc.htm) (BabelFish “translation” here (http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent?lp=ru_en&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgaijin.ru%2Fprojects%2Fdd_pocketpc.htm); a related article & comments (http://4pda.ru/5931/) (Babelfish here (http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent?lp=ru_en&url=http%3A%2F%2F4pda.ru%2F5931%2F)) and thread (http://4pda.ru/forum/index.php?showtopic=21568) (both in Russian) ).
The company mostly develops for other platforms (most importantly, the PC and the PowerTV set-top box) and this is their first Pocket PC conversion. Despite this (and the fact that it’s free), it is a VERY mature product - actually, it's even better than MANY commercial Pocket PC games. This also applies to the English of the game – it’s all in English with no, say, Russian leftovers.
Availability
The direct download is here (http://www.gaijin.ru/files/deathdrive_hires.rar) (original Gajon Entertainment page; may be slow to download) and here (http://www.pocketgaming.de/deathdrive_hires.rar) (very fast PocketGaming.de back-end).
Installation
Un-RAR (with, for example, WinRAR (http://www.rarlab.com/) or the free (!) and highly recommended (its proprietary 7-zip compression is about 15% better than even the compression rate of RAR!) 7-zip (http://www.7-zip.org/)) and copy the deathdrive_hires directory to your PDA. Execute DeathDrivePPC2003.exe inside to start the game.
Compatibility
It had no problems with my following Pocket PC’s:
WM5 VGA Dell Axim x51v (A12)
WM5 VGA HP iPAQ hx4700. Unfortunately, the D-Pad-based controls in the game can’t be redefined and the movement can’t be controlled by the stylus; therefore, on the hx4700, you’ll want to use an external Bluetooth gaming pad
WM2003SE VGA Fujitsu-Siemens Pocket Loox 720
WM2003 QVGA HP iPAQ h2210 (it was clearly slower on it than on the first three devices)
On my non-overclocked HTC Wizard, it was pretty slow. If you don’t plan to overclock, just disable the mirror, the engine sounds and the minimap in the Setup menu – then, it becomes pretty usable. With overclocking to 240 MHz, you don't need to do this - then, the game becomes pretty playable.
While the game is advertised as PPC2k2-compatible, it isn’t (there’s no PPC2k2-compliant executable). This is certainly bad news for PPC2k2 users.
Note that, up to now, I've received two reports (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=282115) of it not working on Samsung CPU-based models (HP iPAQ rx1950 , HTC TyTN etc) and haven't received any success stories on these CPU's. That is, you may too have problems with the game if you have a Samsung-based model.
Gameplay
Please read the above-linked Wiki pages to read all about it. It's a combination of the listed games
My personal remarks: Much as the game, at first, seems to be rather boring for non-Carmageddon / Desctruction Derby etc.-fans (including me), taken into account all the game / tournament options, weapon upgrades and so on, it becomes pretty fun.
Control
Unfortunately, it can only be controlled with the D-Pad and, if present, a dedicated jog dial. Unfortunately, it doesn't support SmartSKey (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=1076&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1), the great "make your volume slider of previous-generation WM5-based HTC phones to a jog dial" hack either, which is bad news for example for HTC Universal / Wizard users.
If you don't have a (dedicated) jog dial, you'll welcome the fact that the weapon key (the Action button, which can't be reassigned) is "sticky" and you'll end up having to re-press it few times.
Note that while some state it can also be controlled with stylus (just like GeorallyEX (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=661&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1) or Handy Entertainment’s Dreamway and Garga Games’ Ganxta Race (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=1393&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1), this is definitely not the case.
Visuals
For a free game, I’d say it’s excellent. OK, there’s no 2700G support or VGA hi-resolution, but you can’t expect much of a FREE game, can you? ;) (Note that many state it's hi-res on VGA devices. This is not the case.)
The game uses (right-handed) landscape orientation; this can’t be changed (bad news for users of devices with bad landscape polarization or left-handedness).
Sounds & music
As far as in-game sounds are concerned: for a free game, they’re excellent. Probably the biggest problem is the engine sound: there are only two engine sounds for “slow” and “fast” speed; this can be pretty misleading when you don’t pay attention to the speedometer. Fortunately, it can be disabled in the Options menu.
Unfortunately, there’s no in-game / menu music.
Verdict
This game has set a new standard for freeware Pocket PC games and is a must. Go get it!
UPDATE (11/06/2006): some updates to the article; a link to the PocketPlayers.de review (http://www.pocketplayers.de/forum/thread.php?threadid=2139) published in the meantime.
The game uses the same Voxel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voxel) technology used in, for example, the Comanche series, which, at its time (in 1992), was a real breakthrough on PC gaming with its (compared to alternative technologies) excellent speed and visuals. The speed advantage is present on the Pocket PC too - the game is pretty playable on, with today's standards, low-end Pocket PC's and has no problems on VGA devices either.
http://gaijin.ru/images/deathdrive_01.jpg
http://gaijin.ru/images/deathdrive_03.jpg
http://gaijin.ru/images/deathdrive_02.jpg
The homepage of Gajon Entertainment (http://gaijinent.com/company/about.htm)’s new game is here (http://gaijin.ru/projects/dd_pocketpc.htm) (BabelFish “translation” here (http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent?lp=ru_en&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgaijin.ru%2Fprojects%2Fdd_pocketpc.htm); a related article & comments (http://4pda.ru/5931/) (Babelfish here (http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent?lp=ru_en&url=http%3A%2F%2F4pda.ru%2F5931%2F)) and thread (http://4pda.ru/forum/index.php?showtopic=21568) (both in Russian) ).
The company mostly develops for other platforms (most importantly, the PC and the PowerTV set-top box) and this is their first Pocket PC conversion. Despite this (and the fact that it’s free), it is a VERY mature product - actually, it's even better than MANY commercial Pocket PC games. This also applies to the English of the game – it’s all in English with no, say, Russian leftovers.
Availability
The direct download is here (http://www.gaijin.ru/files/deathdrive_hires.rar) (original Gajon Entertainment page; may be slow to download) and here (http://www.pocketgaming.de/deathdrive_hires.rar) (very fast PocketGaming.de back-end).
Installation
Un-RAR (with, for example, WinRAR (http://www.rarlab.com/) or the free (!) and highly recommended (its proprietary 7-zip compression is about 15% better than even the compression rate of RAR!) 7-zip (http://www.7-zip.org/)) and copy the deathdrive_hires directory to your PDA. Execute DeathDrivePPC2003.exe inside to start the game.
Compatibility
It had no problems with my following Pocket PC’s:
WM5 VGA Dell Axim x51v (A12)
WM5 VGA HP iPAQ hx4700. Unfortunately, the D-Pad-based controls in the game can’t be redefined and the movement can’t be controlled by the stylus; therefore, on the hx4700, you’ll want to use an external Bluetooth gaming pad
WM2003SE VGA Fujitsu-Siemens Pocket Loox 720
WM2003 QVGA HP iPAQ h2210 (it was clearly slower on it than on the first three devices)
On my non-overclocked HTC Wizard, it was pretty slow. If you don’t plan to overclock, just disable the mirror, the engine sounds and the minimap in the Setup menu – then, it becomes pretty usable. With overclocking to 240 MHz, you don't need to do this - then, the game becomes pretty playable.
While the game is advertised as PPC2k2-compatible, it isn’t (there’s no PPC2k2-compliant executable). This is certainly bad news for PPC2k2 users.
Note that, up to now, I've received two reports (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=282115) of it not working on Samsung CPU-based models (HP iPAQ rx1950 , HTC TyTN etc) and haven't received any success stories on these CPU's. That is, you may too have problems with the game if you have a Samsung-based model.
Gameplay
Please read the above-linked Wiki pages to read all about it. It's a combination of the listed games
My personal remarks: Much as the game, at first, seems to be rather boring for non-Carmageddon / Desctruction Derby etc.-fans (including me), taken into account all the game / tournament options, weapon upgrades and so on, it becomes pretty fun.
Control
Unfortunately, it can only be controlled with the D-Pad and, if present, a dedicated jog dial. Unfortunately, it doesn't support SmartSKey (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=1076&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1), the great "make your volume slider of previous-generation WM5-based HTC phones to a jog dial" hack either, which is bad news for example for HTC Universal / Wizard users.
If you don't have a (dedicated) jog dial, you'll welcome the fact that the weapon key (the Action button, which can't be reassigned) is "sticky" and you'll end up having to re-press it few times.
Note that while some state it can also be controlled with stylus (just like GeorallyEX (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=661&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1) or Handy Entertainment’s Dreamway and Garga Games’ Ganxta Race (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=1393&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1), this is definitely not the case.
Visuals
For a free game, I’d say it’s excellent. OK, there’s no 2700G support or VGA hi-resolution, but you can’t expect much of a FREE game, can you? ;) (Note that many state it's hi-res on VGA devices. This is not the case.)
The game uses (right-handed) landscape orientation; this can’t be changed (bad news for users of devices with bad landscape polarization or left-handedness).
Sounds & music
As far as in-game sounds are concerned: for a free game, they’re excellent. Probably the biggest problem is the engine sound: there are only two engine sounds for “slow” and “fast” speed; this can be pretty misleading when you don’t pay attention to the speedometer. Fortunately, it can be disabled in the Options menu.
Unfortunately, there’s no in-game / menu music.
Verdict
This game has set a new standard for freeware Pocket PC games and is a must. Go get it!
UPDATE (11/06/2006): some updates to the article; a link to the PocketPlayers.de review (http://www.pocketplayers.de/forum/thread.php?threadid=2139) published in the meantime.