Strategic Fun
A game I just finished up in Tiberian Sun:
The blue computer was Brian, but he got raped when Red and Yellow began rushing him. I managed to hold myself with several Orca Bombers and SAM and RPG sites. After a while, I amassed enough credits and built myself another base. My goal was to build enough units and then zerg Red. That didn't happen. He found out where my group of units was and wiped them out. I still hadn't found Yellow's base. :???: I ended up surrending because there was no way I could beat them in a reasonable amount of time. And since I had started this game on the network with Brian, I couldn't save at all. Oh well. It was AWESOME nonetheless. Challenging and long. Just how these games should be. Man, it's been a LONG time since I've played an RTS. I forgot what I was missing!
About Freaking Time!
It's about freaking time for two things:
a) I'M OUT OF SCHOOOOOLLLOL!!! Everyone else (save for the Sophomores who go to MST, those who took Japanese 3, and probably a few select others) still has one more day left. Mwahahaha!
b) Dad got a new computer. It's freaking awesome. I'm typing this up on his machine right now. The case is a VERY sleek, glossy, dark gray. It was made by Antec, which is a very good case manufacturer. The only problem with the case is that it has one of those door things that covers the drive bays. Personally, I don't like that, but it looks damn nice when it's closed. AND IT'S DAMN QUIET TOO! I turned it on, it kind of buzzed at me (must be the new beep?), and I swear I couldn't hear a thing at first. Freaking awesome.
It boots in NO TIME. I didn't clock it, but it was amazing how quickly it booted! It's an Athlon 64 3800+, socket 939. 1GB of RAM (2 512 sticks, dual channel). Nvidia GeForce 6600GT 128mb PCI-X. It's awesome. It has TWO onboard ethernet adapters (the in use is 100Mbps, the one not in use is 1Gbps; I should seriously switch them), and WinXP apparently recognizes the onboard firewire as ANOTHER network adapter! For that connection, it says it has a speed of 400Mbps. :shock: He has onboard 8.1 channel surround sound AND SPDIF and optical out! Damn! He can both output and INPUT video through the 6600GT. Composite, svideo, component (!), dvi, and vga. It's got this nifty dongle thing. Of course, there's SLI support incase he should ever want to buy another 6600GT for to play some games. :wink: He also has a DVD-Rom that supports not only DVD+R Dual Layer, but DVD+RW. NICE!
Two 80GB SATA harddrives set up in a RAID 0 config make for a FAST, 160GB harddrive! He's also got another firewire port via an addon card as well as four USB ports on the back of the motherboard, two on an addon card (along with a gameport, what for though? Most joysticks and such are USB today), and two on the front of the tower. All chugging along nicely with a 350W power supply... 350W, exactly what mine is. If I had ordered this system, I probably would have gone up to a 500W power supply, but it's not my system. The grand total was roughly $1,500. NOT BAD! When I got my machine in August, it cost me ~$1000 WITH a monitor ('twas around $900 without the monitor). He already had a monitor. All in all, VERY nice machine!
The graphics card came with a bunch of games. I opened up the motherboard box and it was almost bursting with CDs! Here's all the CDs that came with the machine:
- MSI 3D Desktop
- WinDVD Creator Plus
- Photoshop Album 1.0 + some 3D-Album thing
- InterVideo WinDVD 5.1 Channel
- VirtualDrive Professional + RestoreIT! Professional
- Ability PC System Restore CD Disc 1
- Ability PC System Restore CD Disc 2
- NVIDIA nForce 4 Motherboard Drivers
- MSI Multimedia Beyond 3D
- NERO OEM Suite ("For DVD-ReWriters only" Odd. Plus it comes with DOS drivers ^_^)
- Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2
- PowerDVD 5
- WinDVD Suite featuring WinDVD, WinDVD Creator, DVD Copy 2, Disc Master 2
- MSI Games Collection DVD (the only real notable title was Splinter Cell, which I got with the GeForce FX 5200 in Brian's machine)
- URU: Ages Beyond Myst
- XIII (yes!) CD 1
- XIII CD 2
- XIII CD 3
- XIII CD 4
- Prince of Persia The Sands of Time (already have it on Gamecube) CD 1
- Prince of Persia The Sands of Time CD 2
I took the games CDs <_<
Speaking of games... I downloaded Nexuiz and unzipped it (no install required, there's also a linux client included and a Mac client in the works; it also runs on 64-bit Linux out of the box). Despite the fact that my machine exceeds the minimum requirements, the game doesn't run too well on the default settings. I had to bump the resolution down and turn of the Dynamic Real World Lighting (not to be confused with the Dynamic Lighting :ugh:) and the Realtime Shadows (My experience with Doom3 has showed me that Realtime Shadows can be a bitch). I launch it up on Dad's machine, it ran very well with the default settings. I turn off the Dynamic Real World Lighting, and it's butter smooth. Awe-freaking-some. I also copied over PSOBB from Brian's computer and played a bit on here :cool: Keep quiet though.. This isn't a gaming machine <_<
I'm still amazed at how quiet this thing runs. Mine's a freaking lawn mower compared to this thing. (can't forget about that dude in Andrew and Paul's WoW guild who's machine sounds like an airport :lol:)
Note: Nexuiz is a free game licensed under the GPL. It runs on the Darkplaces engine, which is a heavily modified Quake1 engine. It is a fast and furious multiplayer game that harks back to the oldschool deathmatch style of Doom and Quake. None of this objective, vehicle-based, stealthy bullshit; FRAG FRAG FRAG!!! It's freaking awesome. It can be bit a heavy on the graphics though, so one is advised to turn them down, especially if you know your machine can't handle things like blooming, dynamic shadows, dynamic real world lighting, dynamic lighting, etc. I'd recommend everyone check this game out. Hopefully it can be added to the repertoire of games that we have available to us during the LAN Parties.
Let the Boredom Ensue!
So it is currently fourth hour, Bio AP. I walk into class to find that only Jacqueline (spelling?) is there. We waited roughly five minutes before walking out. On our way out we checked the teacher's lounge, and to no surprise we saw that Mr. Jenkins was no where to be found. As you may recall, Bio AP was made up entirely of seniors, and Jacky and me. She went to lunch to hang out with some friends, I went to the counseling computer lab because the library has been out of service for the past few weeks (due to construction). I wonder if it'll be like this for the rest of the year (four more full days of school, once of which has two exams)..
As evidenced by Suga D up there (looking pretty good, might I add), I have been playing a LOT of PSOBB. At first I thought it would be hard to-- fourth hour bell rang... 'tis sixth hour now-- At first I thought it would be hard to start over without any of my characters or items and such from the Gamecube version, but it's actually been quite fun starting over from scratch, raising new mags, finding new styles of play, etc. Yesterday, I spent five hours raising my HUcast's mag from level 66 to level 100. He was specially raised so that he would evolve into a rare mag. Minutes of planning, hours of executing. I still have to level it to level 200 too, but now I can do so without worrying that it won't evolve correctly.
I also made some header images for Magger and Satoshi. Magger and Suga D are brand new characters, but Satoshi is a recreation of Spike94 back on PSOGC (my main three PSOGC characters can be seen in this composite I did way back when).
Hm... Shortened classes due to Freshmen orientation (for the incoming class of 2009) make the day go by quicker.
So this morning I was in the bathroom. (Don't worry, nothing bad.) I took my glasses off because they were bothering me and tried to move the left nosepad into a better position. *SNAP* Well, not so much *SNAP* as it was just a break.. So... I'm wearing them now... With out a nosepad... It's actually not so bothersome, especially after I used my pencil to poke around what little bit was left in the thing. That's not to say that I don't want to get them fixed as soon as possible, though. Mom said she'd go and get them fixed today, while I was at school, but there's no way I'm going through half that day without being able to see. It just isn't happening.
A few of my classes are quite empty now that the seniors left (which is kinda weird, seeing as how I actually new a bunch of seniors this year), Lifetime Leisure Activites among them. We went outside to play kickball. How is kickball a life leisure activity? At least we didn't play Softball like we were supposed to. Actually, we're supposed to be playing disc golf, boche, and ultimate frisbee, but I don't see that happening anytime soon. We've been on this kickball thing for the past four, maybe five, weeks. Anyway, today was surprisingly warm. The sun was in our eyes when we were up to "bat." I got sweaty after my first run (I actually made it home :shock:) and took off my hoodie. I haven't been able to get rid of that dirty, sweaty feeling. Tomorrow, I think I'm actually gonna change my shirt (normally I just change into a pair of shorts, I saw no reason to change shirts for ping pong and the like) and bring in some deodorant. Probably Brian's, the one he doesn't use. The one that has a smell (mine is unscented, for the win). Why scented? Well, it'll cover up that sweat smell. I'll try not to use too much, don't wanna stink up the rest of the school now..
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Wow... I didn't post this post already? I typed this all up during 4th and 6th hour yesterday, May 31st. It is now 2nd hour June 1st. Time to actually post something...
Button, Button, Who’s Got the Button?
So after playing PSOBB for a few days, I've realized that I really need a controller in order to play this game. You can play it with the keyboard, but there's almost no way I can get used to it. I found this nifty adapter at Play Asia. It allows one to hook up a Gamecube controller, a PlayStation controller, and/or a Dreamcast controller. I also found one that allowed you to hook up an Xbox controller instead of a DC controller, but it was a bit more expensive and I doubt I will ever get hold of an Xbox controller. A DC controller, on the other hand, would be very easy to acquire, seeing as how Jason has a few. Dunno if I would ever use it, though. It's mostly there just because it can be.
Problem is, I can't use my Wavebird (Nintendo's official wireless controller) with this adapter. Or any adapter for that matter. For some reason, it seems as if the Wavebird interfaces with the Gamecube differently than the regular, corded controller. Third party controllers work fine (as well as third party wireless controllers) because they imitate a regular, corded controller. So it seems I'll be using a PS2 controller quite a bit, seeing as how I don't have any corded Gamecube controllers. That shouldn't be a problem though. A PS2 controller is quite a bit better than a keyboard anyday (well, at least for PSO, not for Quake and the like).
ZOMG!
Q: How much will a Hunter's License cost?
A: For people in North America, it will cost $8.99 a month (US Dollars). Folks in Europe will be paying £5.99/€8.95. However, all new Hunters will get the two weeks of free play before a charge is made to your account!
$8.99 a month!? That's four cents more expensive than PSOGC!! SCREW GUILD WARS!! I don't care how freaking FREE Guild Wars is! PSO > GUILDWARS ANYDAY!!