Dweomers & Daggers - Part I

Today's topic is one close to my heart: dungeons. That and dragons. "Dungeons & Dragons" I suppose you could say. While there seems to be a disparaging disparity of official D&D titles (none, in fact) for Android, there are many, many titles that continue the glorious tradition. Whether your tastes lean toward roleplaying, strategy, puzzle and word games, turn-based or real-time, there are a slew of offerings to satisfy.

Dungeon Scroll

First off is the word matching game 'Dungeon Scroll'. Released in 2010 for Android (2003 for PC), Dungeon Scroll plays a little like a cross between Boggle and Scrabble with ravenous monsters thrown in to keep things interesting. Imagine opening a new boardgame and having a rat jump out and you'll see what I mean.

As some kind of word wizard, semantic sorceror or conjurer of conjugation (it's never actually explained) you enter increasingly difficult dungeons populated with an assortment of creatures who will try and kill you. To oppose them you are given eight random letter tiles per dungeon with which to create 'spells' by forming words. Spelling spells, as it were. The longer the word, the greater the damage it causes to your enemy and the more points you earn for it. Take too long and the creatures will slowly nibble, slash or otherwise strip away your hitpoints until you are dead. Properly dead, too, not like those pesky skeletons.

While most words just cause damage to your enemies, some create special effects. Spelling 'rats' summons rats, for example, 'spiders' summons spiders which then disconcertingly roam across the screen while damaging your foe. I assume there are more, but these are the only two I've found so far. It's surprisingly difficult to remember to try and summon a meteor or storm while your hitpoints are ebbing away.

Defeating your opponent will reveal a treasure chest which will randomly contain a one-use bonus letter tile, some of which are special tiles, causing bonus damage or multiplying the damage of the word. The developers helpfully tell us that tapping the screen doesn't increase your chance of getting a bonus tile, but in my experience this isn't the case so tap away. At various intervals (is it each 50,000 points? I'm not sure) you level up and can improve one of two stats, allowing you to increase the damage per spell, decrease enemy hitpoints, increase your own hitpoints, or gain a score bonus.

While Dungeon Scroll is definitely a great word matching game, the roleplaying elements are mostly cosmetic and a little 'lite' for my liking. There is no character sheet to keep track of your improvements, no experience points, no gold or shops to spend it in, and no quests or journal or NPCs. The goal of the game is simply to play through all 25 dungeons and get as high a score as possible, which is a shame as implementing just a handful of additional features would have seen this game transformed from a word game with a twist to a timeless classic.

Rating: 3.5/5

Name: Dungeon Scroll
Developer: Robinson Technologies

Specious, special, speckity specs

What's that, "Specious isn't a word"? Well that's where you're wrong, and it's totally appropriate in this instance, just like my punctuation isn't. Or, for that matter, where the emphasis of italics falls in sentences in most novels. But I could write a whole blog on that subject alone. See what I did there? But back to the 'specious' part of this post:

spe·cious Adjective
1. Superficially plausible, but actually wrong: "a specious argument".
2. Misleading in appearance, esp. misleadingly attractive: "a specious appearance of novelty".

Thanks to dictionary.com for that stunning definition.

Strangely, I just liked the sound of the word, and was after something that started with 'spec' (it's kind of my theme here), but upon looking up the definition found it to be rather appropriate. Now use both definitions in a sentence.

1. This Dxtreme tablet-pc is superficially plausible, but actually wrong:

The overall feeling I get when using the tablet is one of unnerving wrongness. The keyboard doesn't feel right, I have no arrow keys, for goodness sake (meaning I have to tap-tap-tap the screen to place the cursor where I intend it), and many of the apps, even quite professional ones like the Blogger app I am using to write this post, seem poorly thought out or implemented. The Facebook app limits me to 140 characters, for example - if I wanted that I'd be using Twitter. And probably cooler than I am. Blogger ensures essential controls scroll off the screen rather than fixing them in place, and makes simple one-button sharing an impossibility. Because who wants to share a blog?

Many apps seem to obscure a lot of controls and information, as though being on an intuitive device somehow makes the application intuitive as well. It doesn't. Some apps simply abbreviate the control I have over what I'm doing, as if to say, "Well, it's not quite a computer, so we won't give you quite the functionality you would have if it were." Blogger is another point in case here, with seemingly no control over the colour or size of the text, or many other functions we expect of any word processor packaged after Microsoft Office '95.

Mostly, I feel as though I am struggling with the medium I am using, as though my creativity is hindered rather than harnessed by this not-so-new technology. Oh, I could grin and bear it, sure, but that's not really my way. Getting cranky gives me something to do, and is handy practice for old age. But, as I purchased this tablet-pc solely for the purpose of enabling me to create wherever and whenever I was and want (not that I time-travel, but you know), every hiccup, every misplaced cursor or erroneous keystroke, is a maddening metaphorical burr in my mind.

2. The D101 is misleading in appearance, esp. misleadingly attractive:

The thought of a device that allows me to do all the things I can do on my laptop or pc, wherever I am is so, so very attractive. Oh, the device itself is still pretty - a neat little black package smaller than an A4 page and weighing less than a kilogram - but at this stage the only thing not specious about this tablet is its novelty! It is as though tablets occupy a space in technological history just after the boom of home computers and proliferation of smart devices and just before the implementation of augmented reality, motion scanning user interfaces and true smart technology. That is to say, every day, in every way, it could be better.

Oh, perhaps I'm just whinging, balancing the 'whinging Pom' stereotype with another whinging Aussie, perhaps I just need to bear with it, grit my teeth and search for solutions to my complaints? And I will, but overall I want the experience to be more special and less specious.

And there's still the whole 'dead pixel' issue to sort out...

As promised, I remembered to find the specifications (although I forgot to promise) which are listed after the following specks:

• Operating System: Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread (Firmware upgrade to Android 4.0 ICS available soon)
• Processor: ARM Cortex A8, 1.2GHz
• Memory: 512MB SDRAM
• Storage: 8GB NAND Flash
• Expansion: microSD Card (support up to 32GB)
• Screen: 10.1' TFT, 16:9, 1024 x 600 resolution
• Touch Type: Capacitive screen, Multi Touch, G-Sensor Rotator
• Networking: Built In Wireless LAN 802.11b/g
• Sound: Stereo speakers, Microphone
• Camera: 0.3MP Front, 2.0MP Rear Digital Cameras
• Optional 3G: 3G support, 3G Module via USB Dongle
• AV Output: HD Video output, up to 1080p output, Stereo Speaker
• I/O Ports: 1x Mini USB port, 1x Headphone jack, 1x HDMI port, 1x DC IN jack, 1x microSD slot (maximum capacity 32GB)
• Language Support: Multi Lingual
• Battery: Built-in 5000mAH/3.7V rechargeable Li-Polyer
• Movie Playback Support: AVI, 3GP, MPG, MP4, RMVB, MOV, MKV MKV with H.264 and RM/RMVB 8/9/10 Up to 1920x1080p resolution (via HDMI output)
• Product Dimensions: 264mm x 167mm x 16.0mm Product Weight: About 0.72kg

And those are the speckity specs!

R.I.P. Mr Pixel

Oh, I forgot to mention the dead pixel that came with this tablet upon delivery. Now *that* is definitely annoying. Luckily it's in a not very noticeable part of the screen, but still... Really it only affects the resale value, I suppose, as I've almost stopped noticing it already, but it's certainly not a good *start* to a relationship with a new pieceof technology, is it?

Now to decide whether I can be bothered going through the dead-pixel warranty process, thus being without my tablet-pc for weeks, or not. Probably not. I'm thinking when I upgrade I might gift this one to someone, anyway. That'd be nice.

TabLife: Dxtreme D101 - Day 1 - First Impressions

Well I've been thinking about getting one of these since the first iPad and I finally got one. A cheap one. The revolutionary in me wishes someone with an upgrade fetish had gifted me their old iPad. There's a thought. Start doing that, people.

To preserve my sanity whilst (while?) I acclimatise to this not-so-new technology (and its infuriating tendency to ignore my presses of the spacebar) I thought I would blog about my experiences as a touchscreen/tablet PC novitiate - my daily joys and frustrations, observations and epiphanies, as well as reviews and suggestions of apps that I come to use.

This is the first such blog.

Obviously.

That was obvious, right?

My first impression, after waiting for the thing to charge, was: 'Hey, this is awesome!' The screen is clear and bright, the interface is intuitive and easy to use - so far so good. The D101 comes loaded with a slew of accessories (that I'll get into later) and I have a quick play around with those before I get down to installing new apps. I bought this thing for the primary purpose of drawing and creativity, after all.

Straight off the bat it tells me there isn't enough memory to install anything, when there clearly is. Well that's annoying. Persevering I manage to install a few things but still intermittently encounter the 'insufficient storage' error. After swearing at my new tablet a little I feel much better.

Turning to Youtube for some musical therapy I find that the speakers aren't very good, but then I guess that's what headphones are for. So there's something I can get for my birthday. While I wasn't expecting deep bass tones pumping from my tablet I was expecting it to sound better than my mobile phone. Which it doesn't. In case that wasn't obvious. Dammit, it was obvious again, wasn't it? It also doesn't seem to be able to background play videos, which is peculiar, but I suppose there's a good reason for that. One which doesn't want me to enjoy Wilco's live show while checking my facebook, apparently.

The onscreen touch keyboard seems to be having problems keeping up with me, or I with it, and I find the necessity to switch to numeric and characters thoroughly annoying. But I guess that's what usb keyboards are for... On that note, I rather miss my PgDn, PgUp, Home, End, Alt and Tab keys, which I use for navigation more often than I'd realised. Oh, God how I miss you Alt-Tab! This probably wouldn't annoy someone who's never relied on keyboard shortcuts for efficiency, but for me it's a hassle.

Psychologically I'm rather enjoying the tactile nature of the thing. That is to say, touching the thing is using the thing and using it is touching it. Although in the time it's taken to type this I've got quite a crick in my neck. So that's something to look forward to. Also, I think it will be some time before using a 'reverse squeeze' motion to zoom will not make me feel like I'm in an episode of NCIS or CSI. Actually the swishing motions required to use the interface are far less troublesome than I thought they would be, and far less terrifying than when pdople have thrown me their iphone while driving and asked me to 'look it up'. Maybe now I'll be able to do that without breaking into a sweat. That said, the technology has a tendency to 'long-press select' things I'm not interested in when I'm actually just 'slide scrolling', but again I suppose that could be a user error.

Overall it seems my initial impessions were correct: this *is* cool - and not just because it feels like an episode of CSI.

Next: The serious business of games!