Civilization: War of Two Cities

Kalau Anda pernah muda (hiperbola dikit).. pasti pernah tau gamenya Sid Meier yang berjudul Civilization. Menurut saya sih itu salah satu game legendaris karena saya gameplaynya yang kompleks namun masih fun untuk dimainkan.

Nah War of Two Cities (WoTC) ini bener-bener beda sama Civilization yang klasik. Anggap saja ada sebuah mobile game baru yang "menumpang" judul dan nama beken Sid Meier. Gameplaynya sendiri simple. Kita memilih salah satu dari empat peradaban yang disediakan antara lain : Jepang, Amerika Serikat, Romawi dan Rusia. Masing-masing kebudayaan memiliki kelebihan yang berbeda-beda ketika game baru akan dimulai.

Gameplaynya sendiri, seperti yang sudah saya katakan sebelumnya, sangat berbeda dengan Civilization klasik yang dikenal dengan genre "turn-based-strategy". Perang di WoTC ini berlangsung realtime dan kita tidak menggerakkan langsung masing-masing unit. Kita hanya tinggal mengklik / tap button untuk create unit yang diinginkan, lalu unit tsb akan perlahan-lahan maju ke wilayah musuh. Unit-unit ini hanya akan bergerak maju dan sama sekali tidak akan berjalan mundur.

Terdapat ketiga unit yang bisa kita ciptakan antara lain infantry, range-unit dan mobile-unit. Ketiga unit ini masing-masing memiliki kelemahan dan kekuatan seperti sistem gunting-batu-kertas yang sangat terkenal itu. Kurang lebih infantry akan menang melawan range-unit, range-unit akan menang melawan mobile-unit dan mobile-unit sendiri akan dengan mudah "melindas" infantry.

Selain itu kita juga bisa menembakkan artileri dari kota kita untuk membantu frontliners kita mencapai kota musuh. Begitu unit kita menyentuh kota musuh, maka round selesai dan kita akan menang. Kita dapat melakukan upgrade teknologi yang dapat meningkatkan level daya serang maupun pertahanan kita setiap level.

Game ini ditest di handset Treo 750v. Selain untuk Windows Mobile, WoTC juga dibuat untuk Blackberry dan Java Games.

Upgrade Your Treo 750 to Windows Mobile 6.1

I finally succeed in upgrading my Treo into WM 6.1 (using standard edition, fyi there is also a lite version and maybe the others).

The notable upgrades are :

1. The boot screen after Palm Logo, it shows Windows Mobile Version 6.1 splash screen.
2. The my info page which i don't know why when I was using WM6 the "MY" letter will always be cut so it will show "MV" by default and now in WM6.1 is looking good with a new font also.
3. The themes look similar to Windows Mobile Green themes, but this one is cooler.
4. The task manager is much much better than the WM5.
5. The thread SMS is much the same I guess (glad it's still there :D)
6. We can also play sounds / music / voice note in Note application (can WM5/WM6 do this? i'm not sure coz I've been using PhatNotes since a long time)
7. There is a new PIE feature embedded. We can do a zoom out view of a web page for a wider look.
8. The Windows Live and Windows Live Messenger is not included in this ROM.

Anyway, I feel satisfied with the performance was and now it's even better.

Here is how I did my upgrade step-by-step (got this from mailing list and also the forum too) :

1. The upgrade process took not more than 30 minutes for me because my Treo 750v is already unlocked since I get it at first time. It may take another minutes to unlock if yours is still locked.
2. Please download these 3 files first :
   CheetahUnlocker.rar (for unlocking). You can get it from here.
   Treo750Radio1.54.07.00.rar (Radio). You can get it from here.
   Treo750_OS5_2_19199WWE_STD.rar (the OS). You can get it from here.
3. Extract the three files first to ensure there are none corrupted files.
4. Format a miniSD with FAT32 filesystem. (I'm using VGEN 2GB - cheap one, and I still made it, so no worries mate! :D)
5. Please sync your Treo first. Wait until it finishes before we could start.
6. If the sync succeed without any error, run the CheetahUnlocker. Since my Treo already unlocked, just run the step 1. (note: the cheetah unlocker need a dotnet2 frameworks).
7. Wait until it finishes and the device restarted without any error before proceeding other step. Close the cheetah unlocker program so it won't distract us anymore. Ignore the second and third step for already unlocked device. If yours is still locked, you need to run the rest.
8. Make sure you have your backup before we wipe all the data in device :D. I'm using PPCPimBackup application to backup my PIMs (which -sadly to say- didn't backup my SMS!)
9. Copy the CHEEIMG.nbh (Radio) to MiniSD (please don't change the filename). Insert it into the Treo.
10. While pressing the PTT button (-the button under the Volume button-) reset the device using the stylus. It will enter a bootloader menu and all we have to do is wait. (I was praying at this moment)..
11. If it shows Update Success then we could stop pray rite now and remove the miniSD card.
12. Remove the current file (Radio's) and copy the CHEEIMG.nbh (OS's) to MiniSD after that.
13. While pressing the PTT button (-the button under the Volume button-) reset the device using the stylus. It will enter a bootloader menu and all we have to do is wait. (I was sleeping at this moment). This step should be finish faster than the Radio.
14. Wait until it shows "Update Success" and congrats you now have a WM6.1 Treo.
15. Do a soft reset. The first boot while take quite a time because it needs to setup a few things first.

Cheers..

RT

Windows Mobile Games for Treo 750

After the apps listed before, Here are some of the game that I've tried and could run without any problems.

1). 3DHouseofDeath
An 3rd person shooter game with shooting the zombies all around as the story. It's not that good for me.

2). Arvale II 'Ocean of Time'
RPG game but since the resolution is squared up, the gameplay will make your eyes tired because of the small objects in game and also tiny font for the story / dialogue. I haven't played this one anyway.

3). Atomic Cannon
Worms-like game. Addictive. It's kinda hard to shoot the target accurately. But if you already know the-how-to-shoot-trick, you'll sure love this game.

4). Bejeweled
One of the PPC's legend. Still need an explanation?

5). Bejeweled 2
An enhanced version of the previous legend. Extra feature and better graphic display. Still addicting as ever.

6). Bookworm.
B-o-o-k-w-o-r-m. Arrange-the-letter game.

7). Bubble Babble
The gameplay is almost the same like bookworm, but this is more easier I guess..

8). Call of Duty 3
Commandos-like game but of course far more simpler than that one.

9). Chuzzle
A chuzzling puzzle. I guess that's why they named it Chuzzle. =) If you like the Astraware's puzzles, I bet you like this one also. Good animation and funny sounds will also be the plus.

10). My Little Tank
Shoot and destroy game. You will be given a various mission for every level to be completed using your little tank.

11). PocketSNES
SNES emulator. Works perfectly for me. At least I could play Harvest Moon in my phone. Ah, it's already the time to harvest the tomatoes...

12). Quartz X-Mas
Another puzzle game. The Christmas version.

13), Resco Brain Games
Great games inside. Too bad, the 240x240 resolution messed up many games inside. Some of them will be playable in Treo though.

14). Super Putt Xtreme
This is my favourite. The putt golf will never get this extreme except in this game. =) highly recommended!

15). Spb Brain Evolution
Almost the same like Resco's, but I prefer this one because of the compatibility with Treo 750. There are arithmetic, sudoku, minesweeper, and many games inside that really could make your brain evolve.

16). Sudoku
A number puzzle in which the numbers 1 through 9 must be placed into a grid of cells so that each row or column contains only one of each number. (from google)

17). Titanic
Treasure hunting with the sinking Titanic ship as the settings. The music is kinda eerie, but the game is great. You wil be given a list of items that you should find throughout every room at the ship.

18). Whack-A-Monty
Don't tell me that you don't know what this game is all about. *whack*

19). Xia
Another RPG game. Runs perfectly in Treo but i haven't played this one also.

18. Zuma
A frog as the main character. It is similar to its PC game. For me, it is a lot easier to play this game using your stylus than your mouse.

Someone who said that a PDA phone should only be used for work-related-things just definitely don't know what games to install in it. =p

Cheers

Windows Mobile Applications for Treo 750

The Treo 750 has 240x240 squared display which is incompatible with most of Windows Mobile applications out there. Here are some of the apps that I've tried and could running without any problems.

1). Mundu Messenger
One of the best IM Client for mobile phone (at least I've tried this on Treo 650, Moto Q, and Treo 750). Using Mundu, I can join into the chat conference and also send pictures or files directly to the buddies. You could also set a custom status for your account. Definitely a must have one.

2). Expense Plus for PocketPC
This is handy tools to log your expenses. It could generate reports per period and you also could see the expenses in graph.

3). Esmertec Jbed
Use this for running java application in PPC. I choose this because this is the first option I found and so far so good. I installed The SimCity Societies, Opera Mini and MidpSSH and none of them are troubled.

4). Kilmist Registry Editor
Yap, same like the parents, Windows Mobile operating system also have the registry keys that could annoy you who understand. =)

5). MASPware HandNotes
Just like the name said, it could take your handnote on the screen. I also use this to draw something in hurry or for play win, lose, or draw game.

6). MemMaid
One of the most famous problem in WM Based device is memory-leaking. The opened applications which not exited properly will consume your RAM and if the RAM is too small, normally a device will reboot automatically to free some space. You could use this app to do that and also to clear some 'trash' left by the IE browser such as cache or cookies.

7). MSDict
An Oxford-like dictionary. What else better than Oxford anyway.

8). Pocket e-Sword
Bible reader that could compare two different version bible.

9). PocketPutty
This is a must have applications for any system administrator. Too bad it has bug in it which if you could not use any special character except the alphabets. (yes, ANY).

10). PPCPimBackup
Useful PIM Backup tools. It could backup your contacts, calendar appointments, tasks, call logs, and messages.

11). Spb GPRS Monitor
Use this to monitor your traffic usage and it also could be integrated with Spb Today.

12). TCPMP
Powerful Media Player. Support many extensions.

13). DivX Player
Official DivX Player for WM from DivX, I installed this just as an alternative for the Windows Media Player and TCPMP.

14). pTravelAlarm
After trying so many alarm app, I found this is the most appropriate one for me.

15). Spb Mobile Shell
An alternate look for your Windows Mobile device. Looks cool. :)

I've tried dozens app out there but I forgot their names =P Mostly because the app is not that good or i do really simply forget.

"hey, what about the games??"

relax.. check this out.. :)

Treo 750 MMS Setting Using Matrix

After trying quite many settings so that I could send and receive MMS (Multimedia Messaging) using my Treo, I finally found the error. I wondering why that my SIM Card (Matrix) is detected as IM3 Card that causing the GPRS and MMS setting embedded is IM3's which is unusable. Well this is not the first time. At least in my last previous handhelds (MotoQ, Nokia E61, dan Treo 750) I should do the manual settings.

Well GPRS setting may become piece-of-cake lah.. the problem is when I search the Matrix MMS setting in the web, in people's blogs, in google searchs, and even in indosat's website. each one of them give various and different settings (*sigh*) that really made me confuse.

So let me share my MMS Setting yah. Hopefully will help you.

• 1st, go to setting - Connections - Connections
• tap Add a new modem connection di My Work Network section
• Enter indosatmms or whatever you like lah as the name, and cellular line (GPRS, 3G) as the modem
• Enter mms.satelindogprs.com as the access point name
• Use satmms as the username and the password
• press finish
• and tap the edit the My Work Network connection link.
• go to the Proxy Settings. check the boxes in there (only two and just check it all!). Enter 202.152.162.88 as the proxy and then tap Advanced.. tap the HTTP type proxy to edit the port setting. Enter 9201 and then OK.
• next go to messaging - menu - options - Advanced
• set the network configuration to Manual Mode and then tap Edit..
• Set the 202.152.162.88:9201 as the MMS gateway address and
• http://mmsc.satelindogprs.com as the MMS URL and last is
• My Work Network as the Network Profile
• done

Now you should be able to send and receive the MMS using Matrix :D

Cheers.