The Windows Hosts file

windows has a very special file named the hosts file, it is located in
%SystemRoot%\System32\drivers\etc\hosts
this file allows u to define a domain & its IP, just like a DNS, but a local one but
without server, it also allows u to block a specific website, domain or any thing, only by giving it an IP that is not the real one, so there will be nothing to accept the connection
Q: WHAT MAKES IT A HELPFUL THING ??
A: coz simply if u have a program that makes some sort of validations on the server, that u dont want to happen, u can do that
ur only problem is just u have to know where it connects, but there is alot of tools & ways to determine that.
its also useful since u wont need a firewall to do that, its just a local file
1- just open it from the RUN command
2- select notepad & thats it
u'll actually find the LocalHost IP there, with the domain named "localhost"
add whatever u want in the same format as the other & that should be it

A reasonable solution for serious Game Programming

There is a very reasonable solution if u seriously want to consider game programming, I dont advise making ur own engine, unless u just want to learn, but its never a good idea to use it for production, coz u'll need years of hard work to make a technology that is several years old when its done.
Simply u can buy or get an engine for free (there are several economical & free engines on the net) I'm personally using Torque Game Engine 1.5 (TGE 1.5) coz its supported on multiple platforms & is not expensive @ all (150$) , concentrate in the game u want to make, & leave the engine issues to the engine programmers.
Even when they make a new version of it, u wont have any hard time updating ur game.
Current game markets are in serious needs for original ideas (I KNOW, I"M FOLLOWING THAT MARKET :D) so if u want to succeed in this business, u'll have to offer what it needs.
Dont reinvent the wheel if u want to make money, coz whatever u do ur wheel wont be more circular than the existing ones ;)

WarLords 4

War Lords, one of my very favorite computer games & also one of the first games I ever knew of
Warlords 1 1st appeared in 1990 (MAN THATS ANCIENT), the game was created by Steven Fawkner and published by SSG (Strategic studies group)
NOTE: The MacOS version of this game kicks the PC version's ASS. LONG LIVE MacOS

Warlords 2 was released in 1993 & its deluxe pack was released in 1995

those releases of the game were created by the same Man & published by the same group, they were turn based strategy games, (not real time as most of the other games), u get to move units in the order u want & whenever u want, making the resources also increase per turn, not by time.

what makes this game special, is that its not about how fast can u make an army ready & when exactly u attack, similar to chess (which I dont exactly like to play :D) u move when u study the move & know what to expect.

U build units that take 'N' turns & cost 'C' & have an upkeep of 'U' gold & strength 'S' , U capture towns that can build the A,B & C units & has an income of X gold, & lots & lots more things to consider. The Game is extremely Tactical.

Warlords 3 was quite different, it was a real-time strategy game adding new units & features, it was released in 1997.I
it's Expansion pack wasn't very successful as it had a difficult market with FPS (First person shooters) & MMOGs (Massive Multiplayer Online Games)
By the release of windows XP, several issues appeared in the game (LONG LIVE MacOS :D :D), there were no support for it, & even when Ubi Soft bought the name, they failed to solve those issues, but they were mainly being worked on by the Game fans

Warlords 4: (My Favorite :D)
The game returned back on 2003 by Ubi Soft to turn based strategy, although the game had some development problems as the game was dropped from infinity interactive plans & the code was in a very messy condition for 3 years, but they re-wrote it from scratch in 6 months & unfortunately there were some imbalances in the game, so it had a 70% score (10% less than the previous warlords 3 & its expansion)
Those imbalances were fixed on 2006 in the 1.04 update but it was too late to make ppl play it again (but it was fixed :D, lucky me I started playing it in November last year :D)
The same team on warlords 4 has also been working on Seven Kingdoms, Warlords Champions and heroes of might & magic 5 (another great turn based game).
& there has also been some talk abt Warlords 5, but nothing official yet.

Steve Fawkner Thank you for this game & I'm looking forward for the next