Pre-ClockPunk Clock

Posted in ClockPunk, Technology on December 15th, 2009 by Dr. Warthan
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Just how did they keep time before the invention of gears and springs?  You may be thinking sundials and hourglasses, but you’d be wrong.  Here’s a video on how it was actually done.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=VW5PByaR2EQ

This is just plain cool, no matter who you are. I can only imagine the amount of video editing involved. It’s quite an insane project, but it puts a smile on the face.  Of course, the real question is: Who would buy this?  And does it have to be an old man?  Can we have one with Strippers?

Via: GEEK

Syberia: The Must-Play Clockwork Adventure

Posted in Game on March 30th, 2009 by Dr. Warthan
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Without a doubt, my favorite type of video game is Adventure.  Hours of hunting for the exact correct pixel to click on so that I can solve the friggin puzzle at last and move on with the plot.  I’ve played them for years, and I think I’ve played most of them, from King’s Quest on.  Most of us are now into Xbox 360 Xbox One modern gaming console 1st person shooters like Gears of War (including me), and the often-overlooked Adventure type of game is slowly dying out.  But, if you’re ever going to play an Adventure game, Syberia is the one to play.  It came out in 2002 and is simply the best game of its type ever produced, even today in 2022.

What might interest you is the game’s environment.  Beautifully rendered artful backgrounds, a clockwork train (it winds up), mechanical automatons, gears, springs, airships, dystopias, all presented in a well-thought-out and compelling story.  The game is challenging, but not so much that you need to turn to a walk-through.

Syberia Airship

Available for the PC, Original Xbox, and recently the Nintendo DS.  Play it on GameTap (or similar service), or get it and load it into a virtual machine like Microsoft’s VirtualPC or VMware.  Official home page with screenshots and videos: http://www.syberia-series.com/en/ [defunct]  Also, stay away from the sequel Siberia II, it wasn’t all that good.