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October 2001

Wednesday, October 31, 2001

P4 DDR Mobos Take It In The Azza Nine11 @ 0:29 Comments

[H]OCP's Steve wrapped up one of the best (or worst, depending on how you look at it) motherboard reviews of recent memory. While taking a peek at P4X266 DDR based solutions for the Pentium 4, motherboards from Taiwanese manufacturers Azza and Acorp failed to impress. In fact, one didn't work at all and the other refused to push a 2GHz processor any faster than 800MHz. Of course, tech support was a pipe-dream. It's too bad these two small companies are so flaky because the P4/DDR platform has so much to offer. Fortunately, VIA seems to feel the same way and will be manufacturing their own motherboard soon.

I was figuring the P4/DDR was still way more expensive than the AthlonXP/DDR and did a little price comparison. As it turns out, only $54 separates the two at 1.9GHz and 1.53GHz respectively; however, I've seen benchies which give the AXP/DDR the edge.

If you wanna check some benchies for a real P4/DDR mobo, [H] has a review of the Shuttle AV40 which goes for $103 at Multiwave. It just goes to show ya how important it is to pick the right hardware!

Tuesday, October 30, 2001

And On The 7th Day, God Made Civ III Nine11 @ 23:53 Comments

Gamespot popped off a saliva-laden review of Sid Meier's Civilization III. Despite an AI that cheats, tedious micromanagement, poor documentation, and multiplayer gettin' the axe, they thought Civ III was the best thing since the Wonder Bra. Honestly, most of Civ III's faults are typical of strategy games but leaving out multiplayer is heinous. Here's a cut 'n pastie.

It speaks volumes that the most significant complaints specific to Civilization III are minor interface issues. Civ III represents solid design coupled with careful execution at its level best. Between its streamlined gameplay and unparalleled pedigree, Civilization III can open strategy gaming to a wider audience and kick off the sort of renaissance that role-playing games enjoyed after the release of Baldur's Gate. We can only hope. And even if it doesn't, well...we'll always have Civilization III.

Obviously, it's still a good game and has a lot to offer. Just take it for what it is, and figure what it isn't will get patched. That's what VERSIONS are for!

UPDATE: According to Gone Gold, Civ III doesn't have in-game options to change the screen resolution, but they took a look at the readme file and found out it can be done by tweaking the game's ini file. Don't even try to tell me this game wasn't pushed out the door.

Monday, October 29, 2001

The Force(feedback) Is Weak With WinXP Nine11 @ 9:51 Comments

While trying to figure out if the upgrade to Windows XP is a good idea, I decided to check the Windows Hardware Compatibility List to make sure all my puter goodies will work with the new OS. As it turns out, MS doesn't support many of their own input devices including the popular Sidewinder Force Feedback Pro. I thought this just can't be right and filled out an online request for support on the Sidewinder stick and WinXP. Unfortunately, the jump to WinXP will render my favorite stick unusable! Here's a cut 'n pastie:

Hello Brett,

Thank you for contacting Microsoft Online Support. I'm Larry Welch and I will be working with you on this Sidewinder Force Feedback Pro issue.

As I understand the problem is:

Action: wanting to upgrade to Windows XP
Result: Sidewinder Force Feedback Pro not on compatibility list for Windows XP

Brett the Sidewinder Software 3.02 that is used for the Sidewinder Force Feedback Pro is not compatible with Windows XP. This does not mean the controller will not work but if it does work you will not have any of the Sidewinder features such as Profiles. There is a Sidewinder auto-detect in Windows XP that should detect the Sidewinder Force Feedback Pro but there are no guarantees it will work. The older Sidewinder Controllers were not designed to work on a Windows NT platform computer. The New Sidewinder 4.0 controllers are fully compatible with Windows XP.

I will go ahead and close your case at this time. However if you need further help on this issue you can reply to this case to reopen it.

Best Regards,
Larry Welch
Microsoft Online Support

Delighting our customers is our top priority. Please let my manager know what you think of the level of service provided by e-mailing us at managers@microsoft.com .

It doesn't really look like MS has much interest in supporting my crippleware Sidewinder Force Feedback Pro and would rather have me peel off a few bills for both WinXP and a new Sidewinder stick. Yea, right! WinXP isn't required for any of my hardware or software, and I certainly won't buy it and go through the pain of a fresh OS install just to axe stuff which works fine on WinME. Think twice before you upgrade.

Thursday, October 25, 2001

Windows XP Released, Not At Road Runner Nine11 @ 14:30 Comments

Today marks the official release date for Microsoft's new operating system, Windows XP. It seems the guys over at Road Runner aren't too keen on it and refuse to support the new OS. Not that you can't have it, Road Runner tech support just won't help you get your cable modem to work with WinXP. This doesn't really surprise me because MS and AOL/TW (who own Road Runner) have been at each other's throat for years.

Thanks to Cage for the heads-up.

MP3 Guide, Part 1 Nine11 @ 12:26 Comments

I finally wrapped up the first part of the MP3 Guide. It fiddles with some background associated with MP3 music and how to get started using it. There's probably some been there, done that stuff for those who already dabble with MP3, but I tried to dig up a variety of things to make it interesting. Take a peek and lemme know what you think.

Monday, October 22, 2001

Give That Man A Hand Nine11 @ 14:50 Comments

I've been hooked on the Diablo II Expansion like an addict, and my right hand is achin' like a hairy-palmed teenager. Remember Jim Carrey doing "The Claw" in Liar Liar, that's me. I had to give up the old click-click and find something else to do. Luckily, this is my "busy week" at work and I'll be fored into a desperately needed break from gaming.

I should also be able to wrap up the MP3 Guide, which I've been workin' on since AS. It's shaped up nicely and will be ready this week. Basically, it's a mess of tidbits on getting started with MP3 music. It may re-hash some stuff for those of you who already dig the MP3 scene, but I managed to flesh it out with enough different stuff to make it a good read.

Comanche 4 Demo Impressions Cage @ 0:36 Comments

Wow! What an end of week bonanza for demos. Alien Versus Predators, Comanche 4, Empire Earth, Black Thorn, and Zoo Tycoon. There was almost something for everyone.

Comanche 4 was a bit disappointing. I was hoping that it would be more approachable for sim "virgins." There were a couple of things that stood out for me.

1. The controls were, to put it kindly, lacking. Someone who is not used to flying helicopters will find it quite a chore to perform a simple task such as hovering in place. Too often I found myself shooting forward at the most inopportune times. A true "beginner" mode should be available; otherwise this sim badly misses its target audience. Nine11's experience is quite typical of what Novalogic can expect. After a few minutes this one will hit the shelf and never be touched again for most folks who buy it. Whether it's a controller issue or game engine problem it needs to be fixed or else Comanche 4 will be destined for the great bargain bin in the sky. This is the most critical factor that will keep people from enjoying and buying this game.

2. The water is very pretty. The rest of the graphics were very "ho hum" to me. I was expecting more eye candy.

3. Performance lagged at the higher settings - even on my Athlon 1.4 GHz 512MB DDR RAM, GeForce 3 equipped system. This made control of the Comanche even more problematic.

4. It was great fun blowing up the terrorists with missiles. In fact blowing up everything was a lot of fun.

All in all I would rate this first glance at Comanche 4 as worrisome. I had high hopes for this game, but at this point it looks very much like a work in progress, and I'm not sure it can be salvaged.

Sunday, October 21, 2001

Small Wonders Nine11 @ 13:26 Comments

I bumped into a review of the Shuttle AV24 at VIAHardware.com. This is the smallest PC I've ever seen! Unfortunately, it's highly integrated and has only one PCI slot for expansion, but it sports an aluminum case, onboard sound, Ethernet, and USB and audio up front. Not a balls-to-the-wall puter by any means, but it would be a killer LAN rig if it had an AGP slot. Shuttle is also supposed to be working on a similar box for an AMD based system. Mwave sells this little sucker for $250 and has a spec sheet as well.

Comanche4 Demo Nine11 @ 12:18 Comments

I had a chance to take Novalogic's Comanche4 for a spin. Did I mention I suck at flight sims? Anyway, the controls aren't what I expected and I quickly suffered from the deadliest form of Newbs Syndrome, which is usually fatal. I configured the controls to use my MS Force Feedback Pro and yanked back and forth in a frenzy. As it turns out, the controls are probably close to what they are in the real world:

Twist left and right turns left and right.
Left and right movements of the stick slide in those directions.
Control altitude with the throttle.
Forward and back movements of the stick control movement in those directions.

Once I figured that out, I had to deal with a mess of ground troops, attack helicopters, and gunship/patrol boats which have overrun our position. The Comanche is also pretty fragile and goes down like a drunken cheerleader. Maybe it's just me... I mentioned I suck, right?

I also had to drop the resolution from 1024*786/32 to 800*600/16 and set all the other detail settings to "Normal" to keep the thing from dropping frames. It still looked decent and played well on my P3-800/GF2 system, but I'm feeling the need for an upgrade. It certainly didn't look as good as the screenies shootin' around the net, which were most likely done on a Super Slick GF3 system.

Thursday, October 18, 2001

Rocktoons.com Nine11 @ 8:00 Comments

Rocktunes.com has some really cool Rock Star Cartoon Parodies for your favorite bands. I thought this one for Linkin Park was particularly nifty. Unfortunately, they have more popups than the patrons at your local Sleezy Cinema (yuck!).

Shove Your Stinkin' Price Guide! Nine11 @ 6:30 Comments

Now that's a bold statement, but it's only a half-truth. I just got done reading the Price Guide over at Anandtech and, while I really dig their site, I have to ask "what's the real value of a Price Guide with figures from Price Watch?" From my experience, the bargain-basement prices over at PW are a hoax more than half the time and many of the vendors look kinda shady.

Using Price Watch sheds hours of work surfing for the best price on parts, but it's a cheap shot at getting visitors. Who really cares if the prices are real or not? Well, anyone who actually goes out to buy this stuff will care alot. The Price Watch situation is kinda like the advertisements for low credit card interest rates. They either don't apply to you, don't exist, or there's a catch.

For the average flagship part, I'll pay another $20 for some peace of mind, and that's why I've stuck with Multiwave and Egghead for so many years. More times than not, my parts will show up within 24 hours if I order before 10AM (LA to Bakersfield). I've also had good luck with Computers4Sure, who delivered a 22" monitor without a single blemish on the box. I had to wait about 5 days (I'm a cheap bastard and always order UPS ground) and, for some reason, it's cheaper to ship an 80 pound monitor from the Eastern US than it is from LA to B-Town... go figure. I've also heard really good things about NewEgg, and Avlogic looks interesting as well.

Now that you know what I don't like about Price Guides, here's what I do like. Basically, they serve as a snapshot of current hardware and offer some generalized knowledge nuggets of what's hot, what's not, and what's around the bend. Unfortunately, you're subjected to their selection of hardware and not everything gets listed. Where's the vanilla GeForce3, which is still a very popular part at $268?

So, what's my point? Price Guides are good for feelin' out the state of PC hardware but hard figures obtained from Price Watch should be taken with a few grains of salt. You should also buy parts from retailers who you know, trust, and have taken for a test spin. If you're not sure about 'em, order a case fan or heatsink to see how good their service is.

Wednesday, October 17, 2001

Rally Trophy Demo Nine11 @ 19:28 Comments

I noticed Gone Gold put the word out on Bugbear's Rally Trophy Demo. I got kinda excited about Rally Trophy and all of it's retro rally racin' goodness when we were doin' the AS thang. The demo weighs in around 70MB.

Gordy Speaks, People Listen Nine11 @ 18:21 Comments

Gordon Berg over at Computer Gaming World swung by our neck of the woods and had a few things to say to myself and Cage. I get the feeling Cage and I missed Gordy's point, which was (correct me if I'm wrong) flight sims just aren't fun anymore.

Having only dabbled in the sim thang, I'd have to agree with Gordy. They are packed with too many features and aren't easy for newbs to get into. I used to stick with the Janes series of WWII sims because they didn't involve much rocket science, but they still didn't hold my interest because the game interfaces were poor and/or confusing (exactly where do I launch this thing? Janes WWII Fighters was really bad), they were difficult (call me a baby, I don't like to die from AAA), and there really wasn't much to say about online play.

The best times I ever had with sim-type games were back in the X-Wing and Descent days. Those games were far from being true "sims", but they were easy to jump into and there was tons of stuff pepper with your lasers. Descent took things a step farther and added multiplayer gameplay, which was so addictive I endured the defunct Engage Gaming Network just to get my frag on.

Still, I think we all made out points. Sims have lost their fun-factor, their graphics and sound aren't keeping pace with other genres, there are some HOTAS (control) issues, and some people like my pop don't really care because they just wanna fly or supplement some of their annual flight hours. At least we all agree the flight sim genre is desperate for a swift kick in the booty.

Yin & Yang Of AMD Upgrades Nine11 @ 17:48 Comments

Overclockers.com has an interesting article on the Yin & Yang of upgrading AMD processors. Basically, they complain about AMD's tendency to put the latest/greatest mobos out to pasture with every new processor FAB. For the speed-freakish OC crowd, they suggest holding off till AMD's 0.13m part hits the scene. As for me, I'd just pick a good spot where the price/performance feels right and jump in. There'll always be something new around the corner.

Shuttle AK31 KT266A Review Nine11 @ 17:38 Comments

SocketA.com cut all the bull from their review of the Shuttle AK31 VIA KT266A, which is the same mobo Cage is using for his latest system build. It should only take 3 or 4 minutes to read the review, but I'll break it down for ya: she's quick, she's stable, she's cheap, and she's ready to play!

Tuesday, October 16, 2001

Radeon 8500 Vs. GF3Ti500 Nine11 @ 13:09 Comments

As long as we're on a hardware kick today, Tom's Hardware put the gloves on the Radeon 8500 and let it duke it out with a flagship GeForce3 Ti 500. In the end, the Radeon 8500 is a speedy part and played grab-ass with the GF3Ti500. Unfortunately, ATI hasn't hammered out all the bumps in their latest drivers (ATI has a horrible driving history) and their part failed to sucker-punch the GF3Ti500 in real-world benchies.

Epox 8KHA+ Review Nine11 @ 13:00 Comments

PC Hardware pinched off a review of the Epox 8KHA+ KT266A motherboard. Their review is kinda cool and includes a compatibility test with various peripherals and brands of memory. Other than a slightly funky layout on the mobo, the 8KHA+ performed like a champ and OC'd like a mofo!

Lowballer's Banquet: Budget GF3 Cards Nine11 @ 12:40 Comments

[H]OCP took a look at the Ti series of GeForce3 video cards, specifically the Ti200 and GF2Ti. Both were reference designs from Nvidia, so they were pretty vanilla without any specialty parts (faster RAM or cooling). The Ti200 is a budget GeForce3 without active cooling and has a slower clock for the GPU and memory. As you'd expect, it's slower than a stock GF3 but faster than the GeForce2 Ti. Both of these cards are aimed at the budget crowd.

Supercooled CPU Nine11 @ 11:41 Comments

[H]OCP wrapped their grubby mitts around the latest astek Vapochill CPU cooling unit. The Vapochill is very similar to the Kryotech units of days past, but it's much more user friendly and serves to replace the system case for DIY overclockers. Basically, it's a case with power supply and refrigeration unit for the CPU. [H] has a very detailed series of nudies for the Vapochill case, refrigeration unit, and system setup/installation. The results popped off a 1.8GHz P4 OC'd to 2.25GHz (which isn't much to brag about) and a 2.0GHz P4 OC'd to 2.46GHz (which IS something to brag about).

I've always wondered about the wisdom of using hardcore and expensive cooling solutions. Honestly, they'll only keep you about 6 months ahead of air-cooled solutions. The Vapochill retails for about $750, which is an entire low-end system in today's market; however, the Vapochill is DIY friendly and would probably be a good value for anyone who swaps out their flagship CPU every 6 to 12 months.

Up and Running Cage @ 9:17 Comments

Dag nab it!

My system upgrade is pretty much done, but I have to work the next 3 nights. It looks like it will be a little bit before I get to enjoy the added speed. I tell you, there is nothing like a clean fresh uncluttered install of Windows, and some fast hardware.

Look for an update and more news in the next few days. I'll talk about the "fun" I had building a couple of IWill KK266+ RAID systems. That story is not yet finished, since upgraded Enermax 350Watt Power Supplies are on their way to complete the systems. Will they bring me back from USB purgatory? Stay tuned for the details.

I'll also do some benchies and give the low down on my new KT266A motherboard, the Shuttle AK31A. It's mated to a standard Athlon 1.4 GHz 266 MHz Thunderbird CPU, and uses a Leadtek Geforce 3 video card.

All this goodness came from Multiwave, our favorite store here at Cagesworld.

Friday, October 12, 2001

Diablo II Rune Wizard Nine11 @ 7:49 Comments

Rune Wizard is a nifty little program (more like a database) which helps you figure out how to apply runes to make rune words, which are specific combinations of runes that are more powerful than sticking them into socketted items willy-nilly.

Cheap Power Supply Woes Nine11 @ 7:18 Comments

Tom's Hardware recently had a bad experience with an El Cheapo power supply which came in a standard case for a system build. As it turns out, my pop also had a PS burn out (and take his HD, CD, mobo, and KB along with it) so this article turned my head. Computer cases are often the last part builders get picky about, and gettin' one cheap with power included is often at the top of the list after blowing a wad on the CPU, video card, and other high-ticket items.

So how much do you think Case-O-Matic spent on that 300W PS in your new $20 puter case? Figure about $1. Do you really wanna hook thousands of dollars worth of parts to that? My pop's went out after about 2 years of use, and it took about $500 to fix/upgrade and another 5 hours of labor... at least I come cheap.

We ended up using an 300W Enermax PS which is much more heavy, sturdy, and (ooh) attractive than the "toaster". It also has two fans configured as intake and exhaust, which I didn't realize till reading Tom's article. It set us back $47 and cost as much as most "decent" cases with power, but I'll be swapping my PS so I can get some Enermax love too.

Epox 8KHA+ KT266A Mobo Review Nine11 @ 6:41 Comments

Since the Athlon XP is hittin' the scene, I thought I'd throw out a KT266A mobo review. Epox has been catering to the OC crowd, and the 8KHA+ reviewed at AMDMB.COM has a smattering of 0.1 voltage adjustments, 1MHz FSB adjustments, and a 1/5th divider for the FSB. The tested 1.53GHz AXP hit 1.7GHz on a 171MHz FSB. Throw in a decent layout and stability, and you've got a winner!

Thursday, October 11, 2001

Intel's CPU Roadmap Nine11 @ 11:55 Comments

If you care about what Intel will be up to next year, check The Register. Apparently, the P4 line of processors will get a FSB boost to 533MHz, the Celeron line will get the P4 core (and probably half the cache), and they'll continue making their red-headed stepchild P3 Tualatin processor.

'Cept for the 533MHz FSB, that's an odd lineup. I can see the Celeron getting the P4 core, but a more logical choice is to drop the Tualatin and give the Celeron the P3 core and all of it's cache. Oh well, it's all good for the consumers as long as they stay away from the Tualatin.

Intel will continue to be the 800 pound processor gorilla till AMD can beat them in the MHz race. Intel is keeping them at arms length because 2GHz and beyond sounds faster than AMD's sub-2GHz parts. Unfortunately, AMD doesn't get any love despite benchmarks placing an Athlon XP running at 1.53GHz at a higher level of performance than a 2GHz P4... and I'd say the AXP can actually crunch da benchies like a 2.2GHz P4. It's kinda like buying a Mustang GT with a V8 and thinking it'll be faster than an Acura TL with a V6. Consumers beware!

Deal on Sony 21" monitor Cage @ 8:48 Comments

Multiwave has a deal on a Sony 21" CPD-G520 monitor for $699. I haven't seen this particular model, but that's a sweet price for any 21" monitor, especially a Sony.

The monitor in an aperture grill, has a .24 dotpitch, and goes up to a resolution of 2048x1536 at a refresh rate of 80Hz. Not to shabby.

Note: I do not have any kind of affiliate deal with Multiwave, I just like their prices and service. Plus they are fast. I usually get stuff from them the day after my order is processed here in Bakersfield.

Wednesday, October 10, 2001

The Rantings Of An Angry Man... Get Published?! Nine11 @ 21:59 Comments

If you've been reading Computer Games magazine, you would've noticed Phil Steinmeyer's column Inside The Sausage Factory in which he, being the top dawg at Pop Top Software, offers his insight as a game developer. Having recently finished the strategy game, Tropico, he pointed out the fact First Person Shooters hog much of the press (glory) despite sales figures which position strategy games in a clear lead... if they were racing, that is. Anyway, he went off on some tangent about how shooters are better suited for the console platform and all of the juvenile adrenaline junkies (myself included, and probably you too) should abandon our PCs for PS2s. Of course, I was compelled to champion the cause of my fellow fragmasters and popped off this little ditty which got published in the Rebound section of the November issue of Computer Games Magazine. Unfortunately, I signed the damn thing as the News Editor of AlienSpider.com and, having shut down AS, I don't exactly feel like the sharpest tool in the shed. I still think I managed to make my point.

System Upgrade Cage @ 1:34 Comments

The 2 computer systems that I built for Shafter have been done for about a week. Unfortunately I could not get a worthwhile educational discount on the Operating System, which has delayed things a bit. As a result I ordered a couple of copies of Windows Me and Microsoft Works from Multiwave.

While I was at it, I also picked up a new Shuttle AK31A motherboard. I'm not a big fan of Shuttle, but they have received a couple of good reviews recently. Plus it was the only reasonably priced KT266A based motherboard at Multiwave.

I almost went for a new AthlonXP, but they haven't hit Multiwave yet. Prices should drop, and AMD is going to shrink it down to a .13 die size by the end of this year. More power.......just in time for Windows XP.

Local B-Town RTCW Cage @ 1:18 Comments

In the "Hey, that's pretty cool!" department, I received an email recently from a fellow Return to Castle Wolfenstein fan right here in Bakersfield.

t0p_d@wg sends word that he runs an RTCW server called [a0g] official Server. I've been there once before, since it has an understandable low ping from my system. The addy is 66.27.238.113.

If things go well, he hopes to have a more robust co-located server for [a0g] in the future.

The only rule is "...that no one named player is allowed to play." Of course "player" is the default name for your character in RTCW, and it's one of the first things that a non-problem player will change after installing the game.

The RTCW master server appears to be down for the momement. Oh well, I still need to finish off Diablo so that I can get into the meat of the Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction add-on.

Tuesday, October 9, 2001

I Wanna Live In A World Of Warcraft Nine11 @ 17:17 Comments

I got finished reading Computer Gaming World's exclusive on Blizzard's World of Warcraft. Honestly, I haven't been willing to sell my soul and fork over a monthly fee for any game since all the online gaming networks (TEN, Mplayer, Engage to a lesser extent) took a nose dive. Massively Multiplayer Online Roll Playing Games just seem to drain too much time and cost too much, but World of Warcraft could change my mind; however, I don't know if Blizzard will really let me play the game the way I want to. See, the Warcraft series of games generally centered around the conflicts between the expansion of the Human race and the Orcs who are gettin' phased out... kinda like cowboys and Indians. In World of Warcraft, I'd like to take on the cause of the Orcs and wage a guerilla war on the Humans. It just sounds so cool to hide in the jungle or mountain passes and ambush a bunch of Humans on their quest to slay the beast harassing their town. Territories could be held by either race, and successful campaigns by either side would push the boundaries of their territory and influence back and forth. Blizzard will incorporate Player VS Player combat into the game, but WoW sounds more like a traditional quest-based game and PVP stuff will probably center more on Player Killers who ambush their own team. Hopefully, Blizzard will see the big picture and expand PVP combat because I really think it could hook a lot of gamers (like me) who have avoided MMORPGs up to this point.

AthlonXP, Kickin' Butt & Takin' Names (Intel) Nine11 @ 8:18 Comments

Anandtech, [H]OCP, and Tom's Hardware agree the 1.53GHz AthlonXP mated to an EPoX EP-8KHA+ KT266A mobo is the fastest combo on this planet... unless you really dig running Quake III benchmarks in 640*480. That upgrade should make ya the fastest kid on your block for at least a month or two.

Monday, October 8, 2001

Civilization III Is Gold! Nine11 @ 15:37 Comments

According to Gone Gold, Civilization III has gone gold (go figure) and should settle on store shelves around the 30th of this month.

Hardware Nuggets Nine11 @ 15:33 Comments

Here's a few interesting hardware nuggets. Anandtech and Tom's Hardware reviewed an engineering sample of the SiS 635 DDR chipset motherboard for the Pentium4, and proved once and for all it is possible to run a P4 without RDRAM. There are new VIA 4-in-1 drivers at VIAHardware. Cage said there's a Shuttle AK31A VIA KT266A mobo at Multiwave. And finally, this Hedgehog really blows!

Slayer ButtFloss Nine11 @ 12:14 Comments

I finally got some Detonator 21.41 drivers installed and tweaked my system so Diablo II: Lord of Destruction wouldn't crash in D3D. My Assassin was quite the bruiser, and Act 5 didn't end up being as much of a challenge. I actually had more trouble with Baal's minions than Baal himself, and I got promoted to Slayer ButtFloss after givin' him a good spanking. I had held onto Wirt's Leg for a little end-game bovine bashin', but the Cow Level failed to meet my expectations as well. I thought I'd get some cool Bovine Armor or something, but all Bessie dropped was a bunch of odd magical items barely good enough to sell; however, it was worth it to hear the cows go "moo".

Sunday, October 7, 2001

LAN Schmack Down Fun Cage @ 6:08 Comments

Have you ever had one of those "perfect" gaming sessions? Everything just goes right. You get the close kills, you make the pefect flag cap, your heart is pounding, and it's all good.

The planets must have been in just the right alignment, because we most certainly did we have some fun last night.

Quigg, Wolf, and I started off with some Tribes 2 Capture the Flag. None of us are particularly gifted Tribes 2 players, but we enjoy the team element and the wide open spaces. The other plus is it works just fine via the shared Road Runner Internet connection I have here at home. Return to Castle Wolfenstein, on the other hand, seems to work best with a maximum of 2 of us connected to the same server.

Tribes 2 ended on an up note with several close flag caps and some spectacular kills. We almost called it a night, but the promise of a "short game" of Age of Empires: Conquerors lured us into another round of mayhem. We upped the maximum population limit to 125, and had our hands full with 3 computer players on "hard" difficulty. Despite almost getting run over by the initial rush of the computer AI we hung on and smote the heathens by 3 AM. Whew!

The pizza and soda are gone, but this one will we all will remember for quite some time. Good game, guys. It was a blast. And to think that I was pretty sure I'd skip getting together. It's all Quigg's fault, ya know.

Flight Sims Don't Suck, I Do! Nine11 @ 3:50 Comments

I suck at flight sims. Plain and simple, and it's sad because I grew up around airplanes. My pop is a flight insturctor, and we had a Cessna and a few crop dusters when I was growing up. I never really learned how to fly, but I could probably set one down if my life depended on it... in daylight... without wind and at least five miles of clear visibility. I don't ask for much.

Anyway, I think Gordy over at CGW missed the point of flight sims. There are some people who enjoy the complexity and flight mechanics which are inherent in flight sims and, I'll go way out on a limb here, they think THAT is what makes the game fun. Shoot, even my pop asked me about MS Flight Simulator 2002 the other day. Unfortunately, some other guys (like me) may find that type of game too hard to play cuz we can't yank back 'n forth on the stick like we do in Freespace.

As Cage mentioned, the graphics suck more than a B-movie actress. Let's face it, you're not gonna see hundreds of square miles of polygonal trees, mountains, buildings, vehicles, and the like on today's hardware. Sims gotta scale everything way back, and that'll pooch-screw the visual realism right off the bat. Want thick 'n puffy clouds too? Forget it!

Some games like IL-2 Sturmovik do look really cool, but it's not a picture perfect sim and won't feature an idiot-proof flight model the virgin wingnutt needs. Still, it looks cool enough to dupe some into buying it (maybe even me) but it's still gonna disappoint the critics out there and won't appeal to the critical mass of gamers needed to kick flight sims outta their slump.

Saturday, October 6, 2001

I Hate Flight Sims? Cage @ 17:52 Comments

I just finished reading Gordon Berg's latest flight sim column titled "I Hate Flight Sims" in the November 2001 issue of Computer Gaming World.

Laying it out for all to see, Gordon admits "It's time to come clean: I think I hate simulations."

Why?

Here it is:

"What I mean to say is that I've reached a point at which I don't care what comes next. Because sims have experienced feature-creep and not taken a quantum leap forward, because they have become more realistic and less gamelike, because at their core they involve the same gameplay mechanics each and every time, I've simply become tired of them all." - Gordon Berg.

Is Gordon right? Does his reasoning explain why the flight sim market has crashed and burned over the last few years?

Well yes, and no.

Like Gordon, I've stopped playing and buying as many flight sims over the last year. First Person Shooters like Unreal Tournament, Tribes 2, and the demo "Test" of Return to Castle Wolfenstein have kept me busy. Throw in a few strategy games like Age of Kings: Conquerors and you pretty complete my list of what I've been playing recently.

So why do I think that flight sims have taken a nose dive? More importantly, what can be done to revive the flight sim market?

Here are my top 3 reasons why Flight Sims Suck:

Current Flight Sim Graphics Stink!

Yes, that's right. Current flight sim graphics bite the big one. They suck. They are so awful it's embarassing to show the latest FS titles to your non-flight sim friends.

Ground detail is woefully inadequate. There is very little sensation of speed when you put the plane down on the deck. I want to feel like I'm flying at 120 mph 50 feet off the ground in a World War I biplane. When I hit the afterburners on my F-16 I want to see the terrain blur and feel like I'm close to breaking Mach 1.
Aircraft Sounds and Effects Stink!

They do, don't they? How many times have you had to rely on fan downloads to get a decent sounding aircraft engine or gun effect?

High quality immersive sound is essential in any simulation game. It shouldn't be some after thought or low budget item that barely meets specs.
I Want My Rudder Pedals and Throttle Controller!

Ok Microsoft, this one is on you.

I like my Microsoft Force Feedback Joystick. I like the way I can feel my plane start to shudder as I reach it's control limits. I like the constant stick pressure and feedback. It doesn't flop around like a dead fish. It feels precise - and more accurate, then my old Thrustmaster F16 joystick/throttle/rudder pedal setup.

But Microsoft has failed to make seperate rudder and throttle controllers to go along with the Sidewinder 2 Force Feedback joystick.

Argh! What is wrong with the head monkeys at Microsoft? Don't they see this as a natural extension of their controller line? After all, Microsoft still makes flight sims, and having a decent set of rudder pedals dramatically increases the controllability of an aircraft.

For that matter, a number of simulations just beg for a good Force Feedback controller setup. The 'mechs in Mechwarrior 4, for example, are a pain in the butt to steer while you rotate the torso. Trying to use the built in "twist" rudder on a MS FF stick makes you look like you have had one too many shots of the hard stuff.

The bottom line is that current flight sims lack quality and immersion. Several years of generic shovelware products has resulted in the current state of the flight sim genre. The lack of quality controllers has made flight sims less approachable to new comers. The failure to keep up with the state of the art in home PC graphics has resulted in boring products. The resulting slide in consumer interest is the direct result of the greed and blindness to innovation by both software and hardware companies.

Is it over? Not quite.

All it would take is the emergence of one quality flight sim game. Just like Baldur's Gate and Diablo revitalized the Role Playing Game market, there is a future title that will create another crush of flight sim "me too" games.

Until then I wait. And just like Gordon I've moved on to other types of games.

I understand Gordon, and here's hoping that someone, somewhere is already making the hardware and software that will revitalize our interest in flight sims.

Friday, October 5, 2001

Stupid Hardware Tricks Nine11 @ 8:23 Comments

I slapped my dad's puter together last Tuesday afternoon and had a couple of new "experiences." The first was noticing a pair of slots cut in the right-hand side of my favorite Penguin case in front of the motherboard and behind the drive bays. Oddly enough, they're about the same width of an IDE cable and positioned to accept one off the mobo, so I stuck one through the opening and bent it around and up to the hard drive situated at the top of the case. Damn thing was a natural fit! I lightly folded the cable 90 degrees so it wouldn't get crumpled when sliding the side of the case back on (a trick I picked up from MaximumPC... guess they're good for more than annoying me), and I repeated this procedure for the CD-RW on the second IDE channel. The result was the complete elimination of IDE cable clutter, and it only took me 3 years of using the Penguin case to figure that out!

My second "experience" was with a pair of inactive USB ports on my dad's new Iwill KK266+. Everything went together like a dream and didn't require any tweaking or even BIOS settings (at first). Got Windows installed, but the USB mouse refused to work. Fiddled around with drivers and peeked into the BIOS, but nothing jived. I called Multiwave and asked what the deal was, and they said to check the BIOS again or I'd have to flash it (that's never a good sign or good advice, trust me). Since Cage had put together two systems with the same mobo (and is smarter than the average bear), I gave him a call to see just what the hell was up with this board. As it turns out, all the USB ports are set to inactive by Iwill, and the adjustments to turn them on are tucked away at the bottom of a long list of settings in BIOS and away from any other I/O stuff. I still like the board, but I wish Iwill tons of tech support love. I bet they won't make that mistake again.

Thursday, October 4, 2001

Boys In Toyland Nine11 @ 8:37 Comments

For lack of anything better to talk about, here's a quickie on a few things which blow my skirt up. I found a 3M Precise Mousing Surface with Gel Wrist Rest which is comfy and treats your mouse's balls with respect (a rare quality these days). The expansion for Diablo II, Lord of Destruction, is a blast to play with the Assassin character class, and DiabloII.net is a great resource for quests, tactics, Horadric Cube recipies, and the like. EA Sports is kickin' out the sports games, and NHL 2002 seems to have a little more flash 'n effects in the actual game play as opposed to the opening cinematic (go Kings!). When I can tear myself away from Diablo II and NHL 2002, I get my killin' fix with Silicon Ice Development's Q3A mod, Urban Terror, which sports real-world weapons and things that go (flash)bang in the night. The Return To Castle Wolfenstein Multiplayer Test is also a kick, but playing the same beach assault level gets old after a while; however, LANing it with 4 guys in the same room and coordinating attacks and strategy is a blast. Last but not least, the TV sitcom Scrubs is so twisted and sick... I love it. Any show with one liners like "your butt looks like two Pringles hugging" is quality entertainment!

Wednesday, October 3, 2001

Se Hablo Quarter To Three Nine11 @ 6:38 Comments

Today's posts at Quarter to Three are in Spanish and translated to English. For those who no hablo, it makes page navagation difficult and annoying. I really dig QTT, but I don't have the patience to dig though their pages for stuff this cracker can understand. If anyone has any ideas, send 'em my way.

UPDATE: Things are back to normal now. The bilingual stuff was actually yesterday's news. I still don't know what was up with that.

Road Runner Mail & Internet Nine11 @ 6:19 Comments

I've gotten pretty spoiled with Time Warner's Road Runner cable modem. Speedy surfin', low pings for online games, and it's always on... what more can you ask for? Well, Code Red and Nimda have thrown Time Warner and everyone else for a loop and things have been kinda hit 'n miss. The past week has been especially bad with things really slowing down around peak hours (morning and evening). Email has been especially bad, but part of that is my fault. The RR Email servers got KO'd by Nimda, so no one could send or receive nation-wide. TW fixed the problem, but I still haven't been able to connect. As it turns out, TW renamed the RR Email servers from the old mail-server.bak.rr.com to pop-server.bak.rr.com for the incoming POP3 server and smtp-server.bak.rr.com for the outgoing SMTP server. The only reason I figured this out is because I finished setting up my dad's puter and had to configure his mail, which wasn't working with the old settings, and decided to check the support pages at RR.

They should've Emailed me or somethin' (grin).

Tuesday, October 2, 2001

Detonator Dilemma Nine11 @ 10:55 Comments

Man, I've been pulling my hair out like crazy while trying to uninstall the Detonator XP drivers and find and alternative driver version which works. I yanked the XPs and tried 14.70 several times, but I kept having problems with Diablo II crashing. For some reason, a 14.10 (or something like that) display property extension .dll was loading. *I think* I had been using the Detonator 12.90 drivers before having all these problems, so I found a copy of 'em and lubed up Daiblo II. Damn thing worked and all my .dlls are aligned as 12.90. Just goes to show ya, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Multiwave Rocks! Nine11 @ 9:34 Comments

If you've been following the forums, you'd know Cage and I have been ordering some puter parts online. Cage's assembled a couple of puters for the SDA school in Shafter, and I had to replace some parts in my dad's puter which bit the big one when his power supply gave up it's ghost. Anyway, we've been ordering from Multiwave for several years because their prices are pretty fair and they're really quick to ship to Bakersfield. In fact, I ordered my dad's parts early yesterday morning and they're on a truck to be delivered today... and that's by UPS ground which usually takes 3 - 5 business days. Here's the tracking screen for my order.

Monday, October 1, 2001

One, Two, Titanium Nine11 @ 21:07 Comments

Cage is puttin' out the word on the new "Titianium" Nvidia video cards. Basically, they're tweakin' and re-namin' their products. Tom's Hardware has a good review with benchies and a mess of techie stuff, but I'll break it down for ya:

GeForce3 Titanium 500 can be considered a GeForce3 Ultra with it's clocks set at 240MHz/500MHz. It'll start selling for $345.
GeForce3 Titanium 200 is a budget GeForce3 with packing less of a punch than a vanilla GeForce3 (175MHz/400MHz) but has more moves than a GeForce2 Ultra. It'll go for around $199.
GeForce2 Titanium is slightly faster than a GeForce2 Pro (250MHz/400MHz) and should sell for about $149.

Confused yet?

ButtFloss Rides Again! Nine11 @ 13:46 Comments

The Diablo II expansion, Lord of Destruction, is an evil game. It's sucked up all my spare time, irked my wife, and busted the cherry on my new (well, at least it's a new part) Logitech Wingman Gaming Mouse. I just entered Act III and can't wait to be greeted by all those tiny spear-chuckin' little bastards. Here's a screen capture if you wanna peek at my Level 21 Assassin. I know, still lookin' for some goodies with poison resistance but at least I have three items which reduce poison length by about 25% each.

UPDATE: Argh, the Detonator XP drivers are really lame! They seem to work great for FPS games and benchmarks, but anything 2D or pseudo 3D (like Diablo II) takes a big performance hit. The big bugs in Act III with fast-flappy wings drop my framerate like Freshmen at a Frat party! I'll have to uninstall the current video display driver, then I re-install it (thomethin' coulda got fragged the first time) or kick it old school with a dusty 14.70 driver. I probably won't have a chance to get serious with all this stuff till later tonight or tomorrow.

BTW, swing by The Guru 3D if you need an old version of the Detonators or a Detonator uninstall utility.