KOHCTPYKTOP: Engineer of the People - review

Hi everyone,

I've just finished another flash game on Kongregate called KOHCTPYKTOP: Engineer of the People by Zachtronics Industries (whom you *may* know by a *slightly* more popular game Codex of Alchemical Engineering).
A puzzle game set in an alternate history Soviet Russia, KOHCTPYKTOP (an Anglicised transliteration of the Russian word for 'Constructor', or 'Engineer') revolves around building integrated circuits (more commonly known as microchips) at the most fundamental level of individual BJTs (bipolar junction transistors) using P-type silicon and N-type silicon.

If the above four lines just mindf---ed you, the closest comparison I can draw to another game is Redstone in Minecraft (although they are not entirely the same thing); using PNP and NPN logic gates to control currents in order to output a required current to progress to the next level.

On rating the gameplay side of things:
Pros:

• Realistic (in a fun way) (or fun, in a realistic way?)
• (e.g. inclusion of propagation delay - sometimes helpful, sometimes not)
• An immense feeling of pride/satisfaction when you complete a puzzle (by yourself, that is)
• It's not an action game, so lag is (generally) not an issue.
• Some attempt at a storyline?

Cons:

• WARNING: EXTREMELY DIFFICULT
• The realistic inclusion of propagation delay D:<
• Very little in-game motivation (e.g. achievements etc.)
• A tutorial of questionable helpfulness (uninteractive).
• Graphics are really (I mean REALLY) bad - but then again, why the fancy graphics?
• Very steep learning curves to overcome in terms of creating new ideas (e.g. attempting to create pulsers/memory cells for the first time)
• No diodes :(

I would like to say again that this game is VERY FRUSTRATING and I would guess that approximately 95% of the general population would ragequit in the first four levels (without my video walkthrough). My description of the cons probably do not do justice to the difficulty of the game, but it is very much outweighed by the immense satisfaction of completing a level.

Just harden up, life won't hand you solutions on a platter.

Rating: 3 ± 1.5 / 5 (depending on your mood and perseverance)
~Vincent

P.S. There is a pause button on the tutorial. The shift button is the second most important button after the left mouse button.

hey seb here,

      i have recently created a game where i hide things of great importance to erin on the internet, with clues leading throughout the internet for erin to find. Anyone can of course play if they want, the first clue is http://www.mediafire.com/?31t4sn3ezzfxtwk which is a game i made on game maker. If you beat it you will recieve a link which you must follow in order to get to the prize. The Final prize in this game is a custom made minecraft map (mainly made by erin) which i have on my computer. This puzzle is very short, because part of it was taken down, cause i was using a wikipedia page, so it is very easy. hopefully in the future it will be more entertaining, for example i might "borrow" erins essay which is due the next day and then make him find it somewhere on the interwebs. So keep a look out erin never know when i might steal something, (lol foil balls + bin, aw the joys of trolling erin)

     Now that that is done i can get to my videos. Recently my movie uploader has been screwing up and i need to fix it. So i start uploading the rest of my lets plays soon. 

SitRep + Battle of Britain: 303 Squadron review

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the hiatus in blog activity for the last couple of months, but we do have real lives to live. Perhaps it was not such a good idea to release all our videos in one hit during the holidays, to then be followed by a (relative) drought.

'Recent' Activity:

• Vincent has finished his Battle of Britain: 303 Squadron LP. (See review below)
• Gabbeh has not contributed anything :( ... yet.
• Seb has ended his Borderlands LP due to glitches.
• Seb has reached Ep. 9 of his Spore LP
• Seb has reached Ep. 2 of his Tau: Fire Warrior LP. (Awaiting review)
• Erin has reached Ep. 13 of his Crysis 2 LP. (See earlier post for review)
• Erin has reached Ep. 8 of his Magicka LP. (Awaiting review)
• Erin has begun a miscellaneous series of iPhone game videos (probably for schadenfreude purposes)
• The Minecraft SMP LP is probably still running, but with a completely new map due to server problems.
• Several unofficial 'Manburger' videos have been added. (Not a game)

Thank you for following this blog! Please spread the word.
~Vincent

Battle of Britain: 303 Squadron - Review

Battle of Britain: 303 Squadron is an aerial dogfighting game on Kongregate by ChannelFour. It is historically based (as far as my historical knowledge goes) on the real 303 Squadron in WWII during the Battle of Britain, with the names and events, although not exhaustive, historically accurate as well. Apart from the historicity, it is also a (relatively) good game in and of itself:

Pros:

• A good inclusion of the stalling mechanism for realism.
• A 'good' difficulty of enemies, which are difficult but open to exploitation, once you know the trick (so yes, you actually do need to brain out how to destroy a bomber with a turret, or throw a pilot off your tail).
• Very simple controls (Honestly, four keys?)
• A (relatively) good compromise for historicity and playability (historically, your wingmen didn't get owned every time, but they can't just do all the work for you).
• Very interesting cutscenes (in your own time).

Cons:

• This game is HORRIBLE if you have the slightest hint of lag or lack of control.
• NO CHECKPOINTS D:< screw a mission up and it's back to the beginning. Very annoying on the longer missions. Over 20 takes on a single mission.
• Unskippable dialogue. Annoyance factor is exacerbated when combined with the fact that you need to restart from the beginning of the mission.
• Very annoying script mechanisms (such as bombers spawning above the 50 000 ft mark, 'Leaving the mission area', AIs being chased to the 50 000 ft mark, and a potential bug in the first mission).

Overall, I'd give this game 7.5/10, with room to improve.

~Vincent