Friday, December 18, 2009
post://4672237220726642051/Windows 7 Games Explorer Manual Customization How To
Windows 7 has removed the ability from Games Explorer to Customize out of the box.
It's not impossible to do, however - it just takes some finangling and registry knowledge.
All of your Games Explorer shortcuts are stored here:
%localappdata%\Microsoft\Windows\GameExplorer
If you have games installed you should see several folders with very long names that start with {######...
Each of these is the unique game ID used by Windows to synch the icons and commands that appear in the Games Explorer to the actual EXE that runs the game.
These numbers correspond to the values in the registry here:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\GameUX\Games
By clicking on one of the IDs in the registry you can figure out which game is which:
IE {1396D271-A5F9-4F29-8D7D-767858558567} is Batman for me.
When I click the ID folder the config options are on the right including the full path so you should be able to find which ID corresponds to which game.
To modify the options for a game like change the path, or even add additional play or right click options, just modify or add a folder within PlayTasks for that game. I believe you are limited to 0 to 5 tasks, but try it. Batman's 0 task is Play and the 1 task is Support. So within PlayTask\0 (default) for Batman is a shortcut named "Play". Right click and choose properties as you would on any other shortcut and modify the files as you need to (run as admin, compatability mode, etc). To create a new play task you could make a folder named "3" and within that place a shortcut named as you'd like it to appear on the context menu.
Finally, you can also modify the box art shown in GamesExplorer or even add box art for games that don't have it by default by modifying the images in the
%localappdata%\Microsoft\Windows\GameExplorer folder.
Simply name the file (jpg) with the same ID as the game, voila - you have your game listed with special icon or box art in Games Explorer.
Labels: 2009, games for windows, howto, technology, Windows7
posted @ 16:59
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Wednesday, December 16, 2009
post://624288174965906696/
Labels: 2009, games, games for windows, graphics, racing
posted @ 10:18
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Saturday, September 19, 2009
post://1549686946649553205/PhysX has been added to the PC version of Batman with the v1.1 update. It does not ship with PhysX settings out of the box. Once installed you are provided several options for PhysX - Off, Normal, or High with various card recommendations.
The nVidia drivers allow you to change the PhysX settings - turning optimization on or off as well as the ability to choose which card handles the PhysX acceleration. I had thought offloading PhysX from my 2 x 285GTX2G cards working in SLi to the built-in 980a/780a would make things faster:
However, after applying the v1.1 w/ patch PhysX Batman, Normal PhysX was enabled. I was suddenly getting very low framerates (15fps). I turned on the "Show SLI Indicators" in the 3D settings menu so I could see how hard each of the video cards were working. They were both very low, indicating the cards were not working up to their ability, yet things were still slow. CPU usage hadn't spiked high enough to be a bottleneck and memory was free and clear.
It appeared having the PhysX on the older (and slower) chipset was slowing everything down. To test the theory I turned off PhysX and was getting framerates in the high 50s. It certainly was PhysX related.
I turned PhysX back on, normal setting and in the nVidia control panel I changed the setting to enable PhysX on the 285s instead of the 980a/780a. When I tried it again PhysX was visibily running, fallen leaves moving under your feet accompanied by smooth framerates between 55 to 60fps.
Based on this experience it appears that having PhysX enabled on an older chipsets may actually decrease performance over having PhysX enabled on the same video card(s) doing the graphics processing.
Here is a video of Batman running @ 2560 x 1600, Very High Detail, comparing PhysX - Normal to PhysX - High
Labels: games, games for windows, graphics, hardware, movie, screenshot, SLi
posted @ 19:49
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- Video will be updated - it cut me down to 16:9 so most of the leaf effects fell out of frame.
I'm also hoping for higher quality once I install the new codecs.
- Posted link to PhysX forum:
http://forums.slizone.com/index.php?showtopic=33559&st=0
Monday, September 14, 2009
post://2466185940127249611/Here are some pics of GTA before and after.
Both are playable at 40 to 45fps.
Vista is overclocked video chip / mem ~ 745mhz / 1265mhz
Win7 is stock video chip / mem ~ 705mhz / 1215mhz
Vista .5
-----------------------
Vista 1
Win7 1
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Vista 2
Win7 2
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Vista 3
Win7 3
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Vista 4
Win7 4
Labels: 2009, games, games for windows, graphics, screenshot, vista, Windows7
posted @ 14:20
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Saturday, September 12, 2009
post://2987336471837986745/6 installations later I have a working copy of Windows 7 with valid RAID, SATA, Chipset, Video, and Sound drivers. I was very careful this time, doing only one thing at a time and restarting after a change to confirm. I was a bit more cavileer when I was under the impression my errors could be undone. The restore feature was not able to handle the driver change for vital components so keep that in mind when you're upgrading. Vista had similar problems, I wasn't able to install it until SP1.
My first step once getting SLi working was to test the performace of games. I was able to test a couple DEMOs as is but GTA required a reinstall since it has so many background requirements. All in all I saw HUGE gains visually, everything ran better, something I'm not used to seeing from new (PC) OSs.
To further put this into perspective - in Vista my video cards are overclocked a good 40mhz higher, the video cards are running at stock speeds in Win 7.
Here are the numbers from GTA:
Windows 7 - GTA v1
Average FPS: 40.12
Duration: 37.37 sec
CPU Usage: 74%
System memory usage: 37%
Video memory usage: 50%
Graphics Settings
Video Mode: 2560 x 1600 (60 Hz)
Texture Quality: High
Render Quality: Highest
View Distance: 32
Detail Distance: 70
Windows 7 - GTA updated
Average FPS: 43.98
Duration: 37.45 sec
CPU Usage: 78%
System memory usage: 39%
Video memory usage: 53%
Graphics Settings
Video Mode: 2560 x 1600 (60 Hz)
Texture Quality: High
Texture Filter Quality: High
View Distance: 32
Detail Distance: 70
Vista - GTA updated 1920 x 1200
Average FPS: 37.65
Duration: 37.61 sec
CPU Usage: 81%
System memory usage: 44%
Video memory usage: 57%
Graphics Settings
Video Mode: 1920 x 1200 (60 Hz)
Texture Quality: High
Texture Filter Quality: High
View Distance: 75
Vista - GTA updated 2560 x 1600
Average FPS: 32.02
Duration: 37.72 sec
CPU Usage: 74%
System memory usage: 43%
Video memory usage: 59%
Graphics Settings
Video Mode: 2560 x 1600 (60 Hz)
Texture Quality: High
Texture Filter Quality: Very High
View Distance: 100
Detail Distance: 50
*update* Futuremark Vantage Score: 14100!
Direct Link
Labels: 2009, games, games for windows, RAID, technology, Windows7
posted @ 09:54
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Saturday, August 15, 2009
post://3422656839146403744/Batman Arkham Asylum DEMO doesn't launch correctly on 64 bit versions of Windows. You get an int32 error when launching which appears to be a misdeclared variable in the HTTP based launcher. The developers are aware of it but if you're looking to play the DEMO now here's a work around:
You may need to change your INI files around a bit, I tried to crank it with a 10 for the quality and a 5 for the effects, I don't like too much motion blur, I appreciate the cinematic effects but also like to see what's going on even when there is high motion.
In any case here are the files, you'll need to place them in your [Batman Demo]\BmGame\Config folder:
From what I've gathered UserEngine is your main INI:
[Configuration]
BasedOn=..\BmGame\Config\DefaultEngine.ini
[SystemSettings]
Fullscreen=True
UseVsync=True
AllowD3D10=True <- needed if you are running VISTA
ResX=2560
ResY=1600 <- this is your resolution, X by Y
EffectsLevel=5 <- I am not sure how high this goes, it might go to 10?
MaxMultisamples=1 <- this might be AA
DynamicLights=True
DepthOfField=True
LensFlares=True
Bloom=True
DynamicShadows=True
MotionBlur=True
Distortion=True
FogVolumes=True
DisableSphericalHarmonicLights=False
AmbientOcclusion=True
DetailMode=10 <- again, not sure how high this goes, I set to 10
MaxShadowResolution=1024 <- this was originally set to 512, I set higher to improve performance
IniVersion=5.8
[Engine.Engine]
PhysXLevel=1 <- I am not sure if a higher number (5? 10?) might improve PhysX, runs well as is but I didn't find much for a physics in the demo
Language=int
[DevOptions.Shaders]
bAllowMultiThreadedShaderCompile=True <- this appears to be only a debug option but I set to True to possibly increase multi-threaded performance
Here is the first pass I did with the default INI from the boards:
...and then with my current INI available for download:
Labels: games, games for windows, graphics
posted @ 18:36
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Tuesday, June 30, 2009
post://4306510762466182006/I received my EVGA 295 GTX Co-Op today and here are the results!
17:45 - Card installed, powered on
18:00 - Drivers Updated, restarted
21:06 - done with benchmarking
Initial observations:
Compared to the 280 GTX:
- same length
- feels heavier
- a tad thinner
Hardware installation included 2 devices (GTX 295)
I left a 280 in there for strictly PhysX for now but going to do try benchmarks both with and without it on both cards.
Test: -/+ for decreased / increased performance
3DMark Vantage (Ambient Occlusion: ON | PhysX: ON): +
Score: 16209
CPU: 33477
Graphics: 13831
3DMark 2006 (Ambient Occlusion: ON | PhysX: ON): =
Score: 13260
SM 2.0: 4953
SM 3.0: 6965
CPU: 3268
3DMark Vantage (Ambient Occlusion: OFF | PhysX: OFF): +
Score: 12415
CPU: 8610
Graphics: 14560
3DMark 2006 (Ambient Occlusion: OFF | PhysX: OFF): -
Score: 13126
SM 2.0: 4830
SM 3.0: 6935
CPU: 3263
GTA IV: -
Benchark @ 1920 x 1200
Texture Quality High
Texture Filter Quality: Very High
View Distance: 25
Detail Distance: 30
Previous (2 x 280 GTX):
Average FPS: 52.01
Duration: 37.55 Sec
CPU Usage: 77%
System Memory Usage: 36%
Video Memory usage 92%
Current (1 x 295 GTX Co-Op):
Average FPS: 48.96
Duration: 37.72 sec
CPU Usage: 78%
System Memory Usage: 38%
Video Memory Usage: 99%
Crysis: -
I was a custom mix of Very High and High with a lower view distance with the previous cards but durring hectic battles I'd notice everything getting really choppy.
With the new card autodetect chose all High
1920 x 1200 was too much for it at first, but after it settled in and had the textures loaded it went relatively smooth and playable. I turned down to 1280 x 800, the next lowest 16:10 resolution in the list but the quality wasn't worth it. The text was way too blocky, and the trees all had squares where light shone in-between the leaves. I turned it up to 2560 x 1600 and it looked really good but and still had similar performance as the other resolutions. Overall I'd say this is an improvement as I can eek up the shaders and the physics with little to no impact in framerate... too bad said framerate is a steady 30 fps or so. I have the latest version and drivers but I remember a past bug in Crysis where it would run worse if you changed the resolution in game so I'll try this one again tomorrow.
NFS Undercover: +
I had it at 1920 x 1200 previously - with medium world effects (I hate the motion blur) all detail set to highest and 6x AA. I had turned off VSynch previously because it was pulling it down to 30 when I was probably getting about 40 or so, but I HAD to enable it with the new card. I was getting at least 60fps easy and even when I turned it up to 2560 x 1600 I had to turn on VSynch to make it not look like everything was in Fast Forward.
Benchmarks really don't gain much over my 2 x 280s and even go down in the game test. That's partly because the new card actually reduces my available video RAM. The RAM is what I had originally targeted as my bottleneck for draw distance in GTA and this isn't going to help at all, I even need to bring it down a little.
I'm not super impressed, especially since I could get the same performance and even better high resolution performance from my 2 (and now much cheaper) 280s. All in all I'm sure if you're running lower resolution you could kick some ass running 2 of these, but good luck with that.
Rendering is faster due to the increased clocks and there is a noticebly higher quality to the image but as far as sheer frame rates go - this card isn't going to cut it for anyone running higher then 1920 x 1200.
My recommendation is that if you're looking for high performance AND high resolution - stick with the 295 GTX 1g+ cards. I'll be waiting for the higher memory cards to come out, and praying my 90 days for the step up program is enough time.
Labels: 2009, 3dmark, consumerism, games, games for windows, hardware, materialism, video
posted @ 18:03
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Tuesday, April 07, 2009
post://7853510666201610976/more to follow, teaser:
Labels: 2009, consumerism, games, games for windows, hardware, technology
posted @ 21:05
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Thursday, March 26, 2009
post://6837641428007151744/This year's birthday spoils:
- iPod Nano
- Novint Falcon
- NFS Undercover
- BF2142 Deluxe (for the living room PC)
I ended up working half a day today, spent the 2nd half being productive and hanging out with the dog.
I went and got my winter tires off the car, I think we're safe for snow. If it comes now I just won't go anywhere :)
I spent that time waiting listening to my iPod - I was totally that guy in the store with the iPod on. I meandered around Home Depot, looking at some bathroom stuff, and I found a fence I liked. I picked up a rake, and walked back to pick up my car. I didn't really think that much of it, but people look at you funny when you walk into a waiting area with a rake.
It wasn't too long, though I noticed something odd about the iPod touch. Even if you have video in your audio playlist it won't make it to your iPod unless you add the playlist under the video section. I have this thing about rating. I love rating my music, and now that I've perfected moving my whole Library (album art, comments, ratings, along with all the files themselves) I've gotten more serious about it.
1 star - don't like it, don't like it at all - I'll probably delete later
2 star - I appreciate it, but I don't like it enough to have it be played in my background music
3 star - background music
4 star - really good
5 star - makes me stammer when attempting to describe, tear up, or jump up and down
Armin Van Buuren - Shivers (Rising Star Mix) is a good example of what I'd give a 5.
I set up a running playlist of only non-rated files listing the newest out of whatever size, or number of files I restrict it to - but never put much of a dent in it, at least not until I got Jamie's old iPod. It was kinda broken, had synching issues - but she gave it to me for helping with her computer and I got it to mostly work. Doing things very patiently I could reload it ever 5 synchs or so and I'd get about 4 days worth of ratings at a time before I'd have to reload the firmware on it. With an iPod I could now rate the music during the day in the car or at work - I got a lot done.
It eventually frustrated me to the point of crushing it, so of course I took it apart to check it out. I've been non-rating MP3 playering since, at least I had a backup. Now I'm back in the groove. I also had to get a new case because the neoprene DLO case I had for the 1st gen nano covered the bottom 40% of the wheel on the new model - bastards, change it juuuuuust enough.
So I got BF2142 all working for the weekend - coupld of the guys are coming out and we'll have a multi-computery dethmatch of deth, so wanted to make sure all was in tip top shape. I also just installed NFS - I know it's going to be corny, but lets go see what they did with the graphics and this new "Heroic driving engine".
Labels: 2009, birthday, games for windows, hardware, music, technology, update
posted @ 10:09
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Sunday, February 22, 2009
post://8133353976599970085/I had my main system drive in RAID striping (no data protection) and sure enough one of the drives went screwy. I had a system backup that I made with Vista Ultimate so I wasn't that wary of reinstalling. I could pop in the new drive, insert the windows disk and restore, one of the bennefits of Ultimate!
It wasn't like that, not at all - in order to restore off of one of those Windows Image Backups you need to have the same drive configuration as before. My drives were different - so no go.
I finally reinstalled fresh to a new drive (no RAID on the system drive this time) then I got all the files I needed off the original RAID setup which was still limping along good enough for me to get my data. I was sure I had everything but I was about to find out otherwise.
I started up GTA and it asked me to activate. Ok I can activate, I clicked ok - nada, some error with infrastructure and all that. I realized I needed to reinstall so that got me thinking of my savegames and how I should probably go back them up in case the reinstall tried to overwrite them. I made a backup of my Rockstar Games folder in Documents but as I poked around in there I didn't see any savegame files. I also didn't see anything in the new Vista c:\Users\X3\Saved Games folder.
I did some research and realized I had lost them. I needed the files in c:\Users\X3\Local Settings\Application Data\Rockstar Games\... and since I was using XBox Live for Windows and it encrypts the savegames (to prevent people from cheating) I also needed the files in c:\Program Files(x86)\XLive
I've lost save games before and I know there are sites around that have a save at virtually every misssion in the game, but how would that work in this case?
After some more searching I found something that would let me load the save files into the reinstalled version:
HowTo for Savegame "wrapper"
Original Site
I'm going to go look for savegame collections now. If I can't reply my game with all my carefully molded relationsihips I can at least play out the missions and get the rest of the story.
Damn it!
[Update - 2/23/2009] - I found them! I'll post the link once I get home, but I've found a site with all the missions, and the link for the wrapper above works. Now I can get as close as I can to where I left off - of course the relationships, the races, the pidgeons, the stunt jumps, who knows how they did with those but I can only hope for the best and try and finish the game, albeit from someone else's skin.
Labels: games, games for windows, lament, lost data
posted @ 14:02
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Saturday, February 14, 2009
post://5313472958211376515/I just downloaded the largest demo ever: 2.9 gigs, and it turns out that's because it also has the full game in it. When you go to install it you are presented with 2 buttons: Install Trial or Install Full Game, naturally I chose Install Full Game where it presented me with a spot to put in a registration code from EA. I didn't have one but I did see that it's $39 at the EA store so you can download the demo and turn it into the full game.
I thought game companies did away with this sort of thing. Isn't it a little too tantalizing to have a carrot dangled in front of a hackers face of being able to download the full game right out the box or are they confident that their downloadable game technology is safe?
In either case it's kinda cool to be able to download the demo, figure out if you like it and then click a button and input a code to get the full thing. Also cool if you know how to crack I suppose. If it's good I might just consider paying them the $39 though, I like to support good ventures and there's a shortage of racing games in the PC world that don't have hokey dialog (now that they've turned NFS into a bad 2Fast movie).
[Buy the Game]
[Download the Demo & See Screenshots]
Labels: consumerism, games, games for windows, graphics, SLi
posted @ 08:16
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Sunday, January 25, 2009
post://6816059569584533463/So I've spent the weekend... well, I guess that could be extended to the past month, doing computer stuff. I placed the hardware order on December 31st (so I could include it in the business costs for 2008) and received them on the 7th or so.
From there on it's been computers, computers, computers. I upgrade my own to free up a power supply and memory for my new Media PC for the living room. I took all the old stuff I had and got a brand new media pc case for it all. It's about the size (amazingly close in size) to my receiver and now have it all nicely arranged in the new entertainment center.
The original order started with Jamie. Her computer was up to the gill in spyware and antivirus and she was looking for a way to record TV. Since the existing setup couldn't quite pull that off I came up with a solution for her - a Media PC / desktop. That got me thinking about an actual media PC for myself and lead to me ordering the new case and replacement parts for my desktop so those old parts would be available for the Media PC.
In any case I came up with a really nice Thermaltake box case (like a shuttle case on steriods) and TV card arrangement. I waited on the TV card for myself until I could confirm if Comcast is QAM in my area. Per my experience with Jamie's PC being plugged into my cabe I can confirm it is not. They give me one digital channel in high quality off the line and it's always an add for a Wrestling PPV. So the only channels on my network are analog and most of those have that little known property that Comcast actually just got fined for - many of the channels say "this channel is still available on the digital teir" to try and entice the $13 a month-ers.
So I was working on 3 computers, more upgrading 1, making another from old parts in a new case and building a new system. Then Joe from Finishline called me. I haven't done business with him in a while - over a year in fact. It got where I was spending a lot of time supporting him over the phone with questions and the like and not getting anything from it. I finally started charging him for phone support and he didn't pay those invoices. I took the loss and moved on but he recently started calling me again when "his computer got stolen". He had taken it to a local shop for repair and they closed up and took his computer with them. They didn't return it and wouldn't return his calls. He ended up getting it back but it had been in the middle of a system refresh and was apart all over the place. He was in a bind and I'm planning on charging full price, so I agreed - that made the 4th.
So here I am in the office all weekend, with multiple computers on a KVM going back and forth between them, installing, downloading drivers, tweaking, and loving it. Of course, my ADD (or so the pamphlets would have me believe) never lets me focus for very long so I'm in and out of the office as things format and download so I'm not completely holed up the whole time. As a matter of fact I even had dinner with my wife last night, then we watched the office (had to resort to Hulu due to the cable issues) and then caught up on the Kyle XY finale from last year (we'll probably check out this season tonight). I then had Nicole try out Civ on the PS3. It's a pretty good game, and she didn't experience anywhere near the performance problems I had. She won via domination but to be fair she was building the United Nations... it just happened that Abraham Lincoln got his panties in a bunch before it could get completed.
So though I've been busy this weekend, but all in all it's been fairly enjoyable. The only thing I might like more is if the office was clean, but I can get around to that once I'm not using it to build. I so need to sort through my stuff and throw out the old parts(PIII and under). As it is I could never receive purely professional customers.
Side note - found this while browsing: The Unwanted Blog
It's got a lot of very cool general interest stuff as well as technological and historical items. A great blend of all things I'm interested in.
Labels: 3dmark, games for windows, graphics, hardware, link, technology, vista
posted @ 13:35
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- side note about the link - of course nothing is perfect and though this blog is great otherwise, he does seem a bit bitter about Obama. Just have a little hope, give it some time, and I'll welcome your point of view in a couple years.
Saturday, January 03, 2009
post://6990541718987691637/I beat Fallout 3 today - tried it ever which way to survive. Unfortunately the ending comes out almost the same, with a few changes here and there. I did it right the first time and then reloaded and went back to it. I reached level 20 and Max XP well before I got involved in the last battles of the game. All told it was great, story got even better and though it was slightly more linear towards the end I still really enjoyed it.
I just heard the latest on the DLC which is coming out for both the 360 and PC. 3 installments, they'll be coming out one a month for January - March 2009. The first installment "Battle of Anchorage" lets you play the first battle of the war via simulation, much like "Tranquility Lane". The second installment "The Pitt" is a morality quest into a slave town in Pittsburg. The third and final DLC is the big one, it lets you use all you've gained in the main plot and resumes from where you left off (and lets you advance past level 20).
The first 2 DLCs don't seem like they'd do much good to me from a character expansion point until the third one is out. I may just wait for the multipack to come out in March as I'm sure they'll package them in a disc version once they're all released.
Labels: consumerism, download, games, games for windows
posted @ 14:40
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Wednesday, December 10, 2008
post://1480953871889639729/So this shows a few issues with Rockstar's "video editor" in GTA IV for PC.
You'll notice you don't see any fire after the first clip or two yet some vehicles tend to blow up for no reason. I'm a little disssapointed considering it took me over 40 minutes to encode this "web quality" video. Other options are 720p and 1080p. Last time I tried 1080p I crashed. Go fig.
Anyhow, take a look at my GTA 'fire storm' video here.
Labels: games, games for windows, graphics, video
posted @ 23:23
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Sunday, December 07, 2008
post://6314627219298098290/Here's the same progression in GTA benchmarks. I didn't have to do much work for this because GTA writes each benchmark to a separate txt file automatically. I pasted into Google Docs and made a graph of it all.
The details are here but this is the graph:
Labels: 3dmark, consumerism, games for windows, hardware, materialism, SLi, technology
posted @ 11:37
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Saturday, December 06, 2008
post://8239767402186441602/Ok, so after the dust has settled I've completed the Hard Drive externalization (technical prototype) and here are the past couple benchmarks:
2 x New Graphics Card + CPU
New Graphics Card + CPU
New Graphics Card
New Motherboard
Original
Read em and weep.
Labels: 3dmark, consumerism, games for windows, hardware, materialism, SLi, technology
posted @ 22:51
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Thursday, December 04, 2008
post://1960250936291300007/Ya know... sometimes I hate PC gaming and then other times.
I looooove it:
[ 1st Try, beloved MMA10 ERROR ]
[ GTAIV 01 ]
[ GTAIV 02 ]
[ GTAIV 03 ] *
[ GTAIV 04 ]
[ GTAIV 05 ]
* = driver upgrade mmmm hmmm
Labels: games, games for windows, graphics, screenshot
posted @ 21:44
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Wednesday, December 03, 2008
post://8605665130117686757/Rockstar apparently wanted their little foot in the online pool. GTA IV for PC may be exclusive to XBOX Live (Windows) but since they have it all centralized via their Rockstar Social Club - it all depends on their servers having the stones to support everyone logging in at once.
I guess they didn't expect such a rush. I called support:
Wait, you called before?
No... I don't think so.
Yeah, for PS3 - not showing 1080p.
Oh yeah, yeah I did.
So why'd you buy it for the PC too? I had it for PS3, I wasn't going to go buy it for PC too.
Well... I guess the graphics, and really liked the achievements in Fallout 3
Oh, Fallout 3 - brilliant game
Yeah, I love it
Chatter aside, it turned out their server wasn't prepared.
Rookie mistake, Rockstar.
So if you're playing GTA IV for PC and you're getting an error after the copyright screen in GTA (fatal error MMA10), just pull the network cable, start in "offline" mode and boom - you'll be up and happy in single player.
I guess no one was online making recordings in Multiplayer last night, maybe they'll have it fixed later today. When I called it was 3am their time in the UK, with expected rollout to their masses in about 5 hours so it doesn't look good unless they can get some serious stones, real fast.
Labels: commentary, games, games for windows
posted @ 09:47
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Tuesday, December 02, 2008
post://441443711170341468/Yeah... I got it.
I couldn't help myself. I looked at the screenshots, I pondered, and after finding there was no demo to quench my thirst, I ventured to go get it before the stores closed.
It's installing now, and I'm enjoying the extra items in the box. I've got plenty of time to read it all - the game is 18g over 2 DVDs. I wonder if they're dual layer. I guess they'd have to be, even compressed it would be at least 12 to 16g and that's more then 2 4g DVDs could handle.
The new social club feature is kind of odd. Apparently someone had already taken my handle?? I don't quite understand but now my PS3 Social Club, PC Social Club, and XBOX Live (Windows) is now all linked up. I've enjoyed the achievements in Fallout 3, and I guess that was another reason I was eager to get this version. I know I've seen most of the missions already, but I can play it really down and dirty and probably get pretty far.
I was all about the DLC, wondering if it will be out for PC too - and I guess I'll get my answer, but if Fallout can do it (coming in January for both XBOX & PC users) I at least know it's possible, and since it's all LIVE - it ought to come to fruition soon enough.
[update 21:44] Apparently there is a newer version of Games for Windows LIVE. I was just playing Fallout 3 yesterday on LIVE so I expected I'd have the latest release. I didn't play it today though, so there must be a new version just for GTA's release. So on the upside to it still not being installed completely - coolness. Also, because I has x64 VISTA I needed to install x64 specific video encoding engine for the game to start, I guess the video editor and encoding is integral.
Labels: consumerism, games, games for windows
posted @ 21:10
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Monday, November 03, 2008
post://3136412013318335276/Hummina humina - Fallout 3 is fabulous. It's everything I wanted it to be. It plays similarly to Oblivion with all the awesomeness of Oblivion & Fallout combined.
The combat system is your run of the mill point and shoot... until you activate VATS which stops the action and allows you to choose which body part of which target you want to shoot, with a very RPG % likeliness of hitting each body part.
You can shoot the gun out of their hand - or blow the arm off completely - and to accompany these shots is an awesome (VERY bloody) camera shot in bullet time. Slice their head with a knife, break their leg with the bat, or shoot off their gun hand - it's great.
Here are some screenshots:
Here is a video montage (sans music?) I made of a few attempts at VATS:
Fallout3 Screenshot 01
Fallout3 Screenshot 02
I was limited to 30 sec with trial version of FRAPs but only took me like 10 takes, so here are the 3 best sequences :)
Fallout3 VATS System Preview Video
**UPDATE** I gave in and got the full version of FRAPs and it was TOTALLY worth it, check it out: Video: VATS Killshot
Coming soon - "killing in the name of" soundtrack
Labels: games, games for windows, graphics, screenshot, video
posted @ 12:29
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Tuesday, October 28, 2008
post://1286577185651811615/GOG.com has gone live, you can purchase Good Old Games for 5.99 or 9.99 depending.
Descent 1 & 2 (or 3 & Expansion), Fallout 1, 2, and Tactics, Kingpin, Messiah, and Redneck Rampage - remember that one? I also found this little gem: Castles 2
No more trying to get Win95/Win98 working with your new hardware, or break out the old Pentium II in order to play these old gems - they're all certified to play on XP and Vista (including x64!).
Awesome.
Labels: consumerism, games, games for windows, nostalgia
posted @ 20:49
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Monday, October 13, 2008
post://7660891626207946375/I've been loving 2560 x 1600 for all games lately with the latest version of nVidia drivers and now I took some video. First one is 25fps, other 2 are 60 fps but I belive Windows Movie Maker does 15fps for WMV 720p. They were originally recorded at 2560 x 1600 but the compression doesn't really do it justice.
In any case, have fun viewing:
Labels: fun, games, games for windows, graphics, racing, video
posted @ 21:58
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Thursday, October 02, 2008
post://7950685253127620400/
Here's what I got with the MKZ Benchmark:
Labels: games for windows, technology
posted @ 21:05
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post://2317820311472832986/
This means towers that can be taken down, realistic wall destroying, and many other items only possible with a physics engine. Just like GPUs advanced the graphics, Physics processing will advance the gameplay and realworld feeling of video games.
Labels: games, games for windows, graphics, technology, video
posted @ 19:44
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Sunday, June 15, 2008
post://7579065082664969228/I picked up another card to do SLi this weekend. I wanted more, I wanted 2560x1600. I priced out what it would cost me to get a 9800GX2 including the trade-in from EVGA and it was going to be like $350+, so I instead spent $170 for another 8800 GTS - which were getting scarce so I moved on it.
I tested using 3D Mark Vantage (for VISTA) as my existing 3D Mark 2006 is not working in VISTAx64 because it says OpenAL32.dll is not present (which it is).
I'd rather use 3DMark 06 as it's a more accurate guage given my past configurations were also based in 2006 but with Creative software not installing for some weird error they can't solve I'm just working with what's working for me.
In any case, you'll see the difference with the score of 1 8800GTS vs 2 in SLi
1 x 8800GTS 640mb
Score: 4383
- CPU: 4228
- GPU: 4437
2 x 8800GTS 640mb in SLi
Score: 6642
- CPU: 4275
- GPU: 8145
I might post another score if I try some overclocking. It's nowhere near the 20,000 score reached by an individual with a QuadCore, 9850GX2, and PhysX card but I figured it out and I'm 118260 out of 155217 total, so that's a decent standing with a 76%.
Labels: consumerism, games, games for windows, hardware, SLi, technology
posted @ 21:43
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Sunday, June 01, 2008
post://2279815248762638880/If you thought Crysis was cool:
Video: First look at FarCry2
They did it even better with FarCry 2, without aliens.
Top 100 Best Tech Products - top 10 are right on... minus a few (like Facebook, XP?!!). I had never heard of the SD card that turns your camera into a wifi device.
Labels: games, games for windows, graphics, video
posted @ 09:24
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Thursday, May 08, 2008
post://7270195168885293291/So I'm working from home today, collected a few tidbits durring my hours upon hours of meetings:
There is still no concrete info on the Wii pole dance game
EA PR is spinning, Tech is confirming they suck
Ever wonder if your local sewage treatment is up to snuff? Holyoke's isn't.
Kind of a dramatic image of an old Iraqi woman not quite the caliber of the Afghanistan girl from Time, but still powerful.
*update* gotta hand it to MSN, they find some cool stuff, particularly Jott - a free service where you can dictate text messages.
Labels: commentary, environment, games, games for windows, Iraq culture, link
posted @ 17:45
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Sunday, February 17, 2008
post://668723420553350208/GTA IV (as ususal) looks AMAZING
Change the number at the end of the url to see other random pics:
http://www.rockstargames.com/IV/screens/GTAIV_53.html
http://www.rockstargames.com/IV/screens/GTAIV_17.html
http://www.rockstargames.com/IV/screens/GTAIV_21.html
http://www.rockstargames.com/IV/screens/GTAIV_45.html
Labels: fun, games, games for windows, screenshot
posted @ 17:57
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Thursday, January 31, 2008
post://9181081154937968277/An interesting article - blue eyes are related to Melanoma.
EA announced "Battlefield Heros", due out this summer. It's from the Battlefield 1942 and Battlefield 2 team and it's FREE. However before you go screaming in delight like a little girl... it's cartoon (cell shaded?) and there will most likely be a ton of kids playing. They'll probably use it as a springboard for all their other games and/or something 12 year olds like.
Labels: games, games for windows, history, link
posted @ 19:26
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Thursday, December 13, 2007
post://8460487275883317634/Check out these results of the Crysis DEMO.
Crysis x32 vs x64 DX9
Crysis x32 vs x64 DX10
Granted, it's the DEMO but if you're going to include separate bin32 and bin64 directories then why isn't it native? I think Crysis intended to do it right and then EA swoopt down with their bagful of money... and pooped out the game.
Labels: games, games for windows
posted @ 10:20
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Saturday, September 29, 2007
post://8859348375139180415/BioShock - EtchASketch Style
Sooooo much to blog:
weddings
So first there was my own wedding... then then Justin's... and now Jon's on Saturday.
baby
Not mine, Matt and Jenn had a baby - Charlotte is the baby's name and she's my new niece!
Of course everyone wants to talk about the young recently married couple's plans for children... undoubtedly comes up in any conversation within a given square footage of any given newborn, but for the moment (most of) the spotlight has shifted...
"Before we're 30" is the basic mantra, but who knows. I was amazed at how small the baby was, about 6.9 oz and barely had her eyes open the last time I saw her. There're pictures out there -- comment a link?
big e
The Big E was kind of lame this year, possibly due to the lateness at which we arrived. We took advantage of the last week before the end to get $5 entry after 5... unfortunately it was about 7 before we got there. Everything starts to close at 9 and by 10 they're pushing you out the door. Good thing we left when we did as we were only soaked to the skin in the last 10 secconds of the (by then) run to the car.
car
~ this is to remind me.
Labels: games, games for windows, ramble, update
posted @ 14:43
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(Almost) Daily Links for your perusal:
Links Updated at 11:38 AM
I had to put all the links here so they could still be robot'd since I was having issues with the whole dual click nature of the modern browsers.
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music recommendations
links
discuss (no longer in service)
...mysterious
pictures
mobile
archive