Rise of Nations With Wine

When we moved to the new flat, I decided that I’d be setting up both my new and old laptops in my little ‘office’ so that I could run the Dell (Ubuntu) for my coding, any work stuff, browsing etc, and the old VAIO (WinXP) for gaming. However, the VAIO is not a gaming laptop by any standards, and while it supports games like RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 and Age of Empires it does tend to struggle a bit with more modern games. That, for some reason, includes the fairly old “Rise of Nations”, which requires 16MB video RAM.

So, not to be beaten (and so I don’t waste the epic 5.99 I spent on RoN) I’ve decided to try installing and running it on Ubuntu under Wine. Using Damon Kohler’s How to Run Rise of Nations with Wine guide — minus the disc ripping/mounting as I didn’t feel it necessary — it has thus far totally installed.

Now all I’ve got to do is try and run it… and I’m sure it’s some sort of blasphemy to get a Microsoft game running under Linux! :)

Update: it runs but with no sound (a known issue). Incidentally, I’ve just looked at the back of the box and noticed in the small print “Onboard/Integrated graphic chipsets and laptops are not supported” … someone forgot to tell my Dell :)

Posted on: February 24, 2009 · Category: Geek

Premature Packing

After the last time Karl and I moved, I vowed not to leave the packing until the day before again. True to my word, I started packing things up at the weekend and did a little more today as I was off work with a funny tum. So far, I have packed about 4-5 boxes of:

  • books
  • DVDs/CDs
  • DS and Wii games

Of course, sod’s law… now that the games are all taped up and stacked read to go next month, my new Animal Crossing: Let’s Go to the City guide book has arrived.

The Animal Crossing: Wild World guide books became a rarity quite quickly. I had to have Sarah ship mine over from the States! I am hoping the same will apply, and I will be able to sell it brand-new for 3-4 times the price. Not sneaky in the slightest. :p Good job I only bought it for its re-sale value and not for playing though, eh?

Posted on: January 20, 2009 · Category: Misc

Earning More Bells in Animal Crossing: Let’s Go to the City (City Folk)

Now that you’ve read my first guide on earning bells in Animal Crossing, you’re probably ready to experiment with making bells in a few other ways? Note: parts of this guide are specifically for Animal Crossing: Let’s Go to the City (City Folk) and may not work in other Animal Crossing games.

A Spot of Beachcombing

In all of the Animal Crossing games, bells (money) can be made by scouring the beach for the shells. Although the majority of the shells are low-value, the more often you collect them, the more likely you are to happen across a valuable shell like the Pearl Oyster (see bell values below) or perhaps even a washed up coconut. Cocunuts should be buried somewhere along the beach line, and will then produce 2 coconuts every two days which you can sell for 500 bells each.

Shell Type Value
Pearl Oyster 1,200 bells
Scallop 600 bells
White Scallop 450 bells
Conch 350 bells
Coral 250 bells
Venus Comb 150 bells
Dall’s Top 90 bells
Porceletta 30 bells

Give to Receive

The residents of your town are generous folk. If you send them a letter with a small gift attached — something of low value, like a shell or flower — they will often send gifts of furniture and wallpaper back. Although these are not normally rare items, they can be sold for 2-3 times the value of your original gift.

So that you don’t waste money buying letter paper, check the Lost and Found frequently with Booker at the town gate as paper is often ‘lost’.

Save, Don’t Spend

If you’re the patient type, you may find that saving is for you. Instead of spending your hard-earned bells on items and your mortgage, save it all up in a Town Hall bank account. At the end of every month, you will be awarded interest on your savings. The more you pay in, the more interest you can earn.

Running Errands

If you get a little bored of fishing and bug-catching, try getting friendly with your neighbours in town. Sooner or late they will ask you to run an errand — delivering furniture or letters within a specified time period — if you complete these errands quickly, you will be rewarded with 500 bells or items that you can sell to Nook.

Have you got some Animal Crossing: City Folk / Let’s Go to the City bell making tips that aren’t included here? Feel free to contact me on jem@jemjabella.co.uk

Posted on: December 12, 2008 · Category: Geek

Animal Crossing: Lets Go to the City Review

I can’t remember when I first got hooked on Animal Crossing… it must have been not long after the DS version came out (“Animal Crossing: Wild World“) because I’d never heard of it back when I spent weekends hard-wired in to the GameCube. I know that I’d read online that it was similar to Harvest Moon, and as a fan of Harvest Moon: AWL (<- review) I must have bought in to the series then.

In reality, Animal Crossing is not that much like Harvest Moon at all. Sure, you have a little person that you control, and you can talk to people, but that’s where the similarity ends. Where Harvest Moon is about growing crops and making money, Animal Crossing is about planting flowers and making friends. The DS version of Animal Crossing is almost dependant on you logging in every day, because failure to do so causes flowers to die and cockroaches to take over your house.

When you’re not prettifying your town, entertainment can be found in shopping; fishing; hunting bugs; and digging up fossils. Relationships with townies are quite important and get you all-important ‘pictures’ which both decorate your house and increase your Happy Room Academy score, a means of testing how well you lay out your furniture (amongst other things).

Animal Crossing: Lets Go to the City is not really that different from Wild World (DS). Everything is bigger — obviously, you’re viewing on a much bigger screen — and the town layout allows for more landscape features… multiple levels, a second smaller waterfall, more space for houses; but the games are nonetheless identical in game play. The graphics are bold and colourful, and surprisingly ‘crisp’ (I’m not sure what I expected though).

When you first start the game, you’re on a bus with Rover, and you’re asked if you want to move a Wild World town over to the Wii. I’d be interested in trying this out eventually (I like my “Faraway”) but picked ‘new town’ to get a basic grasp on things. After giving Rover your name, the time/date, and choosing your gender, Kapp’n informs you that your bus has arrived. Cue an introductory period of about an hour, which you’ll spend working away for Tom Nook, meeting your new neighbours, buying your first tools, etc. All probably sounds very familiar to DS players, but there’s one key difference: you get to choose your own house. From a choice of four houses in different locations, with slightly different décor, you are able to begin the process of making a mark on your town.

Given that the game is so similar to the DS version, I can see me liking it just as much. There are some old annoyances around still (like having to talk to go through the same conversation every time you visit Nook’s, or every time you donate a fossil) but others are removed (after you identified all of your fossils at the museum, Blathers doesn’t ask you if you have any more to identify, the conversation takes you back to the main menu).

I need to play it more to give a more detailed review, but first impressions are good, and I’d suggest Wild World owners buy it despite the similarities just for the sake of owning another piece of cute Animal Crossing merchandise.

Posted on: December 4, 2008 · Category: Review

Earning Bells in Animal Crossing: Let’s Go to the City (City Folk)

Bells are the in game currency for the various Animal Crossing games. They’re used to buy items for your house, clothing for your little character and somewhat more importantly, pay off your mortgage so that you get can get a bigger house! This guide is a top ten list of ways to earn bells in Animal Crossing: Let’s Go to the City.

Although this list was written with Animal Crossing: Let’s Go to the City in mind, many of the bell-making tips are applicable to other Animal Crossing games on alternate platforms.

#1. Shaking Empty Trees

Start every morning by shaking trees with no fruit on. Random trees will contain 100 bell coins which you can collect, up to a total of 2,500 bells. Beware of the bees though: these are hard to catch and will sting your face, costing you 400 bells to fix with medicine!img: cherries on the floor

#2. Shaking Fruit Trees

When you first start out in your town, you will only have one type of fruit tree. These are your ‘native’ fruit, and are worth 100 bells each. Shake the trees to release the fruit.

#3 Banging Rocks

Each day, one random rock will contain several bags of bells and coins that you can collect. To get the money (bells), move next to the rock. Start by digging two holes with your shovel: one directly behind where your character is standing, and one below, as per the diagram:

alignright

Once the holes have been dug, bash the rock as quickly as you can with the shovel until every space around the block has a bell bag or coin on it. These will earn you a nice 8,500 bells!

#4 Fossil Finding

Before you put away that shovel, why not go on a bit of a fossil hunt? Each day, there are 3 fossils to be found in your Animal Crossing town. These can be spotted by way of a small “X”-shaped crack in the ground. Dig up the fossil and take it to Blathers to be identified. You can then choose to sell the fossil to Nook for big bells, or donate it to the museum (but donating doesn’t earn you money!)

#5 Go Fish

img: catching fishFishing has two benefits. 1) you can fill your museum with nice things to look at; more importantly, #2) you can earn lots and lots of bells. The more rare a fish is, the more bells it is worth.

The quickest way to fish in Animal Crossing: Let’s Go to the City is to take out your fishing rod, and use the C button on top of the nunchuck to throw in the bait. As soon as the fish pulls it down under the water (it will make a “sploosh!” sound) press the button again to pull up the rod, complete with tasty fish.

#6 Have a Bug Hunt

During the Spring, Summer and Autumn months bug-hunting can be very productive. Rare and beautiful bugs and butterflies can be found around the town which, when caught with your Net, can be sold for a small sum to Nook. In the Winter, bugs are much harder to find. However, all is not lost; keep your ears out for Mole Crickets in the ground which can be dug up with your shovel, and Pill Bugs hiding under rocks (bash the rock with your shovel).

#7 Become a Farmer

On a Sunday, Joan the turnip seller comes to town. If you are willing to hand over 1,000 bells she’ll provide you with a Red Turnip Seed. If you plant this seed on the Sunday, and water it every day until the following Saturday, you can dig it up and sell the big fat red turn for 16,000 bells! Be warned though: if you forget to water the red turnip it will rot.

#8 Dabble in Stalks (Stocks)

While Joan is in town, think about buying some white turnips off her. These can be sold Monday-Saturday the following week to Nook. White Turnip re-sale price varies day by day; just ask Nook for his current turnip prices. Note: there is no guarantee you will make a profit with white turnips, so best not to buy if they’re priced too high.

#9 Finders Keepers

Be sure to check with Booker at the town gate every day to see if anyone has lost anything of value. Almost everything can be resold for a small profit.

#10 Recycle? Sure!

Go green and regularly check the recycling bin in the Town Hall — especially before it gets emptied at 6am on Mondays and Thursdays — as you may find rare or expensive furniture and other goodies that you can sell to Nook.

Still Stuck?

guide bookThe official Animal Crossing: City Folk / Animal Crossing: Let’s Go to the City guide books (by Prima Games) contain information on special events, full item lists (including furniture), neighbour’s birthdays, how to feng shui and other vital game information.

Available in all good book shops, or online via Amazon.co.uk.

Posted on: November 16, 2008 · Category: Geek