D2 Technews EVERY MONDAY• May 16, 2011

John Allyza Marie

Fun under the sun with Tropico 3
ropico 3 is both a city-

T
building and political
Conduit 2 simulator. Players
are to juggle between
was excited when I inept AI only adds to the charm. managing the city and

I
saw this game come Your varied arsenal includes pleasing the various
out. Gone is the over- military staples such as machine factions concerned.The game takes
ly dramatic story that guns and sniper rifles mixed in place during the 1960s in a fictional
made government with a healthy assortment of out- island country located in the Car-
conspiracies as ba- of-this-world armaments. ribean named, Tropico. The player
nal as a tour through a doorknob Oftentimes, it takes two or takes on the role of “El Presidente,”
factory, replaced by a tongue-in- three times as many shots to kill and the challenge is to ensure the
cheek narrative that revels in pre- an attacker with an intergalactic survival of Tropico amidst various
posterous logic. offering, which makes using these concerns such as the Cold War, un-
The paint-by-numbers level de- fancy tools of destruction less en- rest, and development.
sign has been tossed in the scrap ticing. Players start with the customi-
heap as well. You travel the globe Despite some neat-looking zation of their own avatar’s appear-
in Conduit 2, and the circuitous weapons, the action in Conduit 2 ance. Premade avatars are also
layouts make it fun to figure out is rather predictable. Fights too available to choose from, such as Fi-
where to go next. often erupt in narrow corridors lit- del Castro and CheGuevarra---each
The Conduit is great because tered with handy pieces of cover, complete with a voice of their own
of its outstanding controls, and and the typical layout combined likeness. Each avatar has itsown provides a background and needs the game adds the spice as players
the precision offered by the Wii with the aforementioned AI prob- character, having unique qualities- that require fulfillment. If the city are encouraged to juggle a political
Remote/Nunchuk combo is just lems make for functional, if deriva- and flaws. For example, a womaniz- becomes unhappy, a revolt ensues, relationship between the two pow-
as impressive the second time tive, shoot outs. ing flaw reduces the popularity from and if successful, spells the end of ers.
around. Now the learned women and the religious fac- the game. Random events sometime Tropico 3 also features a robust
Classic Controller tion; on the other hand, if the player pops-up prompting the player to call graphics engine. Evident features of
is an option as well, is a patriot, he gains initial respect for a decision and can be either de- the game include dynamic lighting,
and though it's not from nationalists. This feature of the structive or productive depending weather effects, and highly-detailed
nearly as accurate game provides a dynamic way of play on how the player decides. As the cityscapes. For convenience, play-
as the standard and somehow portrays realism in a city grows, so does the needs of the ers can rotate or zoom in and out of
scheme. leader’s personality and how it af- people living in it, and meeting the the view.Music entertains the player
Enemies act fects the populace. demands is up to how the “El Presi- with tropical percussions coupled
more like vaude- As a city-building simulator, play- dente” works. with the energetic DJ, Juanito, which
villian performers ers are to build and develop the is- The island nation of Tropico is also reports the happenings around
than trained mer- land while appeasing its inhabitants. also under pressure from the two su- the island.
cenaries. It's fun- Similar to other games in its genre, perpowers of the Cold War, the USA Tropico 3 is a very decent game
ny gunning them construction of roads, placements and the USSR. Garnering the favor in all respects. Tropico is different
down, and because of lots, and development of industry of one induces trade, business op- from other simulators as it does not
Conduit 2 never is important. Players may choose to portunities, and cash. On the other sacrifice fun in exchange for com-
pretends to be a se- concentrate on building farms and hand, becoming unpopular to one plexity, or vice-versa. Spice it up with
rious shooter, the factories in order to foster trade, or provokes warships encircling the a visually stunning graphics engine,
he may choose to make tourism as island, which could then eventually and a highly-entertaining audio and
the island’s major financial source. lead to an island invasion. you have yourself an enjoyable simu-
Building clinics, schools, and police To gain favor from the US, the lator. Tropico 3 rewards players with
stations increases the happiness of player should manage the city as a witty decisions and timely develop-
the population. capitalist,the same works with the ments, and with this, Tropico 3 is
If the player has no idea on what USSR by playing and managing the sure to make players go “El Presi-
to build, simply clicking a citizen city as a communist. This aspect of dente.” (Jose Gamaliel Felongco)
Preserving the Word
he’s such a philar- over a word to hear it yell, “Pick

S Social networking violations

gyrist and keeps me! Pick me!”
complaining about You can put your mouse cursor
my job.” What’s a outside of the window to move the
philargyrist?! Even window toward that direction and stead of reading and sharing impor- remember clearly who you are. Re-
if you look for the to uncover new words. There are By GLENN RICHMOND ONG tant or relevant information on this member to consider other people
word in the dictionary, you’ll be literally hundreds of words here. social networking channel, they are first before yourself. You know, they
surprised to see that it’s not in When you see a word you’re in- o you spend lots of just wasting time and effort by do- might be forgetful even at a young

D
there. Nay, the word only exists terested in, click on it to bring up time on Facebook and ing such. age.
in the select few who still remem- a little window with the definition Twitter everyday? Don’t envy the celebrities for
ber it. and an example sentence. Someone sent a ques- having hundreds of followers, be- Creating several accounts for
That’s where the Save The You can also register an ac- tion asking what com- cause they are, to start with, ce- contests
Words campaign comes in. This count and promise to use the word mon social networking lebrities. There’s no sense of wish- The digital age today has tapped
web site preserves old words that frequently in order to try and re- courtesies people always violate. ing for a huge number of followers more and more companies to hold
are no longer in the dictionary and vive its usage. Or, you can enter We know that social networking when they are all just like you, who online contests via blogs, Twitter
attempts to spread its usage. your email address and receive is the same as face-to-face meeting. follows and get followed because of or Facebook. A popular type of pro-
Here’s their goal: "Each year a daily word. Try learning some It needs us to be courteous and re- begging. motion would be the ‘Like’ contest,
hundreds of words are dropped words and stumping your friends spectful of people’s time and efforts Know that you would automati- where the entry with most likes
from the dictionary. Old words, and teachers! Check it out @ no matter what happens. In net- cally get an increased number of wins.
wise words, hard-working words. SaveTheWords.org. working, think before you act and followers when you tell other people I am personally not a fan of such.
Words that once led meaningful Have Fun! think about others before yourself. you are relevant through the quality Why? Because there are tons of
lives but now lie Soon enough, you will reap its ben- of your tweets. It takes time; noth- cheaters.
abandoned and efits. ing happens overnight. May it be on Twitter or Face-
forgotten. You can Which ones among these are book, foolish online users tend to
do your part! Help you guilty of? Tagging contacts to unrelated open several new accounts just
save the words!" notes, pictures, videos to be able to join contests and win
As you enter Adding strangers on Facebook Are you selling a product or pro- prizes. How silly it is to like their
the well-designed, It does not require a user to be moting something online? If you own entry or tweet many times us-
wordy website, a summa cum laude to know that are, you might be the culprit of con- ing several fake accounts!
you’ll come across Facebook is all about networking. tacts hating and getting angry of Just trust it to luck. Be honest
a flash application Sure, you want to increase your online sellers who relentlessly tag and leave everything up to luck or
and the words will number of friends in order to have people to items that are not at all your God every time you join con-
start screaming to the bragging rights of having the connected to them. tests or promos. If you win, then
be picked…literal- most number of contacts among Be mindful of others. Facebook you win; if it’s for you, you will get it.
ly. You can mouse your friends. is a great avenue for promotion, but Stop the cheating and fight equally.
But who cares – especially if fifty draw the line on when to properly
percent of them are total strang- tag contacts. Swearing or cursing publicly
Nokia delivers effective Qt SDK 1.1 ers? Not everyone likes to be tagged As humans, we have tendencies
Most people I know confirm on photos, videos, or notes that are of becoming angry or depressed
friend requests when they are ei- of no value to them. Sure, give it the in a snap. When this happens, we
Nokia announced the release quicker. ther acquaintance from some sort benefit of the doubt that they would use the social networking channels
of Qt SDK 1.1 offering one inte- Qt Quick also includes QML, of gathering or real friends, new or be interested, but messaging or as portals of our emotions. Sadly,
grated development environ- a CSS & JavaScript-like lan- old, whom they know intimately. asking permission to tag could be some users aren’t wary of others
ment for creating both consumer guage, that makes UI develop- What happens then if you want other better options. and curse or swear publicly online.
applications on Nokia’s Symbian ment for touch screens much to add a stranger? The best thing Start changing the bad habit.
platform as well as for desktop easier to implement. In addition to do is to couple the adding with Using non-human pictures Not everyone is comfortable in
applications such as Windows 7, to Qt Quick, the Qt SDK 1.1 in- a short introduction, as simple as Unless there’s a campaign for reading tweets or statuses with
Mac OSX and Linux. Using the cludes map and navigation fea- “Hi! This is Juan. We haven’t met, a cause (like cartoons for kids or profane words. At the same time,
Qt SDK to build their apps, de- tures, imaging features for cam- but I’d like to connect with you be- yellow ribbon for Cory), it’s always it reflects a negative impression on
velopers have a complete, easy- era and photo gallery access, cause you look good.” Okay, that in- better to put your identity in your you. Unless you really want to show
to-use tool cutting app creation notification API plug-ins and tro message is a bit for flirting, but profile picture. If not, at least have off, keep the cursing to yourself or
time in half for Nokia touch- other enhancements that enable you get the idea, right? some other photos that would iden- in private.
screen devices. developers to provide access to tify you. And these, boys and girls, are
Within the release of Qt SDK user content on the device. Begging tweeps to ‘Follow Me’ Especially those who keep their just six of the most common online
1.1, is Qt Quick, a new UI creation “Developers are seeking to In desperate want to get more profile information private, it is a faults netizens do.
kit that benefits both graphic de- provide high quality, graphically followers on Twitter, some tweeps big no-no to not have a clear photo. Do you have anything more to
signers and application develop- rich applications to stand out in fill up their timelines begging for Putting your name may not be suf- add? Email me at glenn@glennong.
ers. Designers can create fluid, ever increasing crowded appli- other tweeps to follow them. In- ficient, as your contact might not com.
animated user interfaces with cation stores”, said Purnima Ko-
complete project and code ed- chikar, Vice President, Forum
iting support for developers to Nokia. “With this new version of It does not require a user to be a summa cum laude to know that
then implement into the overall the Qt SDK, designers and de- Facebook is all about networking. Sure, you want to increase your
application. This speeds up the velopers can work tog\ether to number of friends in order to have the bragging rights of having
development process further achieve this quicker and more the most number of contacts among your friends. But who cares –
bringing applications to market effectively.” especially if fifty percent of them are total strangers?