05/13/13

Darkness Falls – A Short Story by Henry Vogel

Henry Vogel, 13 May 2013

Pulp adventure from master storyteller Henry Vogel

Working the biplane’s controls with the practiced ease only possible from a former flying ace, Cliff Hanger pointed to the hilltop farm ahead.

“Cote? Are you sure that’s the place?” Cliff yelled over the roar of the aeroplane’s engine.

Cliff’s younger brother struggled to keep the map open against the buffeting wind and yelled back, “If the little bit Beth managed to say over the telephone before she was cut off is correct, then that’s the place!”

Giving Cote a thumbs up signal, Cliff was about to turn back toward the hill when he saw the other aircraft. Swooping down out of the sun and the clouds came half a dozen black-painted aeroplanes. Minions of the evil Doctor Darkness!

As he went into a barrel roll, Cliff hollered, “Doctor Darkness has sent us an unwelcoming party. Hang on, little brother!”
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05/10/13

GARPA 18 – GrogHeads Advanced Research on Projects Advisory

GARPA #18

Authors: Dan Pinkham and Lloyd Sabin

May 10, 2013

Spring is well under way even though we are still freezing are butts off here in the northeast at night. Which makes for a good excuse for gaming instead of being outside. Also there’s a plague of locusts coming to the region as well. You definitely don’t want to be outside then. See, we here at GARPA not only alert you to the best new crowd funded games coming to your desktop and PC…we also give you plenty of excuses for not going outside and reserving more time for gaming. Who loves you?

PC Games

Son of Nor by StillAlive Studios

$34,121 pledged of $150,000, funding ends at 5:17am on Thursday, May 30

Son of Nor is planned as a 3^rd-person, fantasy-themed ARPG that will be playable in either single- or multiplayer coop mod, with up to four players cooperating online or through a split screen. The game takes place in the desert-world of Noshrac (not Horshack) where the player is thrown into conflict against desert-dwelling beasts and an army of warriors called Sarahul. To be the best fighter possible, the player will need to explore the game world and take advantage of strategically placed temples and avoid traps in order to advance…in other words, solve puzzles to improve magical combat abilities.
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05/9/13

A Civilization V AAR – Part XIV

Brant Guillory, 9 May 2013

Hey look, if you’re still reading at part 14, you probably don’t need much of an introduction.

Click images to enlarge

Last episode, we got screwed with by the Incans, spread a little Catharism around the world, and planted a new city. Here we go…

Aaannnddd. Barbarians. Again.
I promise I’m not recycling screenshots. Look- the terrain is different!

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05/7/13

Tuesday Screenshot – Rise of Flight

As the French country side rushes by below me, my world is momentarily peaceful. The only sound is the steady hum of my plane’s engine and the wind washing over the cockpit and past my weathered face. Leaning my head back I close my eyes for a minute and let the bright rays of the morning sun warm my chilled face. Grudgingly I reopen them and squint into the distance, as my eyes readjust to the brightness. Out of a broken cloud bank two black dots materialize. I smile as I have found this morning’s prey. Signaling my wingman, I begin a slow climb into the clouds above me. As I near the clouds the serenity of the morning is ruthlessly broken by bullets flying over my head and tearing into canvas around me. Twisting and turning in my seat I finally catch the chilling sight of two enemy planes on my tail just as I disappear in to the concealing but temporary safety of the clouds.

– Dan Pinkham

05/6/13

Flight Sims – Just How Realistic Are They?

Author: Commander Mike “Toonces” Loomis

Introduction

Rare would be the man who, as a child, saw a fighter jet fly overhead and didn’t think to himself, “I want to do that when I grow up!” Unfortunately, most of us don’t become fighter pilots. However, we have the opportunity through computer flight simulation to understand a bit of what goes on in that cockpit, flying 600 knots and pulling 6 Gs.

The enthusiast flies his first simulator, buys more and more hardware, controllers, accessories, and more computer power to run ever more complex software. At some point the inevitable question surfaces- how realistic are home flight simulators, anyway? This article seeks to address this question from an aviator’s perspective.