FirstFound Help Clients Maximise Their Websites Potential

It doesn’t take a degree in economics to realise that times are difficult, but last December actually saw an increased level of online shopping 25% higher than the year before, showing that people are turning to the Internet to find the best deals, latest products and bargain credit-crunch gifts.

FirstFound Quarterly Magazine

Today FirstFound offers it’s clients many services including professional copyrighting, human translation services along with the full range of web design and e-commerce solutions.  Last month saw the launch of Optimise, FirstFound’s Quarterly Magazine, packed full of SEO tips, case studies and special offers to help their clients get the most out of optimisation and the Web.

With e-commerce continually growing, and an ever growing number of companies becoming more web savvy, Tweeting their Blogs, Googling their Facebook and Binging their Diggs (even my favourite news reader John Snow is at it!) we can rely on FirstFound to show us the way forward.

Atari STe Turbo Pack

In my neglected retro video games review section, I have a rare treat I’ve been meaning to post for some time. Dragons Breath ( A.K.A Dragon Lord) existed for a brief period early in 1990 for the Atari ST, PC and AMIGA machines, written by Palace Software who declared bankruptcy later that year. To be honest, the only reason I ended up with a copy was because I bought the Atari STe 520 Turbo Pack (mostly because it included STOS – a great game programming language, along with other great titles such as Outrun, Bloodmoney).  It wasn’t until weeks later, when I was bored with the other 7 games, that I literally found Dragons Breath in the box.  It’s probably quite ironic that I showed it to my school pals who all became quickly addicted.  By the time it became a regular game for us to play, it was no longer available to buy, and thanks to some careful copy protection was very difficult to pirate.

[ Download Dragons Breath (Atari ST version) | Dragons Breath Video | Dragons Breath Spells ]

Dragons Breath by Palace Software – A Game Ahead of It’s Time

It was Pokemon, decades before it’s time – you play as one of three reclusive alchemists living in the the mythical land of Anrea who breed dragons, train them, use them to capture villages and rule, enforcing taxes which go to pay for your dragons upkeep, food, and to buy potions to allow you to cast spells to make your dragons stronger or villages more prosperous. You also have a supply of dragon eggs, and incubators (the heating bill of incubating new dragon eggs is astronomical!). You personally name and train all the new dragons, giving it an inescapable appeal similar to the Tamagochi / Pokemon games. Especially as some of the dragons will end up fighting to the very death during the course of the game.

The Dragons Breath Land of Anrea

The objective of Dragons Breath is to use your dragons to capture three parts of a magical Talisman – said to be scattered about the land, and towns – the possession of which is said to unlock the secrets of immortality. The dragons will fight each other, fight to defend territory, each having stats which depend on a combination of their physical health, any spells you cast and their overall experience. There are logs of daily events that tells you of any princesses or prominent members of the land of Anrea that have been kidnapped or taken hostage – and should you choose – your dragons can risk their own skin by intervening in order for you to collect the reward money. The logs also say which villages do battle with other villages, allowing you to take sides and help to decide a war if this suits your goals for any particular reason.

Oceans and Oceans of Potions

Dragons Breath Chemistry Set

Dragons Breath even has elements of games such as Populous – and one of my favourite tactic was invading an already well developed city, and then using a spell I discovered using Acrus (Normal, Heat) and Churl (Heat, Grind) that would double their technology and add about half it’s population again, which I would repeat until it was a sprawling metropolis armed to the teeth with futuristic guns. The people begin to love you, and you can even call the dragon back with the magic whistle, and the people of the city will still willingly let you rule them and tax them to hell because of their amazing prosperity.

Most Dragon spells, start with something like Rasgon, here is a complete list of spells I know, combined with some I have found on the Internet:

DRAGONS BREATH SPELLS
Increase Eyesight (Increases health and strength, but reduces your speed)
2 x RASGON	- Grind and heat
2 x IGELE	– Normal and heat
1 x ACRUS	– Mix and heat
Maximum Eyesight (Does not affect speed, but requires more Igele)
2 x RASGON	- Grind and heat
4 x IGELE	– Normal and heat
Increase Speed
2 x RASGON	- Grind and heat
2 x MAGOEM	- Grind and heat
Increase Speed
2 x RASGON	- Grind and heat
2 x AROLIG	- Normal and heat
1 x ACRUS	– Mix and heat
Increase Wisdom (Reduces eyesight)
2 x RASGON	– Grind and heat
2 x HALORUS	- Cut and condense
1 x ACRUS	— Mix and heat
Increase Strength and Health
2 x RASGON	- Grind and heat
2 x ULIN	— Mix and heat
1 x ACRUS	– Grind and condense
Dragon Spell
3 x RASGON	- Grind and heat
3 x HALOROS	- Cut and full condense
3 x IGELE	- Normal, heat and medium condense
2 x RASGON	- Grind and heat
Village Spell	(triples village population, automatic industrial strength 9)
4 x CHURL	Mix and heat
6 x TIUS	Grind, heat and full condense

It is strange that I bought the Atari STe Turbo Pack for other reasons, and never even played this game until I was bored of the others, only to find that by this time it was no longer on sale!