Transmission tower in Dreamtopia, inspired by San Francisco’s Sutro Tower

Earlier this week, the ngmoco:) team behind We Rule released our latest game: Dreamtopia! (Currently only available for Android.)

The basic premise behind the game is that you have have the ability to make dreams come true — in order to do that, you need to build things to fulfill various goals for each character.

Imagine my surprise when I saw this absolutely awesome take on San Francisco’s very own Sutro Tower inside our game! I think it raises a valid point:

How awesome would it be if there were a restaurant / observation deck on top of Sutro Tower?

I’m not the only one to wonder this. Three years ago, Laughing Squid had an awesome post on what it was like from the top of Sutro Tower.

Photo by El Caganer

So, who do we have to talk to in order to make this happen?

Practicing my Space Shuttle landing skills., originally uploaded by Dave Schumaker.

I figured since I’m heading to Cape Canaveral and all, I should start brushing up on my shuttle landing skills. You never know if a crew member suddenly comes down with an illness and they’ll need to replace them with someone from the NASA Tweetup. Yeah… sure.

You can check out the above space shuttle simulator on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod by downloading F-SIM Space Shuttle from the App Store.

So, I wanted to see if it was even possible to play. Are you ready for this mark of desperation?

Civ V running on Windows 7. In a Parallels for OS X virtual machine. Via a VNC client on my iPhone. What?! So, what happened? Screen shots below!

Yes?

Yes.

YES!

NOOOOO!

A lot has changed since Civ IV has been released.

Since then, I’ve apparently adopted the full-on hipster lifestyle as I work at a savy web startup here in San Francisco. Obviously, that means that all my computers are now Macs. (I donated the last PC I built to some family members last year — before that, it was relegated to a bed stand beside my bed.)

Anyway, I’m literally dying at the thought of not being able to play Civ V.

So, I’m considering my options. Here they are:

1. Install WinXP (I still have my legit installation CD! Can you believe it? Remember when operating systems fit on CD’s, instead of DVD’s? Let’s not forget floppy disks either…) in a Bootcamp partition. What this does is basically create a dual booting operating system on my laptop. Pros: It’s basically like running Windows on a normal computer (no performance hit, etc). Cons: I have to reboot my computer every single time I want to play (which will be often). Fortunately, most of the work I do is either in a web browser or text editor, so not too big of a loss. Cost to me: $0 (besides buying Civ V)

2. Install WinXP in a VM such a Parallels or VM Ware Fusion. Parallels just announced a new version that apparently increases performance of the guest operating system as a whole, and even improves the graphics capabilities of programs running within it. Pros: I don’t have to reboot my computer every time I want to play Civ V (face it, it’s going to be running 24/7). Plus these VMs have come a long way. I can run Windows applications nearly seamlessly, right alongside my Mac. In fact, I used to play a few Windows only games this way (this is a story for another time)! Cons: Performance generally blows. Running a full on operating system within another takes a lot of processing power and memory. And leaves little else (especially when you’re running intensive apps WITHIN that O/S!) Cost to me: ~$80 USD as I need to buy either Parallels or Fusion.

3. Install Crossover. Crossover is an ingenious app that allows Linux or OS X users to run a number of Windows games on their computers without installing the operating system itself. It recreates a number of the Windows DLLs (completely legally) and tries to sort of “emulate” the Windows environment. People have had Half Life, Civ IV (I used to play it this way), Quake and other games running pretty well! Pros: I used to play Civ IV nearly flawlessly this way, even through Steam! Plus, I don’t have to install Windows on my machine. Cons: It doesn’t always support the latest games and it takes awhile for the code to be updated in order to support something that might not work. It’s kind of hit or miss. AND I CANNOT AFFORD TO MISS. Cost to me: $0 (Technically, it’s ~$40 USD, but I already own a Crossover license)

4. Suck it up and buy / build a new computer. I’ve though about this. I really have! It’s tempting. And I have to say, between having a PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, various iOS devices… I don’t game much on a computer anymore (and I genuinely miss it!). And the only thing I would be buying a PC for would be for Civilization V. There aren’t too many PC only games on the horizon that I am interested in. Pros: Full on, double computing power for playing Civ V! It’s so intense. Cons: I’d have to buy a new computer. And it would only be for Civ. Cost to me: ~$500+ USD.

Are any of you facing a similar dilemma? Even if you’re not, what do you think you would do?

Here is a helpful guide on how one can quit their addition to Civ.

[Via Ryan]

Here’s the trailer.

It’s going to be an extraordinarily long wait until Fall 2010.

Recently, I downloaded a game for the iPhone called “Words with Friends.” It’s very similar to Scrabble, with a different board and slightly different letter values (one would assume to avoid Scrabble’s IP lawyers).

Many of my family and friends are playing the game and we’re all having fun trying to best each other’s scores. I like to think I have a good vocabulary, but apparently I don’t know how to effectively play for points, as evidenced above by the 60-point bomb that Kerry dropped on me, two moves into the game!

No matter though. I’ll just have to brush up on the following video, “Fighting dirty in Scrabble.”