Short.pe
Short.pe is one of the most trusted sites from our top 30 highest paying URL shorteners.It pays on time.intrusting thing is that same visitor can click on your shorten link multiple times.You can earn by sign up and shorten your long URL.You just have to paste that URL to somewhere.
You can paste it into your website, blog, or social media networking sites.They offer $5 for every 1000 views.You can also earn 20% referral commission from this site.Their minimum payout amount is only $1.You can withdraw from Paypal, Payza, and Payoneer.- The payout for 1000 views-$5
- Minimum payout-$1
- Referral commission-20% for lifetime
- Payment methods-Paypal, Payza, and Payoneer
- Payment time-on daily basis
Short.am
Short.am provides a big opportunity for earning money by shortening links. It is a rapidly growing URL Shortening Service. You simply need to sign up and start shrinking links. You can share the shortened links across the web, on your webpage, Twitter, Facebook, and more. Short.am provides detailed statistics and easy-to-use API.
It even provides add-ons and plugins so that you can monetize your WordPress site. The minimum payout is $5 before you will be paid. It pays users via PayPal or Payoneer. It has the best market payout rates, offering unparalleled revenue. Short.am also run a referral program wherein you can earn 20% extra commission for life.CPMlink
CPMlink is one of the most legit URL shortener sites.You can sign up for free.It works like other shortener sites.You just have to shorten your link and paste that link into the internet.When someone will click on your link.
You will get some amount of that click.It pays around $5 for every 1000 views.They offer 10% commission as the referral program.You can withdraw your amount when it reaches $5.The payment is then sent to your PayPal, Payza or Skrill account daily after requesting it.- The payout for 1000 views-$5
- Minimum payout-$5
- Referral commission-10%
- Payment methods-Paypal, Payza, and Skrill
- Payment time-daily
Linkbucks
Linkbucks is another best and one of the most popular sites for shortening URLs and earning money. It boasts of high Google Page Rank as well as very high Alexa rankings. Linkbucks is paying $0.5 to $7 per 1000 views, and it depends on country to country.
The minimum payout is $10, and payment method is PayPal. It also provides the opportunity of referral earnings wherein you can earn 20% commission for a lifetime. Linkbucks runs advertising programs as well.- The payout for 1000 views-$3-9
- Minimum payout-$10
- Referral commission-20%
- Payment options-PayPal,Payza,and Payoneer
- Payment-on the daily basis
Wi.cr
Wi.cr is also one of the 30 highest paying URL sites.You can earn through shortening links.When someone will click on your link.You will be paid.They offer $7 for 1000 views.Minimum payout is $5.
You can earn through its referral program.When someone will open the account through your link you will get 10% commission.Payment option is PayPal.- Payout for 1000 views-$7
- Minimum payout-$5
- Referral commission-10%
- Payout method-Paypal
- Payout time-daily
BIT-URL
It is a new URL shortener website.Its CPM rate is good.You can sign up for free and shorten your URL and that shortener URL can be paste on your websites, blogs or social media networking sites.bit-url.com pays $8.10 for 1000 views.
You can withdraw your amount when it reaches $3.bit-url.com offers 20% commission for your referral link.Payment methods are PayPal, Payza, Payeer, and Flexy etc.- The payout for 1000 views-$8.10
- Minimum payout-$3
- Referral commission-20%
- Payment methods- Paypal, Payza, and Payeer
- Payment time-daily
Clk.sh
Clk.sh is a newly launched trusted link shortener network, it is a sister site of shrinkearn.com. I like ClkSh because it accepts multiple views from same visitors. If any one searching for Top and best url shortener service then i recommend this url shortener to our users. Clk.sh accepts advertisers and publishers from all over the world. It offers an opportunity to all its publishers to earn money and advertisers will get their targeted audience for cheapest rate. While writing ClkSh was offering up to $8 per 1000 visits and its minimum cpm rate is $1.4. Like Shrinkearn, Shorte.st url shorteners Clk.sh also offers some best features to all its users, including Good customer support, multiple views counting, decent cpm rates, good referral rate, multiple tools, quick payments etc. ClkSh offers 30% referral commission to its publishers. It uses 6 payment methods to all its users.- Payout for 1000 Views: Upto $8
- Minimum Withdrawal: $5
- Referral Commission: 30%
- Payment Methods: PayPal, Payza, Skrill etc.
- Payment Time: Daily
Adf.ly
Adf.ly is the oldest and one of the most trusted URL Shortener Service for making money by shrinking your links. Adf.ly provides you an opportunity to earn up to $5 per 1000 views. However, the earnings depend upon the demographics of users who go on to click the shortened link by Adf.ly.
It offers a very comprehensive reporting system for tracking the performance of your each shortened URL. The minimum payout is kept low, and it is $5. It pays on 10th of every month. You can receive your earnings via PayPal, Payza, or AlertPay. Adf.ly also runs a referral program wherein you can earn a flat 20% commission for each referral for a lifetime.Ouo.io
Ouo.io is one of the fastest growing URL Shortener Service. Its pretty domain name is helpful in generating more clicks than other URL Shortener Services, and so you get a good opportunity for earning more money out of your shortened link. Ouo.io comes with several advanced features as well as customization options.
With Ouo.io you can earn up to $8 per 1000 views. It also counts multiple views from same IP or person. With Ouo.io is becomes easy to earn money using its URL Shortener Service. The minimum payout is $5. Your earnings are automatically credited to your PayPal or Payoneer account on 1st or 15th of the month.- Payout for every 1000 views-$5
- Minimum payout-$5
- Referral commission-20%
- Payout time-1st and 15th date of the month
- Payout options-PayPal and Payza
LINK.TL
LINK.TL is one of the best and highest URL shortener website.It pays up to $16 for every 1000 views.You just have to sign up for free.You can earn by shortening your long URL into short and you can paste that URL into your website, blogs or social media networking sites, like facebook, twitter, and google plus etc.
One of the best thing about this site is its referral system.They offer 10% referral commission.You can withdraw your amount when it reaches $5.- Payout for 1000 views-$16
- Minimum payout-$5
- Referral commission-10%
- Payout methods-Paypal, Payza, and Skrill
- Payment time-daily basis
sexta-feira, 29 de março de 2019
10 Best Highest Paying URL Shortener Sites to Make Money Online 2019
Zombies In My Pocket?!
What's going on everyone!?
Still in tons of pain from my back but I did manage to get a ga,e of Zombie in my pocket in.
While packing up games I came across my ol' ZIMP pop which used to be my all time favorite travel game so I knew what I wanted to play this evening.
After moving more stuff today I realized that I had packed it away. :/
Really itching to play the game I decided to see if there was an app for the game by chance... thankfully and much to my surprise there is!
It's a great adaptation of the game and really is fun! Unfortunately for me, I ended up dying but that wont be the last time, lol!
As always, thank you for reading and don't forget to stop and smell the meeples! :)
-Tim
5 Tips For Boosting Virtual Economies
Over the past year I've been helping mobile freemium developers (who are NativeX clients) increase retention and monetization, and I've noticed some tips and tricks around virtual economies that can help boost revenues. Here are 5 tips that should help your game make more money.
Don't overwhelm the player
There are numerous studies about how overwhelming consumers leads to less revenue. Probably the most famous of these studies is the classic jam in a grocery store study http://www.columbia.edu/~ss957/articles/Choice_is_Demotivating.pdf. The cliff notes (or spark notes) version is when 24 jams displayed for a taste test at a supermarket, 60% of customers stopped and 3% of those purchased but when 6 jams were displayed, 40% of customers stopped and 30% purchased. So how should mobile developers display content? Display a small amount of virtual items initially (around 6) and then hint at more content that'll unlock after players achieve a new level or similar. Why 6ish? Take notes from online retailers (specifically Amazon) and how they display search results. There's a reason they only typically show 4-7 search results on a screen without scrolling (keep in mind this is dependent on the customer screen resolution). This way, players aren't overwhelmed but they will understand that there's more to your game than just those 6 items. Take this screenshot from Happy Street for example. A silhouette is a great way to hint to the player of new content.
Make the store easy to understand, navigate and use
This seems like an obvious point, but if your game has hundreds or thousands of items it can get complex and confusing very quickly. A good developer to look at is Gameloft. They have the budget and time to make their menu UX easy and appealing. Take their latest Heroes of Order & Chaos for example. They use scrolling menu to reduce the clutter.
And look at another similar game in a similar genre. At first I didn't know where to click, and I still have no idea what the percentages are towards the middle of the screenshot.
When you select Equip it just has a single sliding menu with only 2 items per equipment slot. The UX could greatly be improved, and they could offer more items per slot. Which is a great segue into my next point.
Have massive amounts of virtual items
Stereotypically speaking your game should have hundreds or thousands of virtual items in order to create a freemium success. There are outliers to this rule like Temple Run, but if you have more sinks in your game in theory it'll increase revenue as long as you follow the points mentioned earlier. It's important to offer items in all price ranges and to different types of players. One group of players might be more interested in vanity or aesthetically altering items, another group may want a competitive advantage and another might want to speed up the rate of progress. It's important to offer enough goods so players always have something else to buy.
Lead the player to your virtual store
If you've been to Disneyland have you ever noticed how after riding a major attraction you somehow end up in their gift shop? This didn't happen by accident. Exiting players into a store after a ride increased revenues. If you have a game with rounds, battles or levels don't be afraid to lead the player to the virtual store to spend some of that hard earned currency. However, you don't want to push players into making a purchase so make it easy to get out of the store and back into the action. There's a fine line between upselling and annoying and every game and audience is at least slightly different.
Make the first purchase option something with incredible value
This is a relatively newer concept and one that's been blogged about already, but we'll mention it one more time for good measure. Getting someone to convert and pay in freemium is possibly the most challenging task, but once someone has made a purchase the odds of them becoming a returning purchaser is so much higher. A popular example is the counterfeit machine in Jetpack Joyride that'll permanently double coins earned, but obviously you should think of something new, original and/or fits with better with the context of your game.
Episode 183: Chreepy Christmas
What starts out as an episode sort of about this year's presidential election, ends up being a Christmas episode -and a scary one at that. Full track listing below. Download and listen...
The Legacy Music Hour was created by Brent Weinbach and Rob F. specifically for the purpose of talking about video game music from the golden age of gaming (16-bit and earlier).
The Legacy Music Hour was created by Brent Weinbach and Rob F. specifically for the purpose of talking about video game music from the golden age of gaming (16-bit and earlier).
In Media Res: Life Is Strange And Narrative-Driven Video Games
by Angie
Confession time. I have a tenancy to forget that I am playing a game. There are some games that I intentionally don't finish, I just grow tired of playing them and walk away. There are games that I convince myself I am going to "go back to someday and finish" because I am still enjoying but I have something else I want to play but I'm still really enjoying it. And then sometimes life just gets busy or I get frustrated with something about a game and decide to take a break for a day and do something else entirely and somehow it slips through the cracks and I completely forget that I was playing it at all. It's not that I have plans to "go finish that someday", or even that I'm bored with them, it's just that I... forgot?
I played through the first episode of Life is Strange right away and loved it. Cool story, great characters, and the fact it was set in Oregon was a really fun bonus. One thing I noticed that I especially enjoyed was the use of music in the game. This is a thing I enjoyed a lot about Borderlands and while Life is Strange did it completely differently I'm coming to appreciate how much of an impact it can have on my experience, and have been trying not to immediately mute a game and play with my own music on!
.
One of the things I liked the most about the first chapter of Life is Strange was the emerging/rekindling friendship story between Max and Chloe. That was what I enjoyed so much about Walking Dead, the friendship between Lee and Clemintine, but that game was so stressful. Life is Strange definitely has stressful things going on in it, but the rewind power makes it so I know I can go back and (probably?) fix my mistakes. I was invested in their story and eager to see how it played out.
And then it happened. I got stuck on a minor thing in Chapter 2. It was frustrating me so I decided to take a break. The next day I chose to watch TV or something instead of playing the game. I probably started binge watching a show. And despite my enjoyment of the game and investment in the characters, I completely forgot I was playing it!
Fast forward to last week. My friend started streaming games on Twitch and when she said she would be streaming Life is Strange I suddenly remembered Max and Chloe and all the things I wanted to do! I had 3 and a half chapters to go! I hastily "finished" Chapter 2 so I could watch her stream without spoilers. I say "finished" because it was late at night, a dramatic thing happened and there was an emotional scene, and I somehow told myself it was over despite not seeing credits roll.
So, I jumped into the stream eager to watch someone else play the game and see the choices she would make. One question I always have is how do your choices really impact the story, and can it really have a difference? I think it's super engaging with a game of this sort to see the choices other people make and how they play out, especially if they are scripted well so that some of the consequences may not appear until much later. I think that its possible that in many instances you have the illusion of consequence more than actual branching paths, and perhaps watching all the permutations could break that, but I'm still willing to buy into my choices and story. I'm a role-player, after all :)
I thoroughly enjoyed watching the stream and participating in the chat. It's exciting to experience the story reveals along with others. Eagerly anticipating the next stream, I went to play Chapter 3 to stay ahead and turns out I hadn't finished Chapter 2 after all. No spoilers but WHOA there's a major story moment at the end of chapter 2! I definitely would have remembered that, so I'm glad I had to cut out of the stream a few minutes before she got to that part, although I am very curious how our choices differed.
If you want to join in on the fun, my friend Mrs_Growley will be streaming Episode 3 tonight, January 9th, at 6:30pm PST on her Twitch channel. Excuse me while I got play Chapter 3! Come join us for the stream, or check out the stream archives on the channel if you're interested.
What's your favorite narrative-driven video game?
Confession time. I have a tenancy to forget that I am playing a game. There are some games that I intentionally don't finish, I just grow tired of playing them and walk away. There are games that I convince myself I am going to "go back to someday and finish" because I am still enjoying but I have something else I want to play but I'm still really enjoying it. And then sometimes life just gets busy or I get frustrated with something about a game and decide to take a break for a day and do something else entirely and somehow it slips through the cracks and I completely forget that I was playing it at all. It's not that I have plans to "go finish that someday", or even that I'm bored with them, it's just that I... forgot?
Rewind to sometime in the way back years of 2011. I discovered a "new" style of narrative-driven adventure games. The first one I played was Heavy Rain. It was roleplaying in a whole new way. I wrote about the way it made me feel at the time, and it's still of the most emotional experiences I've ever had in gaming.
Oh, Ethan. How far would you go?? |
About a year later The Walking Dead Season One came out, and I was once again captivated. I had zero interest in the Walking Dead franchise, but I had read so many cool things about the game, so I picked it up and I was immediately drawn into the story of Lee and Clementine. Another story that has stuck with me for years.
Oh, Lee. What would you do for Clem? |
Since then I have eagerly played as many of the narrative-driven, often episodic, games as I could. Telltale Games is especially known for putting out these types of adventure games, and has an entire selection of them now ranging from Batman to Minecraft Story Mode. Despite the strong emotional impact of Walking Dead, my favorite so far has bee Tales From the Borderlands, which also had an emotional impact but was also just so *fun*. I loved the characters and felt really invested in the story. I am a big Borderlands fan, so my delight in the universe played a huge role I'm sure. The fun style, the friends-frienemies story between Rhys and Fiona, the jokes (I laughed out loud in this game so many times! BEST FRIEND LOADER-BOT!), the great use of music, and the moments of action-game feel really made it feel like I was in for a fun ride.
Oh, Rhys and Fiona. I love you both so much! |
Sometime after Tales of the Borderlands, fellow Growing Up Gamers blogger Julian recommended to me a new game he was playing called Life is Strange. This one was not a Telltale Games adventure, and he was raving about the story and the fact that it had a neat new mechanic where you could rewind time to see how other decisions could have played out. This sounded like a fun new evolution, first we get choices that matter and now we have games where choices matter but we can play around with deciding which way we want those choices to impact the story. I'm in!
Max can rewind time and change her choices! |
I played through the first episode of Life is Strange right away and loved it. Cool story, great characters, and the fact it was set in Oregon was a really fun bonus. One thing I noticed that I especially enjoyed was the use of music in the game. This is a thing I enjoyed a lot about Borderlands and while Life is Strange did it completely differently I'm coming to appreciate how much of an impact it can have on my experience, and have been trying not to immediately mute a game and play with my own music on!
.
I really like the general vibe of this game, it's relaxing but sometimes intense |
One of the things I liked the most about the first chapter of Life is Strange was the emerging/rekindling friendship story between Max and Chloe. That was what I enjoyed so much about Walking Dead, the friendship between Lee and Clemintine, but that game was so stressful. Life is Strange definitely has stressful things going on in it, but the rewind power makes it so I know I can go back and (probably?) fix my mistakes. I was invested in their story and eager to see how it played out.
I really want this to all work out for them. They seem like they could be good BFF's |
And then it happened. I got stuck on a minor thing in Chapter 2. It was frustrating me so I decided to take a break. The next day I chose to watch TV or something instead of playing the game. I probably started binge watching a show. And despite my enjoyment of the game and investment in the characters, I completely forgot I was playing it!
Fast forward to last week. My friend started streaming games on Twitch and when she said she would be streaming Life is Strange I suddenly remembered Max and Chloe and all the things I wanted to do! I had 3 and a half chapters to go! I hastily "finished" Chapter 2 so I could watch her stream without spoilers. I say "finished" because it was late at night, a dramatic thing happened and there was an emotional scene, and I somehow told myself it was over despite not seeing credits roll.
The feels. Also, get off the train tracks kids! |
So, I jumped into the stream eager to watch someone else play the game and see the choices she would make. One question I always have is how do your choices really impact the story, and can it really have a difference? I think it's super engaging with a game of this sort to see the choices other people make and how they play out, especially if they are scripted well so that some of the consequences may not appear until much later. I think that its possible that in many instances you have the illusion of consequence more than actual branching paths, and perhaps watching all the permutations could break that, but I'm still willing to buy into my choices and story. I'm a role-player, after all :)
I thoroughly enjoyed watching the stream and participating in the chat. It's exciting to experience the story reveals along with others. Eagerly anticipating the next stream, I went to play Chapter 3 to stay ahead and turns out I hadn't finished Chapter 2 after all. No spoilers but WHOA there's a major story moment at the end of chapter 2! I definitely would have remembered that, so I'm glad I had to cut out of the stream a few minutes before she got to that part, although I am very curious how our choices differed.
If you want to join in on the fun, my friend Mrs_Growley will be streaming Episode 3 tonight, January 9th, at 6:30pm PST on her Twitch channel. Excuse me while I got play Chapter 3! Come join us for the stream, or check out the stream archives on the channel if you're interested.
What's your favorite narrative-driven video game?
quinta-feira, 28 de março de 2019
Eminent Domain Is Online At Board Game Arena!
I'm happy to announce that as of yesterday, my card game, Eminent Domain, is available for online play at BoardGameArena.com! Check it out, it's free to play, and they did a great job with the implementation.
I've been playing a lot of games at BGA over the last couple of months, including:
Eminent Domain
I got early access and did some testing for bugs. The implementation is gorgeous, and the game holds up! They've included the 5 scenarios that came with Eminent Domain: Microcosm, and very soon they might add the 6 from Escalation that only require base game cards to use.
Tzolkin: the Mayan Calendar
An old favorite that I hadn't played in a while. The timing aspect of the placing/retrieving of workers is ingenious. After playing a lot (and watching the top players' games), I'm actually a little disappointed in the game balance, but it's still a very fun game.
Stone Age
A classic worker placement game that I haven't played in a long time.
Russian Railroads Another good worker placement game that I haven't played in a while. It's neat how you score point income rather than just points, so rushing to scoring conditions can really add up! You can also pull of some fun combos with the reward tiles.
Dice Forge
This "dice building" game is a new one for me. I find it well balanced and fun. I like it best head-to-head, and I wish there were more cards to choose from each game (and more variety in what they do), but I hear that might be coming in an expansion.
Sobek
I own this, but haven't played it in years. Another good one for head-to-head play. I didn't even realize it's by Bruno Cathala!
I've been playing a lot of games at BGA over the last couple of months, including:
Eminent Domain
I got early access and did some testing for bugs. The implementation is gorgeous, and the game holds up! They've included the 5 scenarios that came with Eminent Domain: Microcosm, and very soon they might add the 6 from Escalation that only require base game cards to use.
Tzolkin: the Mayan Calendar
An old favorite that I hadn't played in a while. The timing aspect of the placing/retrieving of workers is ingenious. After playing a lot (and watching the top players' games), I'm actually a little disappointed in the game balance, but it's still a very fun game.
Stone Age
A classic worker placement game that I haven't played in a long time.
Russian Railroads Another good worker placement game that I haven't played in a while. It's neat how you score point income rather than just points, so rushing to scoring conditions can really add up! You can also pull of some fun combos with the reward tiles.
Dice Forge
This "dice building" game is a new one for me. I find it well balanced and fun. I like it best head-to-head, and I wish there were more cards to choose from each game (and more variety in what they do), but I hear that might be coming in an expansion.
Sobek
I own this, but haven't played it in years. Another good one for head-to-head play. I didn't even realize it's by Bruno Cathala!
quarta-feira, 27 de março de 2019
Samsung S10+ Gear Club With Xbox One S Controller Gameplay
Samsung Galaxy S10+ Plus 128GB+8GB RAM SM-G975F/DS Dual Sim 6.4" LTE Factory Unlocked Smartphone International Model No-Warranty (Prism White)
Hey guys,
Check it out!
Yeah! Of course, you can pair your xbox one s controller with the latest s10+ via bluetooth. It's quick and easy. Just 'on' your xbox controller and press the tiny bluetooth connection button. Make sure you scan it on the phone. Voila!
Now, if only there's more or better games that you can play with using the controller. My favorite pinball game by Zen Studio, FX3 are not yet available for android. I'm not sure why. I'm pretty sure people will enjoy playing it on their android phones or tablets.
Granted, the screen are a little small but it's almost reaching 7 inch. There are actually some good rpg games available but most of them are touch control. My new favorite racing game, F1 mobile have console like graphics but there's still no controller support!?
Our only hope are the indie game developers. You guys, should start designing game with xbox controller support in mind. I want to be able to play shooter, racing and rpg games using my favorite xbox controller. That'll make gaming on the phone much more enjoyable and definitely console like!
The s10+ are not specifically a gaming phone, unlike the Razer phone. But, it's new fast processor are a plus. It's beautiful wide screen are made for gaming. In my personal opinion, the s10+ are what the iphone xs should have been. With either face or fingerprint security and minus that stupid notch!
Get the s10+ and xbox one controller for best gaming experience!
Samsung Galaxy S10+ Plus 128GB+8GB RAM SM-G975F/DS Dual Sim 6.4" LTE Factory Unlocked Smartphone International Model No-Warranty (Prism White)
Microsoft Xbox Wireless Controller - Sport Red Special Edition - Xbox One
Ortz Xbox One Chatpad Keyboard KeyPad [with Headset/Audio Jack] Best for Wireless Chat - Built in USB Receiver for Xbox One Game Controller - Easy Sync with Your Controller
Sony Noise Cancelling Headphones WH1000XM3: Wireless Bluetooth Over the Ear Headphones with Mic and Alexa voice control - Industry Leading Active Noise Cancellation - Black
Get the best total entertainment experience with xbox one chatpad and sony latest noise cancelling headphones. All connected wirelessly via bluetooth. It's been a long time, since gamer wanted the ability to play console like games on their phone with an xbox controller.
The time is ripe now. Have you guys heard of the latest google stadia, that might enable us to play triple AAA games on whatever devices. It would actually be interesting to be able to finally play the first gears of war or halo on my phone.
Let's wait and see!
Subscribe to our blog and youtube channel for latest post and video upload!
Happy gaming!
P.S. Samsung Galaxy S10+ Plus 128GB+8GB RAM SM-G975F/DS Dual Sim 6.4" LTE Factory Unlocked Smartphone International Model No-Warranty (Prism White)
Visit main blog @ https://fauzi1972.blogspot.com
UCSC Launches The Country's First M.S. Program In Serious Games
UCSC Games & Playable Media and Serious Games MS Programs
As anticipated in my prior post, the Baskin School of Engineering at UC Santa Cruz is launching the first professional master's degree program in Serious Games offered in the United States, with an initial cohort of students starting in fall 2019. Applications for the M.S. in Serious Games were accepted until January 24, 2019.
Image credit: UCSC's Silicon Valley Campus in Santa Clara
The Silicon Valley Campus is home to the UCSC M.S. in Serious Games
"Our professional programs in games and playable media and Serious Games are project-oriented and emulations of professional environments," said Michael John, a teaching professor of computational media who has more than 25 years of industry experience with both Serious and Entertainment Games. "Each quarter you might make three or four games, and they won't all be good; actually most of them won't be good, but the process of building lots of little interactive toys and games is how you learn, and that turns out to be a key skill in the workplace."
The new program will train students over five academic quarters in six key areas: game design, game technology, eliciting and integrating subject matter knowledge, designing and conducting efficacy measures, effective teamwork, and career planning. It will culminate in a capstone project. The program's location in the heart of Silicon Valley and the close relationships of faculty with industry are expected to create ample opportunities for students.
Image credit: UCSC Baskin Engineering Website
Jim Egen dons a virtual reality helmet and paddles to test ASSIST lab's stroke rehabilitation game.
UC Santa Cruz already offers two of the most highly rated game degree programs in the country: a B.S. in computer game design and M.S. in games and playable media, both in the top 20 of Princeton Review's Top Game Design Schools.
Much of the credit for the early emphasis on games at UC Santa Cruz goes to Jim Whitehead, professor and chair of computational media. In 2004, he began developing a program for computer science students who wanted experience with game development. When the campus began offering a B.S. in computer game design in 2006, it was the first program of its kind in the UC system and one of the few in the country.
During the past decade, UCSC alumni have helped create the latest generation of games. Whitehead said he foresees the same thing happening with Serious Games. Some students currently enrolled in the games and playable media program are already planning to switch to Serious Games. "There's a lot of overlap between Serious Games and more entertainment platforms," he said. "They work with the same programming languages, but there are definitely divergence points."
Those divergence points provide the rationale for having two separate programs. "If you're doing a Serious Game, there's some sort of outcome expected, and it's really important to measure whether you're getting there or not. So there's an important assessment component," Whitehead said.
Designing games with assessment built in seems like a subtle distinction but often requires an entirely different design philosophy. Another reason for separate programs, according to Whitehead, is that the students interested in them are quite different.
Edward Melcer, assistant professor of computational media, teaches a required course on the fundamentals of Serious Games. "So many people see the potential of games to do something important, but shy away," Melcer said. "People think they have to have all this technical knowledge or be a hardcore gamer to do Serious Games, but we don't require that. We want people with passion, people who want to do something for their audience."
More information about the M.S. in Serious Games at UC Santa Cruz is available online at gpm.soe.ucsc.edu/admissions
terça-feira, 26 de março de 2019
Rex Nebular - Bouncing Betty
Written by TBD.
Rex Nebular's Log: Stardate - Tuesday morning.4: After being shot out of space I've crash landed on a planet populated only by women. Am I dreaming? Or do the indigenous creatures who keep wanting to rip off my head make it a nightmare?
We join our hero just after the opening cutscene, during which his ship was shot down and sunk into the water near the coast.
After getting up, the first thing I do is look at the viewscreen. On it I see a topless woman coming out of the water before the screen shorts out, upsetting Rex immensely. Is a pixellated topless woman the extent of naughtiness we're going to see in this game? I expect so.
I quickly discover that the descriptions in this game are rather verbose and there's a lot of hotspots I can look at in the first few screens. So much so that before fully exploring the ship I just wanted to go outside despite my usual strategy of looking at absolutely everything.
The descriptions are also amusing, so reading them is fun, but again, after a while, I just wanted to move on.
I open the shield access panel and pull on the shield modulator to take it. Now I have an item in my inventory apart from my log, and it contains a special verb, disassemble.
If I leave the cockpit, I end up in a living area with a bed, medicine cabinet (containing nothing I can take) and refrigerator, among other things.
As a stereotypical cartoon bachelor, my fridge contains some extremely old food.
The living area also has a ladder leading to the airlock. Rather than use the ladder now, I explore the rest of the ship.
The third (and final?) section of the ship is the engineering section. In there I find a rebreather, which will be useful for breathing underwater, and a timer module.
I also find that the life support is being kept active by the auxiliary power module.
Having explored the ship thoroughly enough that I'm sick of the long descriptions, I go back to the living room and climb the ladder to the airlock, automatically wearing my rebreather as I exit.
On the next screen I find a weed patch that, according to the description, looks like the infamous Venus Man Trap. That sounds dangerous, so I take a closer look.
On the next screen I find some medical waste, that I don't seem to be able to take. I try a few things with it.
On the same screen is a mine. I take a closer look...
On another screen I find a tunnel surrounded by holes. A fish swims toward the tunnel, but a purple tentacle comes out of one of the holes and eats it. I try throwing both a dead fish (which I found on a previous screen) and my burger at the hole, but the tentacle just eats the fish and ignores the burger.
I at some point try putting the burger in the dead fish, and that works.
I also take the binoculars that are hanging by a poster of a naked woman.
I go back outside and throw my stuffed fish at the tentacle. The toxicity of my old burger is obviously not terribly palatable, even to a tentacle monster, because it kills him.
After swimming through the now-safe hole, I come to the surface in a small pool in a cave. I exit the cave and find myself in a land of grassy fields. I explore the fields until I die.
So far, all the creatures in this place seem obsessed with removing my head. With Bouncing Betty blocking the way north, I try a different direction.
To the west I find a witch doctor's hut, which contains a few interesting items. I take some poison darts, which Rex assumes contain head-shrinking poison due to the shrunken heads the witch doctor seems to be collecting. There is also a cage containing a creature, but I don't seem to be able to do anything with it for now.
I'll note that all inventory objects have distinct verbs associated with them. I'm sure many of them are useful, but some are probably just there for comedic purposes.
Moving further to the west, I hear some noises from the top of a palm tree, but pushing or talking to the tree doesn't do anything useful.
Attempting to pass into the next screen has the noisy creature (similar to a monkey) throw something at me and steal one of my items.
Because the monkey ran in the direction I've already explored, I ignore him for now and continue west. On the next screen, I find what appears to be a human woman and I get to have my first conversation.
She doesn't believe I'm a real man, so gives me a test to... test my manhood, I suppose.
The women looking on wonder if they can use me so that Gyrain doesn't have to go through the Gender Bender. I feel like I've got enough evidence to give me a solid idea of what the society of this planet is. Like the mythical Amazons, it's an all female society that uses men for reproductive purposes. The difference being this society has invented a device that turns women into men. What this doesn't explain though, is why they tried to kill me by blowing up my ship if they prefer to use me for reproduction? Of course it's also possible I'm significantly wrong with my interpretation of their society.
Rex Nebular's Log: Stardate - Tuesday morning.4: After being shot out of space I've crash landed on a planet populated only by women. Am I dreaming? Or do the indigenous creatures who keep wanting to rip off my head make it a nightmare?
We join our hero just after the opening cutscene, during which his ship was shot down and sunk into the water near the coast.
I quickly discover that the descriptions in this game are rather verbose and there's a lot of hotspots I can look at in the first few screens. So much so that before fully exploring the ship I just wanted to go outside despite my usual strategy of looking at absolutely everything.
The descriptions are also amusing, so reading them is fun, but again, after a while, I just wanted to move on.
As I said, verbose but funny |
This description doesn't contain a joke, so it must contain important information. |
What kind of game gives me a new verb and won't let me use it immediately? This game's inventory system is just a tease! |
As a stereotypical cartoon bachelor, my fridge contains some extremely old food.
The third (and final?) section of the ship is the engineering section. In there I find a rebreather, which will be useful for breathing underwater, and a timer module.
Thank you Binky, for the air I breathe. |
The ship seems to be trying to destroy us by bombing the water. I suppose spaceships are equipped with depth charges now. |
Having my head ripped off is a rather violent way to die. |
Much funnier than, "That doesn't work." |
Having died a few times I notice an interface convenience I really appreciate. On dying, I don't have to reload a save game, the game automatically returns me to the point just before my death, with my inventory intact. It doesn't sound like much but it's a major convenience considering the amount of times I'm likely to die in the game. And as the Fourth Law of Adventure Gaming states, the chances of you randomly dying increases exponentially with the length of time played since you last saved the game.
I at some point try putting the burger in the dead fish, and that works.
Again, funnier than the usual, "Nothing happens." |
Now I know how Super Mario's enemies feel. |
To the west I find a witch doctor's hut, which contains a few interesting items. I take some poison darts, which Rex assumes contain head-shrinking poison due to the shrunken heads the witch doctor seems to be collecting. There is also a cage containing a creature, but I don't seem to be able to do anything with it for now.
I'll note that all inventory objects have distinct verbs associated with them. I'm sure many of them are useful, but some are probably just there for comedic purposes.
Here I am, channeling my inner Larry Laffer, or is it Roger Wilco? |
Attempting to pass into the next screen has the noisy creature (similar to a monkey) throw something at me and steal one of my items.
I had to guess this one. But I guessed correctly. Does that mean I'm a real man or not? |
After I show my manly knowledge, she invites me into her hut. After entering the door, we go to a new scene with people watching a security camera. I assume they have security cameras in every hut. Big Sister is real, people.
The bump under the bear rug moves in a way that reminds me of The Sims Woohoo animation. Welcome to 'Naughty Mode', ladies and gentlemen. |
After the security room cutscene, I'm now alone in the hut and look around. The only seemingly useful item is a twinkifruit, an obvious combination of a twinkie and fruit. I take it.
Outside, I find a clothesline containing bras made from animal hides and hotpants made from straw.
Moving further into the village, I find another woman. This lady doesn't like me as much and kicks me in the... well, this is a game with naughty humour, where do you think she kicks me?
I end up back outside the village. Exploring the land again, I find some leaves next to a bush.
I also find out where the monkey went after stealing my binoculars.
At this point, I decided to restart the game to see if there was a noticeable difference between the Nice/Naughty and Easy/Hard modes.
And on restarting the game I come across the game's copy protection.
Now, I really should have anticipated this. I'm an idiot. That leaf-covered pit I found in Easy Mode is just an uncovered pit in Hard Mode. Easy Mode also hinted that I'd need some bait. Having screwed up by playing Easy Mode for too long, I sheepishly went back to my Hard Mode playthrough.
Now, whether I'd have worked this solution out myself in Hard Mode is a question I can't answer. I like to think I'd have worked it out, and even if not, my try everything on everything technique would have worked eventually, but in my defense, I think the game tried to trick me.
I tried putting my twinkifruit on the leaves, which worked. As I stand behind a bush (Rex clearly not even attempting to hide), the large big-mouthed woman who jumped on me and ate my head earlier came bouncing towards my pit trap. She fell in head-first and all I could see were her legs wiggling above the pit.
I wondered if perhaps saving her might get her to help me, but the game had different ideas.
Oh well, if the game wants me to leave her in the pit I'm not going to argue. And now that I can move beyond the place I first saw the large lady, I continue on and find another screen with a hut - this time with a ladder I can climb.
After picking up a few bones I go north, and find another unfriendly woman. This time she doesn't just kick me, she shoots me with a ray gun.
I go back to the palm tree the monkey is hanging out on and try everything I can think of with the monkey and the tree. After a while I discover something I hadn't noticed earlier – though I couldn't do anything with the bamboo bush, one of the stalks was laying on the ground next to it. I take it.
After seeing the woman teleport away, Rex falls down, breaking the ladder (purely so I can't use it again I expect).
Now that Zatox the Raygunner has left I can safely go north, so I do. I also note that the binoculars are likely only useful in very specific places.
I use the teleporter, typing in the code I saw with my binoculars, and end up in an area that's already occupied.
And with that, we'll end for now. Tune in next time when I attempt to escape from the Leather Goddesse... the Amazon priestesses... the women of this alien complex. Sorry - I keep playing games where I'm captured by a purely female society - it gets confusing.
I'm enjoying this game so far. The humour's still working for me and the puzzles are challenging enough. I'm still disappointed I didn't get to solve the spinach pit puzzle by myself but I have nobody but myself to blame for that one. See you next week.
Session Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours
Note Regarding Spoilers and Companion Assist Points: There's a set of rules regarding spoilers and companion assist points. Please read it here before making any comments that could be considered a spoiler in any way. The short of it is that no points will be given for hints or spoilers given in advance of me requiring one. Please...try not to spoil any part of the game for me...unless I really obviously need the help...or I specifically request assistance. In this instance, I've not made any requests for assistance. Thanks!
Outside, I find a clothesline containing bras made from animal hides and hotpants made from straw.
An obvious setup to me being mistaken for a woman many times in this game. |
Good guess |
And on restarting the game I come across the game's copy protection.
I wonder what happens if I get this wrong... |
This game really really hates Rex Nebular's head. |
Trying again and correctly answering the copy protection question, I restarted the game in Nice and Easy Mode, and immediately found a difference - when the topless woman comes up out of the water in view of my probe's camera, the camera cuts out much earlier.
This is where the camera cuts out in Nice Mode |
Naughty Mode's probe continues working for longer before cutting out |
Weirdly, the topless woman poster in Rex's living quarters is exactly the same in Nice and Naughty Mode. The most noticeable difference between Nice and Naughty Mode ended up being the death sequences. Like the previous example, Nice Mode cuts the death sequences much earlier. Using the example of the weed patch I first died in, I don't get to see Rex's head get ripped off and blood slowly dissolving into the water in this mode. I found this interesting, as I thought Nice/Naughty would only be in relation to sex or nudity. I liked that it included violence as well - it makes it seem less like a gimmick.
Playing further on Easy Mode, I noticed a single difference in the puzzle difficulty while underwater. I didn't have to combine the burger with the dead fish to kill the tentacle monster, as I could just swim through the hole without the monster coming out and killing me.
But then I came to a puzzle that had been solved in Easy Mode but I hadn't solved myself in Hard Mode yet.
Oops. I spoiled myself by playing in Easy Mode. |
Now, whether I'd have worked this solution out myself in Hard Mode is a question I can't answer. I like to think I'd have worked it out, and even if not, my try everything on everything technique would have worked eventually, but in my defense, I think the game tried to trick me.
Now, tell me I'm just stupid and unobservant, but this picture and description had me thinking these leaves would be best used as food rather than covering a large pit. |
Anyway, I used my spinach leaves (which I admit had been found on the same screen as the pit) on the pit, and now I had my leaf-covered pit.
How 3 big spinach leaves covers this pit completely without falling in is beyond me, but thanks for the help, Easy Mode. |
I take this as a clue I'll need to get my binoculars back from the monkey thief. |
I may have a big hole in my chest, but at least I have my head this time. |
Having made a blowgun out of a hollow reed and poison recently in Amazon: Guardians of Eden, I took a guess at what I should do next. |
I use my head-shrinking poison darts on the plant stalk and have the option to shoot or hose down with my blowgun. I assumed the hose down option would just involve me spitting through the blowgun, but it turned out hosing down meant shooting darts at him.
I take my binoculars from the ground and go back north to the screen with the ladder. I use my binoculars to look at the area that the woman with the ray gun was patrolling. Rex comments on what she's doing, and when she enters a machine, I see a closeup of a glove pushing buttons.
Now that Zatox the Raygunner has left I can safely go north, so I do. I also note that the binoculars are likely only useful in very specific places.
Maybe I'm looking through the wrong end of the binoculars this time. |
Xina: Warrior Princess? |
And with that, we'll end for now. Tune in next time when I attempt to escape from
I'm enjoying this game so far. The humour's still working for me and the puzzles are challenging enough. I'm still disappointed I didn't get to solve the spinach pit puzzle by myself but I have nobody but myself to blame for that one. See you next week.
Session Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours
Note Regarding Spoilers and Companion Assist Points: There's a set of rules regarding spoilers and companion assist points. Please read it here before making any comments that could be considered a spoiler in any way. The short of it is that no points will be given for hints or spoilers given in advance of me requiring one. Please...try not to spoil any part of the game for me...unless I really obviously need the help...or I specifically request assistance. In this instance, I've not made any requests for assistance. Thanks!
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