Ever thought the stylus-equipped Nintendo DS is a good platform for real-time strategy games which require precise pinpoint controls? You might want to try homebrew developer JimmyL's A Touch of War, now upped to version 0.11a, because it's one promising game that uses the touch screen and multiplayer functions of the handheld. See the full article for more details.

Download: A Touch of War v0.11a

Why can't they make more games (official or homebrew) like A Touch of War? That DS touchscreen screams RTS (or at least strategy wargaming), for Clausewitz's - or Sun Tzu's - sake (Yeah, there's Advance Wars, there's the TBS version of Age of Empires III, and that new Revenant Wings looks partly RTS... or maybe it's just Active Dimensional Battle talking...).

Anyway, a small touch of update to JimmyL's A Touch of War. Nothing big, and nothing like a Mammoth Tank... in a medieval-themed RTS. Yeah, sure. v0.8g is yet another bug tweak, but at least this one makes the game more playable on different flashcards and newer DS Lites.

Some people have mentioned in the past that the top minimap screen was covered with a layer of random pixels on certain flashcards, I think I've tracked that down, so if anyone sees this still happening, let me know.

The network code has been changed to reflect version 0.3 of Stephen Stair's dswifi lib for online play with newer DS Lites.

Download: [A Touch of War v0.8g]

JimmyL's latest update to The Reality Game may not sound like much. "No new features, just a near-complete reskinning of the game by Chris Hildenbrand", he admits. True, at least the more drab olive-green color of the tabletop is more friendly to the eyes than the pure green one from v0.3 that literally screamed green at your eyes. Oh, and the Games Selection menu has been cleaned up and changed a bit, a little more slick-looking now.

Otherwise, it's still the same Reality Game. Card games, board games, and poker chips, play whatever game you like to play with your friends via Wi-Fi: Poker, checkers, something like Scrabble, a certain foul-mouthed game, or even make up the rules as you go. Just about the only card game you couldn't play on Reality Game is the one where you have to flick them into a hat. Or magic tricks.

Game looks a lot cleaner now, though. Check out these screenshots from JimmyL. Download link after that.

    

Download: [The Reality Game v0.4]

JimmyL's Wi-Fi game for the DS, Explosive Gas, is back with a new version. Version 0.4 comes in with some "reasonable severe bugs" fixed in the source code since the originally released version (0.2). However, according to him, he has "also made a mess of it to a point that it barely runs, and don't have the time to fix it at the moment, so this old code will have to do.

That was in reference to the source code, obviously, which you can download from the Via link below. We would have hosted it ourselves, but it was his request not to re-distribute it yet as he hasn't packaged it up properly for now.

Anyway, in case you're new and you have no idea how to host a game, you'd need to have a router forward port 9999 to your DS. The IP address of your handheld can be found on the Wi-Fi menu screen in the game. An alternative for you, if in case you don't have the said port, would be to host a LAN game. Just make sure that the others joining in use the "Join LAN game" option, instead of the "Join Game" option in the menus.

So, there you go. V0.4 is downloadable right here, so just fire away!

Download: [Explosive Gas v0.4]

JimmyL has released the latest update to his homebrew called The Reality Game, a collection of popular strategy games. Among the games in his project are Klondike, Reversi, Chess, FreeCell, Grid Words, Deck of Cards, and the newly-added Go.

The changelog for The Reality Game v0.3 for DS includes:

• One new game added: a beginner's 9x9 board and enough pieces for the game Go
  
• Deck of Cards now includes some over-sized poker chips and a shuffle button that won't reset the chips has been added
• Fixed bug on a client side that caused crashing when a client moved an object around as the host changed the game type

Jimmy L says the Deck of Cards table is a bit of a mess and the chips separated into four equal stacks and "you'll probably have to push them aside when starting a game". He'll clean it up when he makes smaller chips.

Download: [The Reality Game v0.3]

Some homebrew games catch your attention at first, but then after a while start to get annoying. We know only of two ways on how to get around that boredom factor and they involve either retro games or a new idea. This updated game from JimmyL offers a brand new idea, which is quite fun. As we stated when the first version was released, there are no rules in the game, only a table, a deck of cards, and your opponents. You can move the cards wherever you want and only you can decide what game you're playing. Whether it be solitaire, poker, or a friendly game of rummy, The Reality Game v0.2 lets you come up with exactly what you wish to do.

It features online play so that you can meet strangers and play a game. In version 0.2 of this excellent program, JimmyL has added a small scribble chat system so that you can actually talk to your opponent on your DS. Here's a list of what you can find in The Reality Game v0.2:

• A scribble pad to chat to other players
• Grid words - a crossword style game
• Added Freecell, klondike, Reversi, and Chess pieces to the original 'deck of cards' list.
• Added a game selection menu

Nobody can say that this game is rubbish because you make the game yourself! It's such a great idea and I hope that people will develop this into further applications for PC, PSP, and any other format which could play it. Just remember, online play with more than two people has not been tested yet, so it may not work correctly. Have fun!

Download: [The Reality Game v0.2 for DS]

JimmyL comes up today with a new, bug-fix update to A Touch of War, and a brand-new multiplayer-only homebrew called The Reality Game (v0.1). Okay, let's clear A Touch of War first. v08f clears up a slightly annoying bug in v0.8e that was causing the minimap "selected area" bandbox to be drawn off-screen.

Now on to The Reality Game, and no, it's not about reality TV. It has no rules whatsoever - except the ones you make. All it does - all it provides - are four sets of game boards and related pieces selectable with A/B/X/Y, two sets of cards (one laid out Solitaire-style, the other all face-up), a chess board, and a reversi/checkers board. (In addition, pressing the R trigger will bring up the card board with a stack of cards face-down and shuffled).

It also provides some sort of personal "side-board" that only YOU (or at least your NDS unit) can access. Pop it up on the touchscreen with the L trigger. You can see the "side-boards" of your other 3 competitors on the top screen, seeing what they've taken from the game board. And it provides Wi-Fi network play*, although there's no option for voice chat.

Other than that, that's it. The rules depend on the game you play, but you gotta enforce them yourself. Want to play poker or blackjack? Hit R1, select a dealer whom you can trust and find a way to keep score. Want to play a weird form of chess or checkers with twisted rules? Hit A for checkers, B for chess; hit the other guy if he's not following the rules.

So it's v0.1, but it's no alpha build. It's playable as it is - even if there are no rules. Or is it because there are no rules?

* = For Wi-Fi netplay: you need to have your router forward port 9999 to your ds (you can find your ds's ip in-game).

Download: [A Touch of War v0.8f]
Download: [The Reality Game v0.1]

Remember the NDSHB competition around a month ago? Explosive Gas got the top prize, right? And we all had fun because the game was such a riot with the WiFi fun and all. Ah. Well. Listen up then.

Homebrew developer JimmyL has been kind enough to release the source code of his award-winning game. Uh-huh. He says that he's always wanted to fix it up, but he's been quite busy, so he hasn't had much time to work on the game. He hopes that by releasing it, some DS homebrewer might either take it up and develop it to higher versions, or maybe use parts of the code for other games. Wow. For someone who developed a fired-up, "burn everyone else" sort of game, he's actually a very kind soul!

Anyways, the source code is of the originally released version (v0.2) and is available in his website. As of now, he doesn't want other websites redistributing it, so, we'll respect him for his decision. As soon as he gives a go signal, we'll have it here for you - though he says he needs to "package it up properly."

But, before you get all clickety-click-click with the links, please be advised of JimmyL's own words:

"The art contained in the package is owned by Louis Dozois, and cannot be used without his permission. The music and sound effects are owned by Mike Keogh, and cannot be used without his permission. And lastly, the code is owned by me, and can be used however you like, but if you plan on using it for any commercial purpose, you should really find a new day job."

Heads-up, DS owners! JimmyL just released v0.8e of his real-time strategy game, A Touch of War. Players who have followed this game since its first release must have noticed the gradual changes the developer has made in this DS homebrew game. Some may have noticed this game's shift to better graphics with the v0.7 which was released last April. The v0.8a update made last May enabled players to compete with other players online via WiFi, while v0.8b paved way for fixed bugs.

And since we're already in the A Touch of War memory lane, we might as well recall that v0.8c gave us the interface for online users, while v0.8d, which was updated June of this year proved to be quite stable both for online and offline play. Now JimmyL is back with v0.8e, and the changes are... well, you have to find out yourself. So why don't you click the link and download the updated game now?

Download: [A Touch of War v0.8e]

We're guessing you're pretty much familiar with Explosive Gas, a Wi-Fi game for DS created by JimmyL. Basically, you just have to release the inner arsonist in you by setting your opponents on fire. Pretty hot game, eh?

With this updated version, the creator has made a few modifications in the game as per suggested by y'all. According to JimmyL, you can now hit 'X' at any time to display names over the players. And as a server, between rounds, you can turn the 5 second auto round start on or off using the 'B' button. I also tightened up some of the network stuff, so servers should now appear in the list instantly.

Itching to get your hands on it? Wait no more as we have this interesting game here.


Download: [Explosive Gas v0.3c]