The Download Munkey : Tracking the Treasure Down …

Been reading a lot of old books on the Vietnam War acquired from recent book fairs and apart from than the well known UH-1 “Huey” helicopters, F-4 Phantom IIs, two other interesting aircraft appeared in the books, A-1 Skyraiders used in Sandy rescues of downed pilots and the OV-10 Broncos which served as both an observation platform for forward air controllers (FACs) to direct air strikes and as a weapons platform in direct support of troops on the ground.

The passage below from Chapter 6 Support from The Sea, Air and Land from the Kevin Dockery’s Navy SEALs – A History Part II : The Vietnam Years brought my attention to the Broncos of Light Attack Squadron Four (VAL-4) “Black Ponies” which were one of two Navy air support options for the SEALs udring the Vietnam War, the other being the “Seawolves” of Helicopter Attack (Light) Squadron Three (HA(L)-3).

Flying small propeller-driven OV-10 Bronco aircraft, the handful of Black Ponies in the skies above the Mekong Delta could loiter on-site for hours. And when a target was available, the Black Ponies could swoop in with unbelievable firepower for their size. Rockets, both 2.75-inch and 5-inch Zunis, would roar out from under the wings of the Black Ponies and blast huge holes in the jungle, or in the enemy formations underneath. Cannon fire from 20mm guns and bullets from 7.62mm machine guns would rip through the ground that had been torn up by the rockets…

Photo displaying the Bronco’s impressive weapon loadout from Captain Donald J. Florko’s article To Ride A Black Pony used without permission from www.blackpony.org.

The story of the conception and development of this fascinating aircraft can be found at the website of Colonel KP Rice (USMC, Retired) who served as the Department of Defense Program Manager for the OV-10 and is now showcasing his flying car Volante as a viable form of private aviation.

Read more about the OV-10 Bronco at the unofficial association page for the men who served in VAL-4 “Black Ponies” at www.blackpony.org and Volante Aircraft.

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
Preview of Air Combat Manoeuvres
CIA A-12
John Wallin Liberto’s WWII Military Aviation Art
Fighting High – WWII Allied Aviation E-Magazine

Saw some concepts from Tham Hoi Mun’s (aka numioh) deviantART gallery (featured here not too long ago) which were conceptualized in Alchemy (free!) before being painted over in Photoshop. (sorry, this one’s not free )

For those who prefer a more hands-on approach, there’s also a video demo of Alchemy by Andrew “Android” Jones (more here) recorded at the Digital Conference of Creative Elite (DCCE) in Shanghai.

While I’m no artist, Alchemy feels very different from any drawing or painting application I’ve played around before as it doesn’t try to fully emulate the traditional drawing and painting tools and process (try and find the Undo button ). You can simply use Alchemy to sketch and draw but its beauty lies in its ability to quickly inject randomness into your ideas through a variety of create modules which are essentially shape and line generators. Applying one or more alter modules which further process and add effects to your input allows you to realize your imagination on digital canvas in a lot of different and interesting ways.

The above was done in 2 minutes by someone with zero artistic skills (namely me) and Alchemy with the Pull Shapes and Mirror modules Amazing, isn’t it?

My first attempt with Alchemy to draw an Ork Warboss from Warhammer 40,000

While Alchemy is still in alpha, you can try it out by visiting and registering at www.al.chemy.org. Alchemy is currently available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
Android Jones – Musical Art & Much More
Fun Drawing Tools For The Masses
Create Your Own Graffiti Masterpiece with Graffiti Studio 2.0

Quite enjoyed my complimentary copy of Faerie Solitaire from Subsoap (thanks Brian!) so here’s a little review of it and how it stacks up to Fairway Solitaire (recently reviewed here at The Download Munkey ).

First off, players familiar with good old Windows Solitaire will immediately feel at home in Faerie Solitaire. You see, unlike Fairway Solitaire where the underlying golf theme is closely tied into all aspects of the game, Faerie Solitaire definitely feels closer to an actual game of Solitaire albeit with a deck of cards adorned with fantasy illustrations. While this might suggest that Faerie Solitaire is inferior graphically and gameplay-wise, these differences actually work in Faerie Solitaire’s favour when it comes to really casual players like my mom (who still has difficulty relating pars and golf scores to their actual effect on each hand in Fairway Solitaire). The less cluttered screen also makes for faster gameplay which is why I much prefer Faerie Solitaire since I can blaze through 9 hands in under 10 minutes

Now, the gameplay in Faerie Solitaire is very similiar to Fairway Solitaire but it would be most unfair to dismiss Faerie Solitaire as a mere clone. The biggest difference between the two games apart from the obviously different graphical theme and sound effects would be the extra elements that carry over game after game in Faerie Solitaire to provide some continuity and replayability in what would otherwise be a series of Solitaire games.

You still have something similiar to Fairway Solitaire where you can buy optional game-enhancing items but there is now an extra incentive to continue playing each stage not only to unlock the next stage and advance the story. You see, Faerie Solitaire rewards long-term players with a selection of 32 little critters you can encounter and collect in your journey to save the faeries. It might seem a relatively minor addition but it does alleviate a lot of that repetitive feeling when there’s a (very small) chance to acquire a new creature in each hand that you play – and believe me, you can easily play over a hundred hands in a single hour

While the critters are an interesting diversion, the fact that they do not add any special abilities to your gameplay seems to be a rather superficial feature at best. Perhaps in a sequel

Overall, an interesting twist on the solitaire genre which will appeal to players who are looking for an addictive card game that’s simple to learn and play. The lovingly illustrated cards (I love the swamp lizards on the 6s) and the dreamy background music add a sparkly magical experience without overly distracting the player from the actual card game.

Download the demo for Faerie Solitaire from www.subsoap.com. The full version is now available for purchased at Big Fish Games at a promo price of 6.99 USD.

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
Fairway Solitaire
She Asked … for a Bejewelled Clone
Giga Rensya Mini-Games Part II
Giga Rensya Mini Games Part I
Mytheria – Virtual CCG

Wallpapers for Combat Arms published by Nexon Corp. It’s another multiplayer FPS I know – sorry if I’ve been posting wallpapers for games of this genre lately since I’m currently on a mission to find the wallpapers for as many of these multiplayer online-only FPSes (at least for those with a modern military theme)

© Nexon Corp

I sometimes find it strange that given the popularity of these modern military multiplayer FPSes, there is an interesting dearth of good predominantly singleplayer FPSes with the same theme – I can only recall Call of Duty 4 : Modern Warfare and the Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas series at the moment.

Download these Combat Arms wallpapers from the Nexon site.

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
Play Call of Duty 4 Multiplayer Offline with PeZBot
Black Shot Wallpapers
Alliance of Valiant Arms Wallpapers
S.T.A.L.K.E.R : Shadows over Chernobyl Wallpapers
Call of Duty 4 Mini-Artbook PDF

Trailerfreaks.com recommended by commenter blob is one of those sites that you’ll most definitely find handy when you want to just download the trailer of major blockbuster films, without the hassle of actually figuring the actual download link like what I previously wrote about grabbing HD trailers off the web.

Trailer Freaks essentially does the hard work for you by compiling the direct download link for the latest movie trailers posted online at Yahoo! Movies, Apple’s Movie Trailers or the official movie sites so you can simply copy the link for your download manager or grab them directly via your browser quickly and conveniently.

Granted, you won’t find the greatest selection of trailers listed here i.e small indie/niche films don’t seem to get much love at Trailer Freaks but for the majority of big budget commercial films like Terminator : Salvation or the upcoming Transformers 2 : Revenge of the Fallen, this site should more than suffice

Download HD Movie Trailers from Trailer Freaks.

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
Blur Studio – Incredible Cinematic Trailers for Games Part II – Hellgate London, Warhammer Online : Age of Reckoning and More
How to Download Quicktime Trailers from Apple’s Movie Trailers Page
Downloading Trailers from Yahoo! Movies