Gaming Tips « Prima Games Author Blog

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Category: Gaming Tips

Nov
20
2009

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by brownie

Visiting Egypt in Sims 3: World Adventures

World Aventures Your Sims have toured the town, made dozens of friends, held down fulfilling careers, and developed all sorts of fun skills. Now it’s time to reward them – with a vacation! The Sims 3: World Adventures is the very first time your Sims have been able to leave town and go on exotic travels. In World Adventures, your Sims can visit three destinations: Egypt, China, and France. In each location, your Sims meet new people, learn new skills, and explore dangerous tombs in search of treasure.

While working on World Adventures, I did not develop a favorite between the three destinations. Each location offers something special — a certain unique local flavor. It’s not just limited to the architecture either, which is definitely different for each location. Local identity is also quite personal. You find it in the little things. Egypt, for example, is the only place where Sims can buy a snake charming basket and then start practicing this special ability. The longer your Sim charms, the better they get at it. Soon, they can snake charm for tips and even coax a cobra out of the basket. (The cobra is pretty cool. If you ever get a mummy’s curse, the cobra is one of the surprising cures for the nasty hex.) Plus, you can take that snake charming basket back home when your visa to Egypt expires and play with it there, much to the amazement of friends and neighbors.

Egypt’s tombs can get pretty intense. The first few tombs you explore while going on adventures for locals ease you into a world of traps and trickery. But it doesn’t take long before you are moving deep into dangerous territory, trying to find the right switch to turn off fire traps or poison darts. Usually, the more dangerous a room is, the greater the chance of finding rare relics and valuable treasures. In our guide, we map out every single tomb in Egypt (as well as China and France) so you get the most of each expedition. Some of these tombs are really tough, but with our full-color maps and legends that point out how to open every door and locate every secret chamber, you will emerge from catacombs and tombs laden with awesome stuff. These treasures will look great in your house back in Sunset Valley or Riverview, but if you successfully undertake adventures in each location, you can build up your visa until you can purchase a vacation home. How cool would it be to have a vacation home in France loaded up with gilded relics from Egypt?

Like China and France, Egypt is also peppered with lots of collectibles, such as scarab beetles and new butterflies. Just like our Sims 3 guide, we show you the locations of all of the new collectibles in every destination in our World Adventures strategy guide. Your house will be decorated with all sorts of new insects, gems, and metals. If you are a hardcore collector, you definitely want to scour the new destinations in World Adventures to find the new collectibles. Next week, I’ll talk more about some of the fun things to do in France, which is home of the new nectar making skill and some very cool tombs, like the giant Tomb of Isael under the Nectary. That place is huge!

Categories: Gaming Tips, Projects
Tags: EA, gaming, Official Strategy Guide, prima games, Sims 3, strategy guide
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Nov
06
2009

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by jasbury

The Party Scene

Dragon Age Collector's Edition I have 300+ hours into Dragon Age: Origins, and I’m still going back for more. Not to replay the quests (I’ve done them all), not to load a new character up with fancy loot (though, admittedly, there are some cool weapons I still want to check out), not to discover a secret location in Ferelden (the unknown frontier has been colonized for me a while back). No, I miss the party scene.

I do miss chugging some ale around camp with the fiery dwarf Oghren, but it’s more about wanting to go back and see all my friends. My companions that journeyed with me from the Grey Warden Joining to the final battle against the Archdemon. Sounds sappy, maybe, but I’ve never played a game before that had this much interaction between you and your pals. We’re all used to the A.I. party member that hacks a monster in the skull to save your neck (most of the time) and slashes through a spellcaster hellbent on turning you into a campfire marshmallow (most of the time); these guys are standard fantasy fare. I was pleasantly surprised, then amazed, at how my Dragon Age buddies came to life.

First up for my party was Alistair. A fellow Grey Warden, the wise-cracking, sensitive-yet-sometimes-surly Alistair became my warrior tank from the moment we sunk our boots into the Korcari Wilds muck. His banter with Morrigan is priceless. The two act like ex-boyfriend and girlfriend with a real axe to grind, and not as prep for our next darkspawn encounter.

Unfortunately, since I mostly played a mage, Morrigan got left home as soon as I hooked up with Wynne at the Circle Tower. Alistair got me again there, when he once asked Wynne to mend his socks because he’s a guy and she’s a motherly grandmother type. Hilarious stuff. There is a lot to love about Wynne and her nurturing wisdom, but probably the coolest thing was when her Vessel of the Spirit ability appears. This ability seals the deal for Wynne as the best healer in the game, but you only get it after a series of events at Party Camp and after a tough boss fight in a random encounter.

As a human male character, I choose to seduce Leliana, our rogue who joined the group at Dane’s Refuge in Lothering. Little did I know that she’s the hardest one to woo: She needs a 100 approval rating to fall in love, unlike companions like Morrigan and Zevran who enjoy their flings. Leliana’s a bard, and when she broke into song—the whole thing: music, lyrics, and all—just for me at Party Camp, I was floored. What other game gives you that much as a “throwaway” moment in camp? Amazing.

There are just too many moments in the lifetime of one character to chronicle. Dog’s fetching antics, grumpy Sten, discovering the gender-bender golem Shale in the downloadable content—moments I’ll remember forever, not because I killed a foe in .2 seconds flat, but because I made a connection with these characters.

Like a good book, I’m excited to get to the end of Dragon Age: Origins, and when I get there, I’m heartbroken that it’s over. Luckily, this story can be retold in many ways, and each time I’ll catch another Alistair joke or a disparaging Oghren comment that seriously makes me pause and think, “Did Bioware just create life with this game when I wasn’t looking?”

da-site

To access the official Dragon Age strategy site visit www.DragonAgeWalkthrough .com.

The Prima Collector’s Edition Guide and Prima Official Game Guide to Dragon Age: Origins are available wherever games are sold.

Categories: Gaming Tips, Projects
Tags: Dragon Age Origins, guide, strategy, tips, Tricks, walkthrough
Related Posts: Dragon Age: Origins – A Lesson in the Fade

Nov
04
2009

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by zimtastico

Dragon Age: Origins – A Lesson in the Fade

You can’t trust anything in the Fade. The dream realm that borders on Ferelden’s material world hosts demons, allies that become enemies, and enemies that may be allies. When the Veil tears and the Fade’s magic permeates the world of Ferelden, nothing is what it seems.

And you enter that insanity to save the Circle Tower in the “Broken Circle” quest line.

My party chose the “Broken Circle” quest line as its first major challenge, and wow did it get the adrenaline flowing. You hook up with the exceptional mage healer Wynne at the base of the Tower, then fight your way through a series of abominations, blood mages, and other monstrosities that have overrun the magi’s home. The ultimate bad guy in this mess, however, won’t go down easy and has other plans for you when you meet up at the top of the Tower. Instead of the expected boss fight, you’re cast into the Fade…alone…your companions scattered and lost in nightmares.

It’ll take all your wits and strength to escape. Separated from your companions, you only have your skills to rely on. In each “island” realm within the Fade, you must navigate through vile creatures and a maze of puzzles to escape the area and get closer to finding your friends.

The Fade is so dangerous, however, that it’s impossible to beat on your own. You need to tap into the Fade’s magic to overcome the obstacles, and since form follows one’s imagination inside the Fade, you have access to special shapeshifting abilities. You’ll shrink to the size of a mouse to crawl through mouse holes, or grow into a huge golem to crash through massive doors. Spirit Form grants you access to ethereal portals, and Burning Man Form allows you to walk through fire. All your shapeshifting forms give you cool, new powers to play with as you explore the Fade and battle its myriad denizens.

You’ll spend hours, maybe days, in the Fade, and you can easily get lost. Fortunately, Prima’s Official Guide to Dragon Age: Origins devotes more than 20 pages to the “Broken Circle” quest, packing in detailed maps, step-by-step walkthroughs of each encounter, locations of every monster and piece of treasure (including special essences that permanently increase your stats!), shapeshifting play tips, and all the info you need to ace the quest from the moment you step foot in the Lake Calenhad Docks to the final battle in the Harrowing Chamber.

My favorite quest might be yours, or you might go nuts for another part of Ferelden. It’s all covered in our Dragon Age Official Strategy (www.DragonAgeWalkthrough.com). Let the Dragon Age’s secrets be yours.

by Mike Searle

Categories: Gaming Tips, Projects
Tags: bioware, Dragon Age, Dragon Age Origins, EA, prima games, strategy guides, video games
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Oct
15
2009

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by zimtastico

Rock out with your clock out!

Read more about Brutal Legend Game Guide

If there was any one thing I noticed while playing Brutal Legend, it was how quickly time passed when I was playing. Well, I guess that might actually best be stated as one thing I didn’t notice. I’d start up the game, grab a frosty brew (root beer, I’ll have you know), start playing, and before I knew it, six hours had passed.

So now that you have the game in your grubby little hands and the guide sitting right next to it (right? If not, get it now. I can wait….. Ok. Good.), I’d like to impart one final piece of advice for you that was not included in the strategy guide. Grab a clock and set it right next to your TV. If you have an egg timer, that works too. Set the timer, hop into Eddie’s kickass world, and hope you make it to bed on time tonight.

If you haven’t grabbed the game or guide yet, there’s still plenty of time to do so. The game is unlike anything you’ve played before and the guide has everything you need to make the most of your experience in the World of Metal. Not only does the guide contain every single enemy, a highly detailed walkthrough (which I’m very proud of, by the way), all Deuce upgrades, weapon upgrades, and combo information, but it also contains the location of every Bound Serpent and Secondary Side Missions. If you can’t find it in the book, it ain’t in the game!

For those of you that dig on cool rock-&-roll covers, the guide’s got some of that too… sort of. Included in the back is a giant pull out poster. On one side is Eddie Riggs, master roadie and ass-kicker extraordinaire. On the other side are several maps with the locations of… well… everything!

by Fernando Bueno

Categories: Gaming Tips, Projects
Tags: brutal legend, EA, prima games, video games
Related Posts: prima games podcast, the seventeenth

Sep
22
2009

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by zimtastico

Ready to Drop?

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up Guide

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up guide is done and will be on store shelves soon. But to give you a little insight into all things Turtles, I’ve got a top ten list of Smash-Up tips. Brawl veterans will certainly have an advantage when it comes to Smash-Up, but TMNT fans should be able to quickly catch up with a few pointers and the official strategy guide. Just make sure you don’t tell the Brawl vets that the guide includes frame data, it might take a little longer to catch up if they start studying frame data on day one.

Stage Hazards – Many stages have an element of surprise that can significantly alter the course of the match. Pay close attention to your surroundings and take advantage of every stage hazard by forcing your opponents into them.

Wall Attacks – Jump to the wall and unleash a quick attack to catch your enemies off guard. This works best if you’re fighting near the wall, but even if you’re not, you can use it to reach the other side of the stage while avoiding attacks from other players.

Rock, Paper, Scissors – Smash-Up works on a rock, paper, scissors system where a throw can hit a blocking opponent, blocking stops all normal attacks, and normal attacks beat out throws. Remember this priority system and it may come in handy during tight situations!

Guard Break – If you block too much your guard will break and you’ll be left wide open to an opponent’s attack. Stay on the move and don’t stay in the same place, blocking all of your opponent’s attacks. The invisible guard break meter recharges slowly, so if you’ve blocked a few attacks, it’s time to get out of there and avoid the next attack.

Overstun – If you stun an opponent too much, they’ll turn green indicating they’re in overstun. When this happens, they can instantly teleport to the top of the screen and avoid all of your attacks. If this happens, stop attacking and get ready to avoid a possible attack from above.

Turn Around Stun – Hit your enemies with an attack that results in a turn around stun and they’ll have to guess what your next move will be. If they remain blocking, you can throw them, but if they try to turn around and attack to beat the throw, you can attack them first. It’s a guessing game, will you attack or will you use a throw. The moral of the story is, don’t get hit by a turn around stun.

Swing-By Attacks – Some stages have red poles that can be used for swing-by attacks. Grab the pole, aim for the closest enemy and unleash an unblockable attack of fury. If it hits, do a mid-air jump and grab the pole again for a repeat attack.

Items – When Super Smash Bros. Brawl is played competitively, items are almost always turned off. That’s probably going to be the case with TMNT: Smash-Up because the items are extremely powerful. If you see an item appear, make sure you’re the first one to reach it because it could easily change the outcome of the match.

Maximize Your Damage – There aren’t many instances when it’s impossible to block an attack. However, when those instances occur, it’s extremely important to take advantage of them by hitting your opponent for as much damage as possible. If you’re not getting the maximum damage from your combos, work on them so that every time you hit, you’re inflicting the most damage possible.

Dodge – There aren’t many blocked attacks in Smash-Up that leave a character open to a counter attack. Therefore, blocking something doesn’t guarantee you can score a free hit on your opponent. It’s highly recommended to dodge or roll to avoid an attack, which will have a much greater chance of leaving your enemy open to a counter attack. But be careful, if you dodge at the wrong time, you may be the one getting hit!

Categories: Gaming Tips
Tags: prima games, teenage mutant ninja turtles smash-up, TMNT, video games
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Sep
22
2009

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by zimtastico

Majesty 2: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim Top Ten Tips and Tricks

Check out these Top Ten Tips from Ron Dulin, author of the official strategy guide to Majesty 2! For complete information about the guide, including maps and strategies for each multiplayer mission, head over to PrimaGames.com.

1. Build Guardhouses near buildings that generate a good deal of tax
revenue, especially buildings situated far from your Royal Palace.
This gives your Tax Collectors a place to drop off your gold quickly
and safely.

2. Occasionally your heroes won’t have enough gold on hand to purchase
better equipment. If so, and you want them to have the best armor and
weapons available, place an Explore Flag with a high reward in an
easily-accessible area.

3. There are no level requirements on equipment or items for heroes.
As long as they can afford to buy it, they can use it.

4. On maps with lots of undead enemies, upgrade your Clerics Guild and
research Holy Attack as early as possible.

5. Place Defense Flags on low-level heroes to keep them protected
until they have gained some levels. This trick is especially useful
with Mages, who can’t take much damage until they reach Level 5.

6. There is safety in numbers. Try to build a Level 2 Inn and research
party formation as quickly as possible. When selecting a party leader,
remember that the leader decides which flags a party is interested in.
A party led by a Ranger or Elf will eagerly set out for Explore Flags,
while a party led by a Warrior will be more prone to seek out Defense
Flags or Attack Flags.

7. You can resurrect heroes from the graveyard in your town or by
using the Resurrect spell, researched at the Temple to Agrela. Using
the spell has a fixed cost, and resurrects your heroes with all of
their items and some of their gold. The cost of resurrecting a hero
from the graveyard is based on the hero’s level, and they come back to
life with all of their equipment but no gold.

8. In single-player and multiplayer missions where the goal is to
destroy an enemy building, make sure you have a large number of
Dwarves with the Destruction ability.

9. The expert class of weapons, researched at the Level 3 Blacksmith,
gives significant attack bonuses to all hero classes, but three
classes benefit the most: Blademasters, Mages, and Archers of Helia.

10. Heroes hired at Temples do not have to buy new abilities; they
learn their abilities automatically as they gain experience. For this
reason, it is always best to promote a hero when you can afford it.
Promoted heroes retain their level, and automatically learn all
relevant abilities for their new class, though they lose all of their
items.

Pick up the complete strategy guide to Majesty 2 today!

Categories: Gaming Tips
Tags: majesty 2, prima games, strategy, strategy guide, video games

Sep
18
2009

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by brownie

the sims 3: sunset valley or riverview?

Sunset Valley or Riverview: which town should you settle into? Although both Sunset Valley and Riverview hold some of the same features such as a stadium for Sims to begin the athletic career, the two cities you can choose as a hometown for your Sims have very different vibes. Riverview is much more laid back than Sunset Valley, it has the atmosphere of a small town that was once a simple farming community. Progress has certainly moved into Riverview as evidenced by the industrial waterfront, but the citizens have taken great pains to make sure their burg maintains some classic charm. That’s why the downtown area in the heart of Riverview has a walking plaza lined with quaint features like a reading room and antiques museum.

Sunset Valley, on the other hand, is more of a metropolis. It has a central park that is the social focus of the city, but its buildings are not only larger, but much more spread out and connected by wider, busier streets. Whereas the science center in Riverview is nestled on the waterfront right next to the stadium and military base, these three buildings are on completely different sides of Sunset Valley. The military base in Sunset Valley is pushed back into one of the hillsides that help define Sunset valley as a valley. The science facility in Sunset Valley is much larger than its Riverview counterpart. Because it needs more space, it is also set up into the hills above the city.

Four Bridges Park is a major part of downtown Riverview's plaza.

There are some substantial differences between the Sunset Valley and Riverview, too. Riverview does not have an oceanfront like Sunset Valley; instead, Riverview is defined in large part by the freshwater river that snakes through the farmland surrounding the downtown area. Without any way to catch saltwater fish in the wild in Riverview, Sims must instead visit the hatchery to reel in these beauties. Riverview has far fewer lakes and ponds than Sunset Valley, too. But there is no shortage of freshwater fishing thanks to the lengthy rivers in Riverview.

The locations of collectibles like butterflies, beetles, and gems are also completely different. If you’ve already exhausted the discovery of rare collectibles in Sunset Valley – how many rainbow gems do you have? – then move into Riverview and start the grand hunt all over again. Just make sure you give your Sims a day or two for collectibles to appear in Riverview before searching them out. After a few days (which you can easily fill by starting a career, meeting Riverview citizens, and developing a skill or two), then start scouring the town to find the goodies. Prima is publishing the location of all of the collectibles in the upcoming The Sims 3: Neighborhood Resource & Map Pack.

However, let me give you a little Brownie Bite before that’s released. In the shadow of the Jones mansion above the waterfront, you will not only find aquas, emeralds, yellows, tanzanite, and diamonds, but also the super-rare pinks. The minimum value of the smallest pink gem is 1,200 Simoleons. That’s quite a payday. You’ll find cool tips like that and more in The Sims 3: Neighborhood Resource & Map Pack, which I just finished writing earlier this week and is coming soon.

Categories: Gaming Tips, Projects
Tags: hints, prima games, Sims 3, strategy, strategy guide
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Sep
18
2009

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by brownie

Greetings, fellow Scribblenauts!

So, have you made it past the first screen in Scribblenauts yet? I don’t mean the first level. I mean the very first screen you see when you start the game — the playground. The playground is where you can just experiment with creating different objects to your heart’s content; the only limit is your imagination. I remember when I first received a version of Scribblenauts to write the Prima guide for it, I must have spent an easy three hours on the playground, just trying out all sorts of objects. Cannon. Helicopter. Dinosaur. Race car. Trophy. Keyboard Cat. (Yes, I had read all the juicy rumors that the game was a haven for Internet memes like Keyboard Cat, All Your Base, and — my favorite — lolcats.)

The opening screen is genius because it lets you immediately get to the core of what the game is all about: discovery. The developer was not kidding around when they said you could create just about anything in Scribblenauts. You really can go wild and try out thousands upon thousands (upon thousands) of words to see what objects Maxwell can use. There is no reason to just rely on the same objects all of the time with so many possibilities out there. And so, let me give you a little nudge in one department for object creation: flying objects.

After playing the puzzle and action levels for a few hours, I found myself using some of the same flying objects over and over. Pegasus. Wings. Jet Pack. These were reliable objects that always got the job done when I needed to get Maxwell from A to B, particularly when A and B were divided by lava or a bottomless pit. I knew I needed to expand my horizons. Here are some of the alternate words I started using for flying.

Pterodactyl: Like the Pegasus, this friendly flying creature is no threat to Maxwell and it does not need a rest period. Added benefit – it, too, can attack hostile creature or break objects, like ice.

Magic carpet: This flying rug works for a limited period but does not short out if it encounters a little water.

Helibackpack: This alternative to the jet pack can be shorted out if it gets wet, so avoid rain drops while flying.

Sphinx: The sphinx is a friendly creature that, like the pterodactyl, will attack Maxwell’s enemies or break through ice. The sphinx can also dig.

Magic broomstick: This special broomstick (make sure you write “magic” in front of it) lets Maxwell fly around the level without needing a refresh period.

Winged shoes: The winged shoes turn Maxwell into Mercury, the Roman god that could fly through the benefit of winged feet.

Hopefully, these extra words will get you to think about even more flying objects you can use to help Maxwell collect all of the Starites. Do you have some suggestions of your own? We’d love to hear them.

Categories: Gaming Tips
Tags: Scribblenauts
Related Posts: prima games podcast, the eighteenth

Aug
06
2009

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by zimtastico

TOP 10 TIPS for Playing East India Company

Get the most out of East India Company with these tips from the Official East India Company Strategy Guide.

1. Iron Wares are a more valuable export item than their profit margin might imply. Although you won’t get rich by trading them, they are an essential component for upgrading most port buildings, so keep a supply of them in the Warehouses of the ports you control. After all, if you wind up squeezed for cash or need to make room in that port’s Warehouse, you can always sell them instantly at the Trading Post.

2. As your fleet’s crews level up their navigation experience, the view range of their fleet increases as well. You can further improve a fleet’s view range by choosing the Eagle Eyes skill for a fleet commander who levels up.

3. When importing Main Trade Items (MTI) that you don’t plan to sell right away, balance your fleets’ cargo between MTIs and high-profit generic trade items. This helps ensure that you’ll still be able to cover the cost of the voyage by having something to sell when you return to your Home Port, since you won’t be turning an immediate profit by storing MTIs in your Warehouse.

4. Your fleet sails at the speed of its lowest ship, so don’t handicap faster ships by pairing them with slower ones in the same fleet. A Schooner’s greatest asset is its high speed, but if you put it in a fleet with the much slower Galleon, you’ll have taken away the Schooner’s biggest advantage.

5. After a battle is resolved, you sometimes have the option of seizing one or more ships from the defeated fleet. However, if you already have five ships in your fleet, you cannot add any captured ships to your fleet. You might want to limit your warship fleets to four ships if you want to be able to take command of the remaining ships in fleets that you defeat.

6. Take good care of your ships, especially the larger and more expensive ones. Not only does replacing them cost a small fortune, it also takes a long time. Losing a 90-Gun Ship-of-the-Line, for instance, means that you’ll be without its replacement for 15 months. Never skimp on repair costs, and never sail a damaged fleet unless you have no other option.

7. You will always take an up-front financial hit when you assemble a fleet from scratch. Constructing a fleet of three Brigs, for example, costs a total of 150,000£ and takes 15 months from start to finish. During that time, those ships are not earning you any money, so your other fleets need to make up that financial shortfall. You can set sail with only one or two ships from that fleet before they’re all ready, but you’ll still have to pay commander and crew salaries.

8. Want to improve your profit margins without building more fleets? Upgrade the Trading Posts of ports that you control and trade with frequently (being mindful of the increased upkeep costs that come with the improvements), and assign trading skills like Organizer, Haggler, and Salesman to your fleet commanders when they level up.

9. Automatic trading routes (ATR) can be a huge time-saver, but they can also wreck your finances if you don’t keep a generous cash cushion in your Treasury to cover the purchases of export items and Main Trade Items. A good rule of thumb is to have 200,000£ on hand at all times per ATR.

10. If you find your profits dropping after setting up a number of Automatic Trading Routes (ATR), it’s probably because their timing is off, and those fleets are short of cash when it’s time for them to sell their export items and purchase Main Trade Items, which causes them to purchase cheaper and less profitable generic trade items. If this happens, cancel the ATRs and manually micro-manage your trading until you’ve rebuilt your cash cushion.

Get the Complete Guide Here!

Categories: Gaming Tips
Tags: east india company, EIC, prima games, strategy, video games
Related Posts: East India Company Free eGuide Previews