How many times have you had a computer issue? how many of those times did you wish you knew what things were so you could go in and know exactly what the problem is? and how often have you opened up your pc and gone " shit.. there's so much going on where do i start"
if you were anything like me for a very long time then you probably tick all those boxes, but what if i told you, there's a way you can mess around with a computer with no worries of breaking something, no issues if you forget the thermal paste, no issue if you don't ground your self... and it could be used to teach kids basics without spending $1000s on old hardware?
Computer Repair Simulator does just that, the aim of the "game" ( if you can even call it that id call it a teachers aid and sell it to the school boards wink wink) is to bring computer repair to schools and business around. The goal is to use this "game" to train people and help them to understand what does on inside a computer, at least that's how i see it.
some back ground on the devs themselves, the team is composed of 3 people,a lead programmer-Garrett Swindell,a marketing and web developer Euthimis Kexagioglou and their graphics artist Brook Swindell, all with full time jobs or still at school them self's.
the project its self is not funded in any way and is instead backed by the creators themselves with both software and money they have put into the project.that said they are looking into other funding methods to help speed along the processes to avoid delays where they can.
so far the "game"(really need a new name for it as its not a game )has been in development for around 9 months, that may not sound like a lot of time but when factoring in the fact they all have full time responsibilities and only being able to work on it in spare time leads to slower development, not much they can do really.
CRS can be picked up on their website in the alpha stage here------http://s627866874.onlinehome.us/alpha-game-downloads
now on to actual "game-play" the game plays as a person who works out of their shed repairing computers for anyone who calls, this can be anything from replacing a ram stick to adding a new agp (accelerated graphics port) all the way down to removing the solder from the underside of the connections.
it used basic wasd keys to move around the table you work from with the mouse wheel being used to scroll in and out, one thing id like to note is that you can not invert the mouse wheel scroll which may be a small issue for people who play with inverted controls.
Lets gt into how a " round" plays out shall we? picture this...
GamePlay
your standing in your shed on a sunny afternoon , your phone rings.. " hello there seems to be something wrong with my computer it {xyz} can i bring it around?"
you are then given the pc to work on, you must first check the work order to find out what the problem is, from there if you dont know what part is what, they offer an inspect tool to will flash they broken parts in red to indicate what parts need to be replaced, after you have identified which parts are broken you get on to the "fun" part,
you must individually remove each part one by one until the broken part can be taken out, so for example, if the cpu is dead, you must first take the screws from the side panel off, then the panel its self, then the 24pin power plug. then the cpu fan plug, then the fan clips, the fan... all the way down until the last drop of solder is removed and the cpu can be removed.
now that you have the broken part taken off you go into your inventory and find the broken part along with anything else you have taken off, you have either the option to sell the broken part, or you can repair the broken part, from what i can tell in the future you will have the option to buy new parts or just repair them based on how badly it is broken but at this stage all you can do is repair the part.
Great parts fixed,now you get to re assemble the pc, this is where the game takes its turn from game into teacher aid like i mentioned before, this is the part where you get to teach people how a pc goes together, no admittedly you cant show the force needed to tighten a screw, or feel the force needed to latch a cpu( if you haven't done it before its a little scary using that much force on something so expensive)
now what happens if you forget something? well nothing.. the game wont let you finish the job until everything is done, at the end of this i will have a link to a video of some game-play with some of my experiences.
for how well the game plays, with the small bugs i found with the wasd keys not working, easily fixed by just clicking the mouse its a solid 7/10 you cant say this game doesn't work because it does the game-play is solid and it just ..works
Visuals
the game looks.. as you would expect, its clear that its just one person working on it, but thats fine, you dont need bright flashy lights and over the top colours on a simulation game, especially if you are trying to show pc parts, a ram stick should look like a ram stick, a cpu fan should look like a cpu fan and so on and so on, i do like the fact that if you open the shed door you can see a lake and a couple tree, but i feel they could have done a bit more with the inside work shop space, all you have is a relatively empty peg board aside from a couple screw drivers, a desk lamp a blue anti static mat and a couple cupboards behind you, i couple posters or even a car model in the the back ground could have further improved the atmosphere, im giving the visual aspect of the game a 6/10 just because i dont get the impression of being a guy in a shed fixing pc like they are going for.
Fun
This is a hard one to give a final score on... because its all subjective at the end of the day, but to me , the person who picked the game up because of it looked interesting not knowing what to expect when i hit the download button.. i had fun, its exactly what the game implies, its a simulation game based around fixing computers, now that might not be fun for everyone,and thats fine you have to remember this isnt the sort of thing they are trying to sell to the masses, this is a very perticular type of product that i feel is perfect for who they are aiming it towards so im giving it a 6/10
Finale thoughts on Computer Repair Simulator, for what it is, and the amount of time they ave spent on it its good. its no AAA title but they arent trying to be , the aim here isnt to take over the sim world and have everyone rushing out the door to replace that broken cmos battery on the clients pc, i keep bringing this point up but its a teaching aid, polish it up maybe add a bit more personality to it in way of design ie that car model i said or a poster, and take it to the board of studies in your area with the amount of time we spend on computers these days and how young kids are being taught how to use them this would be a perfect demonstration tool for a teacher to show off
Remember to check out the games website http://s627866874.onlinehome.us/
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anyone that wishes to get in contact with us our email is spotlightgamesreview@gmail.com
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link to game play of the game https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vglScmZ-Q58
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