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Alexander Rehm

Alexander Rehm is a web designer, information architect and usability & accessibility auditor. He's currently working as a Director of Live Operations and has extensive experience of developing large-scale architecture and frameworks for online services, catering for millions of users concurrently. In his blog, Alex shares his musings on all things internet, usability, accessibility and gaming.

Z, The Game released on iPad!

The app developers Kavcom have finally released the remake of the 1996 classic Z for £2.99 on the iTunes store.

For those of you who do not know the game, unlike traditional RTS games, you do not collect resources – you capture sectors, which in turn will allow you to manufacture units quicker, or allow you to have a tactical advantage because sectors can contain factories or turrets. Originally developed by the Bitmap Brothers the game was very well received, and it was the first game I was ever bought by my parents.

The game plays very well on the iPad, the videos are the same as in the original release. Gameplay itself hasn’t changed one bit, it is still very fast paced and can get very hectic at times. Swipe gestures and multiple selection of units works really well. Sound effects are nicely done, both on the music and sound effects front. (btw, you can change the sound and music settings in the iPad Settings, not in the app itself)

 

Screenshots:

Getting ready for carnage:

 

Win!

Liked:

  • Easy to pick up gameplay, hardly changed from the original
  • Easy to use mini-map and building menus
  • Great music and sound effects follow the 1996 original to a T!
  • Price!

Disliked:

  • A few translation mistakes
  • Building menu is a bit small and may provide problems for people with bigger fingers
  • Seemingly no ability to replay videos

 

Verdict:

Overall this is a fantastic game, regardless of you having played the original or not. You really ought to give it a try for that price!

You can grab the game from here.

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Visit Peak District website relaunched!

It is with great pleasure that I can tell you that the new website of Visit Peak District & Derbyshire is now live!

This website was designed by yours truly, and is based on NVG‘s new modular CMS Pro and features a host of new options and modules to maintain and update the site, from dynamic tabbers, content-managed slideshows, live availability information, an industry section and more.

Visit Peak District website screenshot

I am also very proud of the new online library page:

Screenshot of the online library page

Click here to visit the new Visit Peak District website.

Happy days! 🙂

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Axure RP 6 released!

The popular wireframing tool has just been updated to v6!

Aside from a number of fixes, the most notable features of this version are:

  • Sketch Effects – Sketch Effects enable you to give your wireframes a more sketchy, grayscale look and feel to allow the audience to focus on the information architecture, interactions, and functions of the prototype more than the “finished” look
  • New Wireframing Tools – wireframes are now faster to build and easier to maintain by adding Global and Page Guides, a Location and Size tooltip, Format Painter, ability to Copy and Paste. Annotations, and a new Custom Style engine where custom styles can be applied to rollovers.
  • Improved Text Editing – Axure RP was upgraded to use WPF in the Microsoft .Net Framework 4.0.  The new text engine allows information architects to add text editing at zoomed levels, line spacing, and Open Type Fonts. There is also some text padding in shape widgets.
  • Page Styles – you can finally center pages, apply background colours and background images without having to do it manually!
  • Richer Prototypes – Axure RP6 now has animations for moving and fading, Math and String functions, Drag and Drop interactions, and new Dynamic Panel Events to respond to moving, changes in visibility, and changes in state.
  • More Specification Control – You are now able to organize the content, optionally include headers, filter widget tables by annotation values, generate a master usage report, generate all of the widget text, configure column widths for two column layout, and configure the screenshot size. And you can also format the page notes and annotate master instances.
  • AxShare integration – You can now manage an account of up to 10 active prototypes. It supports RP files (up to 10 MB) created in version 6 or earlier and all generated prototypes will have the version 6 skin. You now also have access to a new Discuss tab next to the sitemap in the prototype (which you can disable), as well as a page for viewing the discussion topics in your AxShare account.

Axure RP 6 is available for both PC and MAC here.

Good times! 🙂

 

Visit Essex has been relaunched!

The new Visit Essex website has been put live today!

The website was designed and built by Severine Perherin, and features a lot of new content and is based on NVG‘s new modular CMS Pro and features a host of new options and modules to maintain and update the site, from dynamic tabbers, accordions, content-managed slideshows, live availability information and more.

The site also has some lovely imagery, so it is definelty worth having a look!

Click here to visit the new Visit Essex website

Good times 🙂

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DiscoverCarlisle.co.uk – the portal to Radio 1’s Big Weekend (& lineup announced)

It’s official – one of our client’s destinations is the host of this year’s Radio 1’s Big Weekend!

In line with the announcement I updated the website’s design based on a design by Hunter Johnstone. The full lineup is going to be announced shortly. But if you want to know more and want to read up on the lineup and how to get tickets then click on the screenshot below or visit DiscoverCarlisle here.

Hope you all enjoy the Big Weekend this year, it is going to be amazing! 🙂

[Update:] The lineup:

Saturday:

Main stage: Nicole Scherziner; Jessie J; Ellie Goulding; Plan B; Chase & Status; Tinie Tempah; Black Eyed Peas; Foo Fighters

In New Music We Trust stage: Swedish House Mafia; Friendly Fires; Nero; Panic! At The Disco; Wretch 32; Everything Everything; Cage The Elephant; The Joy Formidable

BBC Introducing stage: tbc

Outdoor stage: tbc

 

Sunday

Main stage: Ollie Meurs; Bruno Mars; Wombats; Professor Green; Katie B; The Script; Taio Cruz; My Chemical Romance; Lady Gaga

In New Music We Trust stage: The Strokes; Magnetic Man; Noah & The Whale; Devlin; Two Door Cinema Club; The Vaccines; Yasmin; Pulled Apart By Horses

BBC Introducing stage: tbc

Outdoor stage: tbc

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The new NVG site has launched today!

I am very pleased to announce that the new NVG site has launched today! The website has been designed by myself and ties in with the fresh new brand we have been working on for a while now. It features a great amount of data and information on all our products  and services, features our staff very nicely and lists case studies and testimonials from our clients.

screenshot of the nvg website

Click here to visit the NVG website.

Happy days! 😀

Notepad ++ and the aspx extension

Don’t you just hate it when you open an aspx page and Notepad ++ doesn’t highlight formatting properly?

Well, I had enough of it, so I fixed it for me. All you have to do is:

  1. Go to Settings –> Style configurator
  2. Choose Language: –> asp
  3. At the bottom, next to Default ext.: go to User ext.: and enter “aspx” (or add more, just add a space between each extension!)
  4. Press Save +& Close

Done 🙂

VisitSuffolk.com has been relaunched!

The new Visit Suffolk website has been put live yesterday afternoon!

The website features some stunning imagery and inspiring text, coupled with good copy-writing. The site was designed by Jack Saunders and built by Tom Boyd on NVG’s modular CMS Pro, and features a wealth of cool features to provide visitors with a fantastic experience even before visiting this destination.

Click here to visit the new Visit Suffolk website.

Good times! 🙂