simulation posts

The Anno games are known for being excellent economic simulations in the same vein as Settlers, but the latest in the series is taking a decidedly different turn. Rather than being set in the era of European expansionism, Anno 2070 takes place far in the future. This trailer gives a glimpse at the new content, and hints at new play styles (consumerism versus conservationism), but it doesn't really show anything we can identify with. Besides some excellent artwork, of course!

Download the Anno 2070 Gameplay trailer
Check out all Anno 2070 downloads

We're going to be completely honest: we have no clue what these trailers are about. Sure, we know they are about FIFA Manager 11, a football (soccer) club management simulator, but that's about as much as we understand. It goes into such crazy detail on the new features, tweaks, and additions to the long-running management series that we are completely lost. However, we're sure that those players who are into the series will definitely get a lot of important info from these trailers. The first, above, talks about the Live Season feature. The three after the break talk about, respectively: the transfer market, the line-up and tactics screen, and the improvements to the online mode.

The playable demo for FIFA Manager 11 allows six months of play with the choice of England, France, Poland, Spain, or Germany. Save games from the demo may be compatible with the full game when it releases.

To minimize the file size, the demo has only generic jerseys, a limited number of stadiums, and no music, sound effects or commentators. Only the "Club Selection" play mode is available. In Online Mode, the World Cup Mode, the match prognosis and other full game elements are unavailable in addition to simulation and various 3D areas like the stadium editor or the team control feature.

Download FIFA Manager 11 Demo (1 GB)

Hearts of Iron II may be five years old at this point, but it's still going strong thanks to Paradox's continued support. Earlier this year, players got the stand-alone game Arsenal of Democracy - developed by the community - that made a plethora of great changes and improvements. Now there's an expansion pack - developed by Irshappa - that takes the game even further. If you aren't really interested in Hearts of Iron, this expansion won't change your mind, but for those that love the crazy simulation of war, there's plenty of new features to be happy about in Iron Cross. 4000 new provinces to fight over, new countries, new units, new technologies, and new events all greatly expand upon whichever version of Hearts of Iron II you decide to play with. The expansion is compatible with both Arsenal of Democracy and the original game.

Airline Tycoon is one of the more interesting and entertaining tycoon games. It is as it sounds: you are tasked with buying planes, setting up routes, and hiring personnel to establish a successful airline. The first game came out over a decade ago, and it's been several years since the last re-release. Airline Tycoon 2 was announced around this time last year for a tentative 2011 release date, and this year it is confirmed for.. well, still a 2011 release date. But it's been narrowed down to Q4. Kalypso is really pushing their business sim portfolio of games, and Airline Tycoon definitely falls into this category.

It seems Notch has taken a page from the average MMO developer's and Valve's penchants for big preview announcements. The runaway blockbuster hit Minecraft will be getting a massive update on Halloween, as detailed on a separate page on the Minecraft site. This update will include many asked-for features including fishing, biomes, a separate travel dimension (hell), more tense cavern exploration, new and tougher enemies, and a slew of fixes to multiplayer. There will also be holiday-themed goodies, such as jack-'o-lanterns! The full list of planned changes is after the cut in picture form, as that's the way it was original presented.

Those that love level creation will definitely enjoy these two Operation Arrowhead trailers. Well, actually, calling them trailers is a bit disingenuous. They are more along the lines of video tutorials, and they cover the modding system of Operation Arrowhead in quite some depth. The first tutorial, above, details the basics of mission creation: placement of objects, creating triggers, and linking events together. The second tutorial, below, goes into a little more detail with the scripting system. It's worth paying extra attention to the second trailer, as the developer does some tricks you might not notice if you just casually glance at it. While they aren't full of gameplay footage, they're intriguing regardless

We'll always welcome trailers that detail gameplay systems with open arms, and the quiet title Commander: Conquest of the Americas gives us one. Granted, it's something we aren't really concerned with learning (trading) but it gives a good look at the in-game engine while showing a bit about the new colonization-oriented game. Granted, we're not that fond of the voice-over, but it's tolerable enough to get to the meat of the trailer. We also wish that the resolution was a little higher so that the interface was more readable, but there's only so much you can do with streaming internet trailers.

Sometimes you just need to sit down, slide a floppy into your A: drive, and enjoy gaming retro style. We know this all too well! That's why we have a list of the best and brightest from days long gone. These are some of our favorite games of all time, and we're sure that you'll love them as much as we do, if not more. Welcome to Boot Disk, and enjoy the retro ride!

We haven't covered many indie games on Boot Disk before. This is for two primary reasons. First, the definition of indie games has changed over the years. What was once common practice in the mainstream business two decades ago (very small development teams) is now the domain of hobbyists and visionaries. Second, the indies of yesteryear are folks like John Carmack and Cliff Blezsinski. The little guys that ended up making it big. Granted, there's plenty that started big, but more of the most famous names in gaming started out small, from Tim Schafer to Ken Levine. The modern indie movement has no room for these success stories, however. The internet was busy churning ahead to create a new darling studio: Introversion. While they are perhaps better known for Darwinia and DEFCON at this point, their first game was a small hacking "simulation" called Uplink. Thanks in part to its goofy interface and simple mechanics, it still endures as a beautiful, and altogether playable, game. One can't truly be engrossed in the new indie community without playing it at least once.

Welcome to Freeware Friday, a weekly column showcasing excellent games that you can play free of charge!

One of the first games we ever covered on Freeware Friday was the incredibly detailed Dwarf Fortress. Despite having been absent for a while, we've still been keeping track of the best freeware games around, and one of them is a game which acts almost as a tribute to Dwarf Fortress' incredible complexity. Goblin Camp may appear to be a clone, but it's much more simple. It takes the incredible simulation of Dwarf Fortress and distills it to its core essence, removing a lot of the barriers to entry that have built up in eight years of development. Plus, and this is a big plus, the interface is much better!