Video Game Review: Spintires 2014

This game is about driving old Soviet-era trucks to deliver lumber through rugged terrain full of mud, rocks and rivers. You have to manoeuvre these huge trucks through whatever nature throws at you. You also can use off-road cars to explore the terrain.

A truck driving across mud

I got it 33% discount on Steam. The first time I logged on to play, my truck got stuck in the mud. You will have to get used to that when you are playing Spintires. This game is about planning to avoid obstacles instead of just gunning the throttle and that's what makes it stand out from other racing games. If you just put you foot down on the throttle you will get stuck in the mud and even if you try to get out you can't as that will cause you to get stuck even deeper.

Another thing that makes it stand out is the physics. You can really feel the trucks weight as it deforms the mud leaving huge tire tracks in it's wake. The water physics is also really good, you can see the truck creating waves in the water. Plus a running river does wash away the truck albeit slowly. You can smash down smaller trees. There is also damage model. The graphics are really beautiful.

A truck pulling a fuel tanker across a lake at night.

A map called "River" in Spintires

You have to deliver trees from the logging camp to the designated point. You have lots of add-ons which do many things such as carrying fuel and repairing other vehicles. The map is quite small but you move so slowly that it feels huge! There are some vehicles scattered around that you might have to repair and refuel to drive again. There are also buildings such as the fuel tank to refill the tank of the truck and the add-ons if it's available. There aren't many vehicles however there are a lot of mods to add more vehicles. At the start of the game you will find that, on the mini-map, most of it is covered by "cloaks" which makes the terrain not visible. You have to go to the centre of the area on the mini-map that the cloak covered in order to reveal the terrain.

Conclusion: This is a very good game with good physics and graphics. However, the direction of the game camera is awful. That's why I give this game a 9/10. Here is the link to the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiOt7SuHGPM.

Moved to Malaysia

I moved to Malaysia as my father has relocated here. I am going to study at an international school called Rafflesia. I have already passed PSLE in Singapore.  Then I took an entrance test at the new school and has been accepted to attend Secondary 2. Here is the schools website:http://welcome.rafflesia.edu.my/. I am excited to study the Cambridge Secondary subjects because the syllabus is different from the one in Singapore.

Neutron stars

An artists depiction of a neutron star

Neutron Stars are the left-overs of stars that have died in supernovae. They are the smallest and densest stars ever found. They are very rare and very small. However, they are extremely interesting.

A supernova happens at the end of a giant star's life when they are unable to stop the heavy core of the star from collapsing under the gravity that it produces. This causes a huge implosion, which is the opposite of an explosion, often burning brighter than an entire galaxy. When all the materials from the outer shell is ejected, a lone neutron star, about the size of a city, shines dimly.

The inner structure of a neutron star.
The inner core's structure is unknown

This neutron star, approximately 140000 times smaller than the Sun, weighs up to 3 times as heavy as the Sun! A single teaspoon of neutron star weighs as much as a mountain. Thus, the strong gravitational forces and magnetic fields of the neutron star will destroy any object that comes too close to it.


In conclusion neutron stars are very strange and dangerous. However I am fascinated by them.


Credits for an artists depiction of a neutron star:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ANeutron_star_cross_section.svg
By Robert Schulze (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

Credits for the inner structure of a neutron star: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ANeutron_star_illustrated.jpg
By Casey Reed - Penn State University (Casey Reed - Penn State University) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Vidoe Game Review : OpenTTD

OpenTTD

This is a COMPLETELY FREE (!) free and open source game based on

 Chris Sawyer's 1995 game Transport Tycoon and Transport Tycoon Deluxe. You use buses, trucks, trains, planes and ships to transport passengers and goods over a 32 bit landscape with towns, cities, factories and farms.

You start (by default) in the beginning of 1950 and then you build a transport empire until...forever. You can set AI opponents to compete with. There are random disasters that happen and they can damage your transportation empire. There are new vehicles every few years. There are different landscapes that you can play like sub-artic and Toyland (OH GOSH MY EYES! :o) but they only slightly change the mechanics.

Lastly since there are a lot of mods like one that puts you on the fictional third moon of Pluto called Nix (but that one's not completed yet) and some that enhances AI.

Conclusion: The game is very hard if you don't understand how it works but I still like as you can watch you empire slowly but surely grow. Go to the OpenTTD Wiki to see all the vehicles. I give it a 8 out of 10.

P6 PSLE Exams

This year I turned 12 years old and I had to go to the final year of primary school in Singapore. I was unable to write too many blog posts due to PSLE (Primary School Leaving Examination). But, I am now able to create some posts as the PSLE exam is over. Expect one this week.

Spirulina

 During my visit to Myanmar over the holidays. I visited the Twin Taung crater near my home-town of Monywa. This is one of only three places in the world where a type of cyanobacterium (Google that yourself) called spirulina (to be more specific it is Arthrospira plattensis) is harvested and then exported to countries all around the world.

Notice on the map that there are four craters and they are in a straight line. I think that a meteorite came and hit the crater I have been to and then formed the others. The craters then formed lakes due to perhaps rainfall.

Twin Taung

Spirulina is used in health and beauty products. It was first eaten by Aztecs who harvested it from Lake Texcoco then made it into cakes and sold them as described by Cortés's soldiers. It is also found in Lake Chad in Chad.

There are a lot of cattails around the lake and pagodas. It is 200m above ground level. The road leading to it is very bumpy and bullock carts are a common sight. There is a spirulina production factory there.

Conclusion: The view was phenomenal and although it smelled very fishy it was very cool as supposed to the freezing temperatures outside this crater.

Update: The amount of spirulina is decreasing and probably going to run out soon. 15/10/2014