Saturday, July 31, 2004
I Didn't Intend This To Be A News Blog
The official Doom 3 Trailer is out, although you would probably be better off not watching it if you have already decided to buy the game as it covers bits of the plot we haven't seen before.
I Should Probably Go Bed Now
A Tale In The Desert 2 Beta Sign-up has started. So if you are a FilePlanet subscriber you can sign-up Here. Otherwise you will have to wait for the open beta (if there is one).
No idea what it's about, but I didn't bother with the first one because it looked dull, but I might as well give the second one a better chance since the first one got such good reviews.
No idea what it's about, but I didn't bother with the first one because it looked dull, but I might as well give the second one a better chance since the first one got such good reviews.
Friday, July 30, 2004
Electronic Arts Is The Most Hated Publisher
Evil Avatar had a Poll running on it's forum asking people to vote for the publisher they hated the most, and EA won by 45% of the votes.
It's an old thread now, but I always wanted to check back to see how the voting went. And I can't agree more with the result because EA has degraded our art.
It's an old thread now, but I always wanted to check back to see how the voting went. And I can't agree more with the result because EA has degraded our art.
Random Quote
I was reading Joe Phillip's Blog and he was ranting about GW and Kerry, then he said this.
I just think that's a great one for the coming election.
"You wouldn't let your grandmother pick out your clothes, why would you let her pick your President?"
I just think that's a great one for the coming election.
Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 Demo Comming Soon
I was reading this little Update Article over at IGN and right at the end they mention that the team is planning to release a Demo in September!
Development Of Doom3 Video
FilePlanet has a TechTV Video about the development of Doom3.
The content on the video and snippets from interviews are good enough for me to tell you that is's worth downloading, but it certainly didn't run right on my computer. I checked the encoding and I can't see anything wrong, but it's only a constant stutter so it doesn't spoil the content too much.
The content on the video and snippets from interviews are good enough for me to tell you that is's worth downloading, but it certainly didn't run right on my computer. I checked the encoding and I can't see anything wrong, but it's only a constant stutter so it doesn't spoil the content too much.
Guild Wars Interview
IGN has an Interview with one of the Guild Wars developers.
I' am actually stoked about Guild Wars because it is so tantalisingly revolutionary. Let me take you through my E3 experience.
The install file was like 258Kb, I started the game (no patching screens, just started up there-and-then when I clicked the shortcut), I entered in my account details, created my character and started playing. Normally with MMO games I download a 1.2GB install file and then spend the next three hours (or even 12 hours in the case of Lineage2) updating the game I just installed, before I can play, but with Guild Wars it was seamless. There is sometimes a delay when you load a level for the first time, but that's only a couple of MB.
The first thing that struck me while paying was that I couldn't see any other players. Normally the start area has a terrible amount of lag because so many people are connecting and then changing control settings or going through their inventory after connecting, but here I was alone. I now know that's because GW is both a combination of single and multiplayer gameplay. I was in my singleplayer sandbox area.
There where some monsters in-front of me so I told my guy to kill them (and the bot mapping is excellent so you can tell your guy to kill something a mile away and he will find his way there and do it all by himself). After I had killed the monsters I walked towards what looked like a market outside of a gigantic gate, but then this guy came running out of the market (an NPC) calling my character's name and telling me to follow him.
I followed this guy and as I was running behind him he was telling me about some elemental monsters that had gone berserk, and he wanted me to kill them. I didn't formally accept the quest or anything I just did it.
The gigantic gate with the market outside was actually an area connector where I later connected to a player populated area. The first thing I noticed when first stepping into this area was the lack of any lag. Everybody was running around, talking and trading without anybody jumping around in the distance. It was all very smooth, as if I was playing a singleplayer game, but these where all actual players just like me.
On the final day for the E3 trial a guy was added to the city with a group quest. Now I hadn't been playing the game much because I was too busy with all the other E3 stuff, but I talked to this NPC in the player city and he told me of this big dragon and asked me if I would kill it. I accepted the quest and whet to the place he said to goto. Now let me just tell you something, until this point I had never had a group MMO experience. Maybe on Planetside, but certainly not on anything like Asheron's Call call 2 where you accept a quest and then have to go find a group to do the quest with.
When I got to the area I found it to be a small village themed surrounded by mountains. This was just a player meeting area designed so that people wanting to go and do this specific quest could create a group here first before doing the quest. I was invited to join a group by someone I hadn't even spoken to and when we had enough players we all teleported to the quest area (the person that starts the group does this). Creating a group in this manor and getting into a quest that everyone wants to do is dead easy and quite frankly I am surprised more MMOs don't do something similar.
We all then had a great time going through this private (quest exclusive) areas of ours and at the end we killed this dragon. Afterwards I went back to the guy that gave me the quest and he gave me my reward (some gold or something), but the fact remains my first MMORPG group experience with GW was easy to setup and the most fun I had with the game over those three days. Setting up a group in other games is long and tiresum, but in GW it's quick and temporary. And it works wonderfully.
I am stoked about GW and since it's free we are all going to be able to enjoy it together.
I' am actually stoked about Guild Wars because it is so tantalisingly revolutionary. Let me take you through my E3 experience.
The install file was like 258Kb, I started the game (no patching screens, just started up there-and-then when I clicked the shortcut), I entered in my account details, created my character and started playing. Normally with MMO games I download a 1.2GB install file and then spend the next three hours (or even 12 hours in the case of Lineage2) updating the game I just installed, before I can play, but with Guild Wars it was seamless. There is sometimes a delay when you load a level for the first time, but that's only a couple of MB.
The first thing that struck me while paying was that I couldn't see any other players. Normally the start area has a terrible amount of lag because so many people are connecting and then changing control settings or going through their inventory after connecting, but here I was alone. I now know that's because GW is both a combination of single and multiplayer gameplay. I was in my singleplayer sandbox area.
There where some monsters in-front of me so I told my guy to kill them (and the bot mapping is excellent so you can tell your guy to kill something a mile away and he will find his way there and do it all by himself). After I had killed the monsters I walked towards what looked like a market outside of a gigantic gate, but then this guy came running out of the market (an NPC) calling my character's name and telling me to follow him.
I followed this guy and as I was running behind him he was telling me about some elemental monsters that had gone berserk, and he wanted me to kill them. I didn't formally accept the quest or anything I just did it.
The gigantic gate with the market outside was actually an area connector where I later connected to a player populated area. The first thing I noticed when first stepping into this area was the lack of any lag. Everybody was running around, talking and trading without anybody jumping around in the distance. It was all very smooth, as if I was playing a singleplayer game, but these where all actual players just like me.
On the final day for the E3 trial a guy was added to the city with a group quest. Now I hadn't been playing the game much because I was too busy with all the other E3 stuff, but I talked to this NPC in the player city and he told me of this big dragon and asked me if I would kill it. I accepted the quest and whet to the place he said to goto. Now let me just tell you something, until this point I had never had a group MMO experience. Maybe on Planetside, but certainly not on anything like Asheron's Call call 2 where you accept a quest and then have to go find a group to do the quest with.
When I got to the area I found it to be a small village themed surrounded by mountains. This was just a player meeting area designed so that people wanting to go and do this specific quest could create a group here first before doing the quest. I was invited to join a group by someone I hadn't even spoken to and when we had enough players we all teleported to the quest area (the person that starts the group does this). Creating a group in this manor and getting into a quest that everyone wants to do is dead easy and quite frankly I am surprised more MMOs don't do something similar.
We all then had a great time going through this private (quest exclusive) areas of ours and at the end we killed this dragon. Afterwards I went back to the guy that gave me the quest and he gave me my reward (some gold or something), but the fact remains my first MMORPG group experience with GW was easy to setup and the most fun I had with the game over those three days. Setting up a group in other games is long and tiresum, but in GW it's quick and temporary. And it works wonderfully.
I am stoked about GW and since it's free we are all going to be able to enjoy it together.
Stuff To Avoid!
Some news guys have been raving about some stuff recently because it's been a slow news month, but there are some thing you should avoid.
- GameSpy's article on the Top 10 Best Box Arts because it's dull, and contains no objective opinions on boxart design. It's all painted artwork from games the writer likes.
- New RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 videos over at FileFront. Frankly they suck because they are 20MB, very short and contains no interesting footage, or sound.
Thursday, July 29, 2004
Star Wars: Republic Commando Walkthrough
I have watched a few RC developer commentary films and this is probably the best simply because it shows off a typical mission from start to where the player dies. And is just a good general demonstration of the game.
It's coming out on the PC and XBox in a bit and I can't wait.
It's coming out on the PC and XBox in a bit and I can't wait.
Game Gives Kid Ideas And Turns Him Into A Killer
It's been all over the news and you can read it Here
This is silly, messed up kid plays game, gives him ideas and he kills. Parent knowing he was troubled should not have let him play a game that was rated as not suitable for him because of it's graphic violence anyway.
Then take LAN Parties. Probably twenty guys all in a confined space, it's hot, there are flashing lights, noisy music, blood curdling screams, people shouting at one another, very violent games being played, the testosterone is pumping and yet it's the friendliest atmosphere you are ever likely to get as a gamer.
I am not blaming his parent for the kids death, but I do feel parents in general need to consider the consequences of that media they are exposing their kids to.
This is silly, messed up kid plays game, gives him ideas and he kills. Parent knowing he was troubled should not have let him play a game that was rated as not suitable for him because of it's graphic violence anyway.
Then take LAN Parties. Probably twenty guys all in a confined space, it's hot, there are flashing lights, noisy music, blood curdling screams, people shouting at one another, very violent games being played, the testosterone is pumping and yet it's the friendliest atmosphere you are ever likely to get as a gamer.
I am not blaming his parent for the kids death, but I do feel parents in general need to consider the consequences of that media they are exposing their kids to.
Couple Of New Demos
- Sherlock Holmes and The Silver Earring
In the demo you play Sherlock Holmes, who has been asked to goto an evening of entertainment at some estate to access if a singer is a security risk or not to someone in the government. While Lord something, is giving a speech he is shot and it is upto Holmes to find the culprit.
As an adventure game it's typical, grab anything that isn't nailed down and bother everybody will silly questions until you are blue in the face. I like how recent games have abandoned the keyboard interface and gone back to good old fashioned point and click, reminiscent of the Lucasarts classic adventure games like Full Throttle, Sam & Max, The Dig and Monkey Island.
I can't finish the demo because frankly it's too hard. I have probably missed something, but I have so many silly little powder samples that my inventory is confusing. The voice acting is adequate, but the dialogue is bland and the demo craves for more dialogue between Holmes and the suspects. At one point a maid talks about how the Cook sometimes sleeps in the cellar and she asks Holmes not to tell anyone because she doesn't want to get him into trouble. At this point I was screaming for Holmes to say something polite like "You can count on my discretion miss," bit NOTHING!!! The gormless git just stands there! However Holmes gained the respect of high society while being so blatantly rude is beyond me.
All in all I won't be buying the full game because it's an uninspiring title that feels more like a chore than any literary classic. - Monster Garage
Now this I did like.
The TV series goes like this. Some guys are given a car, $3000 and seven days to turn the car into something else. For-instance turning a Volkswagen Beetle into an Airboat (level3 of the full game).
The demo is a massive 583MB, but that's because this is actually the full game with all, but the first two levels locked (it's a trial). So you have to register it before you can play through the whole game. I have bought games through this method before, more recently CSI Dark Motives, and it's a really sweet way to guy games because after I make the decision to buy it, I can be playing it in under three hours or even less if I made the decision to buy the game from the trial version because then I already have the full game installed and it only needs the CD key, but I digress.
The game is constructed thus, you first get a briefing taken directly from the TV series (makes the game feel very immersive, as if you are apart of the show), then you have to unscrew, cut and generally disassemble the car you are modifying. Get new parts, either by buying them, building them or modifying the parts you already took off, and then reassemble the car with the new parts.
It's not so much a fun sandbox construction game, but more of a puzzle game where you have to figure-out what parts you have to buy and in what quantities, balanced against the part delivery time, to completing the car before your construction time is up. And also fit the parts back in the right order to create your new machine. After you have constructed your new beast of a car or whatever, you have to complete a challenge to prove your machine's worth (usually something like drive through three check points).
Like I said, I liked it, but you will have to play through each level several times to get the right parts and the construction correct.
NOTE: As there are not in-game hints for this, it's single right click to open a door, and left click on a part and then right click on the bolts to remove a part.
Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Respect Copyrights Campainge Website
I was reading IGN looking for any interesting movie news and I spotted an advert for This site.
It's a campaign dedicated to getting people to stop download copies of films, software, music and books, but instead go to a shop and buy them. I know it's not convenient for many people, but they do have a point.
It's a campaign dedicated to getting people to stop download copies of films, software, music and books, but instead go to a shop and buy them. I know it's not convenient for many people, but they do have a point.
Transfer Speed On My New USB Flash Drive
I found a Little Freeware App that helped me clock the read speed on my hard drives at about 50MB/s, my floppy disk drive at 20KB/s and my new flash drive at 848KB/s. So that's 0.8MB/s transfer speed. Nowhere near 10MB/s, but I am still very happy with my little new drive.
I think the problem is to do with my hardware or software setup, so maybe when I get to uni I will be able to utilise my new drives full speed.
I think the problem is to do with my hardware or software setup, so maybe when I get to uni I will be able to utilise my new drives full speed.
My New USB Flash Drive
I use these for my work when I am at uni and since my old one's case was falling off after a good years worth I decided to get a New One.
I have clocked it's transfer speed at 857KB/s (using a big file and a stopwatch), but people are claiming 10MB/s so this is going to require some further investigation, but I am very happy with it wither I can get 10MB/s or not.
I have clocked it's transfer speed at 857KB/s (using a big file and a stopwatch), but people are claiming 10MB/s so this is going to require some further investigation, but I am very happy with it wither I can get 10MB/s or not.
Nvidia Drivers (WinXP/2k - 61.77)
New Drivers
Offers support for PCI Express and Pixel shader 3 if your hardware supports it.
I don't think there is any point in me downloading these because I only have a Ti4600 and there is likely to be no benefit in me installing there, but I probably will anyway.
Offers support for PCI Express and Pixel shader 3 if your hardware supports it.
I don't think there is any point in me downloading these because I only have a Ti4600 and there is likely to be no benefit in me installing there, but I probably will anyway.
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Halo 2 - Alternate Reality Game
An Alternate Reality Game or ARG. Is a game where you are given clues on various forms of media that lead to other clues, and thus allows the player to follow a story.
Bungie (makers of Halo) is currently running one for the launch of Halo 2.
If you watch the new Halo 2 trailer currently showing at the cinema. At the end, it will give a link to www.ilovebees.com hidden in a slight flicker of the XBox website address.
If you go there you will find an apparently corrupted website with some odd code running on the server. And from the looks of things the game is set to begin in 27days, so keep an eye out and this could turn interesting.
Bungie (makers of Halo) is currently running one for the launch of Halo 2.
If you watch the new Halo 2 trailer currently showing at the cinema. At the end, it will give a link to www.ilovebees.com hidden in a slight flicker of the XBox website address.
If you go there you will find an apparently corrupted website with some odd code running on the server. And from the looks of things the game is set to begin in 27days, so keep an eye out and this could turn interesting.
Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy Teaser
Download the teaser NOW!
http://www.chud.com/HHGTTG_teaser.avi
I and many, many other fans have been waiting years for this and it's fully in production and will be released world wide in about 12 months!!!
http://www.chud.com/HHGTTG_teaser.avi
I and many, many other fans have been waiting years for this and it's fully in production and will be released world wide in about 12 months!!!
DirectX 9.0c Part 2
Turns out 9.0c has been released. You can get it officially Here.
This is the version bundled with games and not the one Microsoft will release later that will only download the files to your system that are needed (minimises wasted bandwidth).
This is the version bundled with games and not the one Microsoft will release later that will only download the files to your system that are needed (minimises wasted bandwidth).
DirectX 9.0c
I found a copy on This site, but there is no mention of it yet on Microsoft's DirectX page. So I wouldn't recommend downloading it as it might be a hacked version, or even worse an Ms beta.
Monday, July 26, 2004
The Rules
I have seen many bloggers Suffer for their art and become victims of their own desire to blog.
So I have created a list of rules for this blog appropriately titled:
So I have created a list of rules for this blog appropriately titled:
DO NOT POST.txt
- Don't post about Sex
- About anything illegal
- Or names of people
So hopefully I will be able to avoid disaster. Now if you will excuse me I have an episode of Lexx to watch.
Ban Comic Sans, SIC!
There is a website for everything and This site is trying to ban the Comic Sans type font.
Scary UT2004 Mod
Just spotted This mod. Looks very scary, and the artwork is nice, so there is a chance this could be a great UT2004 mod. You know the type you will tell your grandkids about.
I am Up
Twelve hours sleep and I feel like I have wasted my morning. And anything less and I feel tired. Literally there's no way of winning. So I might as well go back to my warm bed.
First day of blogging over
I am tired *yawn*
This first day of blogging has been interesting, well good night folks. See you in the morning.
This first day of blogging has been interesting, well good night folks. See you in the morning.
Anarchy Online - Leet Invasion Pre-order
I was reading This page on the new virtual pet thing being added to Anarchy Online and it says
Is that even ethical? Cuz it's not setting a good example for young gamers, or even older gamers for that matter. Who would even do such a thing!!!
"Funcom has also included the possibility to pit the Leets against each other in pet fights."
Is that even ethical? Cuz it's not setting a good example for young gamers, or even older gamers for that matter. Who would even do such a thing!!!
MailboxMovies Fan
Well I just created MailboxMovies Fan blog site. It will be interesting to see how this develops.
Inevitable
Thinking about this blog, it's inevitable that I would eventually start one as most webmasters [these days] have blogs and I have tried more than a couple of times to do the website thing, but as with my webmastering attempts I also feel it is inevitable that publishing my thoughts for the world to read will get tiresome and I will stop doing it.... sooner or later anyway.
Trialling Google Bar
Got fed-up with EMS so I am trialling the Google Toolbar!!!
If I had read this post two hours ago I would have thought I was mad.
If I had read this post two hours ago I would have thought I was mad.
Sunday, July 25, 2004
Note To Self
When posting on forums STAY ON TOPIC! It's just one of those annoying things I do. I see a post that moves me, and so I feel I have to post about the post, but my post if off topic. So in posing my post, I am making myself look like a prat.
Popup Blocker Annoyance
For some strange reason I can't seem to got EMS Popup blocker to allow the little quick post blog window. And that's alloying because this little window saves SO much time.
First Post!!!
Blogs are evil! And inevitably lead to self destruction by allowing the blogger to have a ever present companion that always agree and never criticises their point of view.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
