Archive for December, 2009

Endgame …

Yes, I’m sad to say this but today will probably mark the beginning of the end for The Download Munkey :(

It has been a great pleasure writing about some of my favourite games, artists and websites for the past 2+ years here at The Download Munkey as well as meeting some awesome like-minded people (you know who you are :) ) but I feel that it’s now time for me to move on.

I no longer have the time to write and update this site on a regular and consistent manner so I have decided to go on a long, long break and re-evaluate my options. I’ll probably won’t be back but who knows what the future might bring for The Download Munkey or myself :)

Adiós!

Games Thursday : Mastermind : World Conqueror

No idea how I missed out writing about this slick game Mastermind : World Conqueror produced by Michael Swain last year. Still, it’s not too late to enjoy this Flash game where you get to unleash your inner despot while conquering Earth in style.

Mastermind : World Conqueror lets you plot and scheme your way to world domination via a sleek and atrractively animated menu-like interface. The voice acting is superb too – I just love how the narrator pronounces “minions” in a Dr Evil-esque kind of voice.

The tutorial gently eases you into the devilishly simple process of taking over the world by hatching and carrying missions to steal technology and cash to facilitate more grandiose plans like brainwashing the population of an entire continent. For your schemes to work, you will need minions, general purpose lackeys who will execute your missions, staff your illicit businesses and become part of your mini private army when the good guys come knocking at your door.

Choose your #2 from twelve different heinous henchmen to bolster your defences and teach those foolhardy do-gooders a lesson. On the operational end, you can hire up to a total of three patsies to supervise your goons and confer various bonuses to each of your diabolical schemes depending on their individual specialities. And if you ever decide to hire a new replacement, you can always rely on your trusty minions to bump off one of the existing patsies during a mission.

For a change of scenery, you can opt to purchase and switch your base of operations around the globe, be it a humble office, a Irish castle, a jungle base or the ultimate in villainous living, a lunar base, each with its own pros and cons.

While stealing technology essentially unlocks new powers e.g toxic gases, new weapons to arm your minions and more powerful turrets to better defend your base against those meddlesome good guys , you still need cold hard cash to purchase all these goodies (on top of hiring a load of nameless minions for all your dirty work) and conduct certain types of missions.

Money is the key to end all your woes. Your ups, your downs, your highs and your lows – Run-DMC were right on the money on this one :)

Basically, all Mastermind : World Conqueror requires is that you strike a fine balance between these two priorities until you amass enough cash which then makes collecting the remaining technologies and later conquering Earth, a rather trivial matter indeed.

The first 10 to 20 minutes will probably be the most hectic time of your evil career when you have to stave off the good guys while maintaining a healthly bank account for implementing your more ambitious plans to bring the entire world to its knees. Do remember to equip your minions with new weapons or use your newly acquired defense powers by clicking on the shield with the red cross at the top – it makes defeating enemy attacks much easier (provided correct tactics are used, of course).

Take over the world now in Mastermind : World Conqueror.

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
War on Terror – The Boardgame
Be the Bad Guys of A Shoot Em’ Up in Space Aggressor
Piracy Wallpapers
Stil Bomber 2 – RPGish Shoot-em’ up
Learning Your A.B.Cs with Viva Caligula

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Military Tuesday : Virtual Aircraft Website – Illustrations and Wallpapers by Jerry Boucher

The Virtual Aircraft Website is home to military aviation illustrator Jerry Boucher and showcases his portfolio of aviation related artworks. I wrote this post more than a year ago and didn’t get a reply from Mr Boucher to grant permission to use his artwork here back then – might be something wrong with the contact form on his website so I’ve decided to just post this article. All images presented here are still copyright Jerry Boucher, of course :)

What makes The Virtual Aircraft Website stand out from the websites of other aviation artists is the choice of subjects Jerry Boucher chooses for his works.


© Jerry Boucher

Italian Fiat Br. 20 bombers of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF) bombing China in 1938

Comparatively lesser-known aircraft comprise the majority of his recent artwork and a selection of these works are also available for download as 1024×768 wallpapers. The captions for each wallpaper identifying the squadron and pilot is a nice touch too.


© Jerry Boucher

Heinkel He 51 flown by the future Luftwaffe General der Jagdflieger (General of Fighters) Adolf Galland as part of the Condor Legion sent to Spain in 1938.

I also appreciate the fact that instead of portraying the aircraft in each piece with generic paint schemes and pseudo-historical markings, Jerry Boucher has painted each plane in the exact colours, insignia and serials of actual planes flown by real pilots.


© Jerry Boucher

Fokker E. III flown by Ernst Udet, the second highest scoring German ace of WWI and later Chief Air Inspector General of the Luftwaffe.


© Jerry Boucher

A Lend-Lease Hurricane IIb in Soviet service


© Jerry Boucher

A tank-busting Junkers Ju 87G1 Stuka armed with twin 37mm BK 37 cannon

While modern aircraft (especially fighters) do not share the highly-visible and often flamboyant and individualistic paint schemes of their WWI and WWII predecessors in this era of low visbility schemes and stealth technology, the additional effort of replicating the exact looks of WWI and WWII planes really makes a big difference to any enthusiast who has more than a passing interest in military aviation.


© Jerry Boucher

Werner Molders in a Messerchmitt Bf 109D in Condor Legion colours. He was the previous General der Jagdflieger before Adolf Galland, who was appointed to that post after Werner Molders’ death in an airplane crash while travelling back to Germany for the funeral of Ernst Udet.

Download these wallpapers (and others) or view the gallery of Jerry’s other works at the Virtual Aircraft Website. Prints are also available for purchase.

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
John Wallin Liberto’s WWII Military Aviation Art
Fighting High – WWII Allied Aviation E-Magazine

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