Wednesday, December 16, 2009
post://624288174965906696/
Labels: 2009, games, games for windows, graphics, racing
posted @ 10:18
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Tuesday, December 08, 2009
post://2179114379212042377/
I had downloaded Battlefield 1942 for the PS3 a while back, shelled out the $15 and it's relatively good. Destructable environments basic gameplay on what Battlefield should be (not Bad Company) and decent graphics for a console.
I was especially excited about the prospect of battling cross-platform. PS3, XBOX, and PC all in the same realm? Sign me up to scalp them with my mouse! In any case the PC version was still forthcoming, but after trying the demo I am abhorred by what they provided for the PC version.
No widescreen resolutions, vile texture quality, simplistic scenes, it's like playing original Battlefield 1942, stunted! I don't even think it looks as good on the PC as the original Battlefield would look if I installed it right now, but enough of me hemming and hawing, let the pictures speak for themselves:
posted @ 20:21
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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
-----------------------
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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Sunday, May 24, 2009
post://6427700829808250218/You may have played "Peggle" on PopCap before, but now you can get it on your iPod - I just found Peggle on iTunes for $4.99
Labels: 2009, consumerism, download, games
posted @ 09:43
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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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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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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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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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Wednesday, November 05, 2008
post://601768146272237493/I was surprised to hear that Michael Crichton died today.
He's probably my favorite author, followed closely by Douglas Adams who died just a few years ago. I think I need some new authors, but I'm afraid they might die on me. At the very least there are a still of Michael Crichton's books that I have not read and remain on my bookshelf. There's just so much I loved about how he created a picture with his words that my mind just ran off with. I was able to picture them much more vivid then any movie could convey, and in the case of Timeline actors could portray.
I was actually inspired to write my first computer program based on Jurassic Park. With my TI80, a black and white TV, and book in hand - I set out to recreate the computer system in the book. From the main menu and submenus you could do an array of things from jump-starting the generators (to get the fences back online) to recycling the door locks. I also made it into a game by creating different scenarios and error messages based on what you had already done, and with certain dependencies that had to be met before you were allowed to proceed.
I'm really sad to see him go, one of the only people that could get me reading like you hear about - nonstop until it's done. He touched on cancer quite a bit in his novels and even in ER - which ironically enough even with his money and knowledge, he was still unable to overcome.
Labels: books, death, games, nostalgia, programming, technology
posted @ 20:46
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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://2317820311472832986/nVidia has finally gotten around to upgrading their cards with PhysX. They bought Agea a while ago, and it's been a long time coming. Any nVidia card that is an 8 series or above is able to be upgraded, which means no separate PhysX process is required, the firmware update uses the GPU to do all the cachunking of the (previously) dedicated physics chip.
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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Tuesday, June 17, 2008
post://4296121579900533304/I went back today and found some previous 3DMark06 Scores since I was finally able to get my 3DMark06 up and running. I still had my old VISTA x64 install on my extra HD (haven't needed to reformat it for space yet) so I installed everything (didn't work) and then copied over all the OpenAL32.dll to both system32 and syswow64 directories. I removed 3DMark06 and reinstalled from my Crosshair driver CD (w/ professsional SN) but when I went to submit it said a newer version was available. The patch wouldn't install (said 3DMark06 wasn't installed???) so I just copied the 3DMark folder over as well.
All in all I got it to work, but I'm thinking I need to turn the Cancel or Allow back on, this shit didn't happen when I had it ask me to do everything. I still haven't reinstalled SP1. I'll certainly make sure everything's working proper before I do it, but it's ineveitable.... inevietiiable... invevieitiaitiablale!
So it's running and I got a 10,333 base v1.0 - so here are some past 3Dmark scores nVidia 7800 - December 16th, 2006
Asylum GeForce FX 5900 w/ 128mb RAM
I found these doing a picosearch, still works... just re-indexed - give it a try
Labels: 3dmark, games, hardware, nostalgia, SLi
posted @ 19:38
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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, May 04, 2008
post://1153126327478132177/After a long time of being unable to find a chance to hang with anyone the past 2 weeks have been great. I think I can finally hunker down and maybe do some work. After seeing what Justin has been able to do with his free time, I'm inspired.
It started two weeks ago when I was able to finally get together with Josh & Katie, of course Nicole had a previous engagement she realized after we made the plans but that was fine, still time to go grab something to eat first.
Note to self:: the Eastside Grill in NoHo is a full-night affair. An hour of waiting with drinks chit chatting it up for a table, an hour for appetizers, an hour without appetizers, and hour for food, and what seemed like an hour waiting for the check, all in all I think we were in it for at least 3 and a half hours so divide that up accordingly.
I at least got a free dinner and a beer out of it because they had brought me the wrong type of beer on accident. I asked for informational purposes (I have a red-ish beer I need to stop drinking and switch to water in order to be responsible) and they wiped it off the bill for me - mmmm free Gorgonzola Ribeye...
Eventually we got back to the house pretty late but there's always time to show off the TV and play some games.
Saturday I spent the day brewing beer with Bryan, the girls went to a knitting fest, and we spent the evening Wii-ing all over the place.
This weekend Friday was a party at Jay's for his birthday. We went out after work and had a buncha fun. Once everyone started showing up, I was already onto my 4th beer. It compounded for there and I continued to drink water for the rest of the night to stay standing. There was a young girl with breasts out and father in tow (it's just as weird as it sounds). Creep factor +12 for the camera... but I'm going to see if I can find the Myspace photos so you can see for yourself. (FOUND THEM!)
Finally last night was a wine tasting at Justin's. We hung out all day after sleeping until 11 or so - we finally got back to his place and got to sleep at like 3 or so. We'll be having one at our place in September. I wasn't a huge fan of the wine itself and I really can't see paying $27 for a bottle including the shipping but hey - they might just get some people who want to have one at their place.
We just have to have to buy the food to go along with it, but all in all it was pretty fun. It was great to see Justin and Tracy, and I'm very impressed with his self-motivation. It's more then I can do working full time and still getting to the work that's waiting for me at home.
Labels: booze, friends, fun, games, party, pics
posted @ 08:37
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Tuesday, April 29, 2008
post://7782757885757208656/I picked up GTA IV this morning, and by some odd cooincidence also had today off. I popped it in, it did a file copy to the HD (about 5 to 10 minutes) which is like 3+ Gig.
I got in it and it looked blurry... I checked the box, 720p, 1080i, 1080p... and then I checked the TV - 720p. There were no settings in the game (guess I'm too used to PC games) so I went out to the main PS3 menu. There are normally settings when hitting /_\ but not in this case - nothing relevant other then it's a parental control level 9 game :)
In any case I finally weeded through all the tiny text in the back of the game manual to find the technical support line. I got through after not too long (they'll probably get a bunch later on) and spoke with the guy. I was skeptical at first because he told me it was the display settings of the PS3. He told me (in a cockney accent) that I'd need to set it to 1080p. I said I was in 1080p and the main menu was displaying in 1080p, so I knew it was working. He put me on hold to check.
Apparently in the display settings you can check all the boxes for the resolution(s) your TV can handle. I had 720p, 1080i, and 1080p checked. Per his instructions I unchecked 720p and left 1080i/p.
Saved, went back into the game... and voila 1080p.
So if you're experiencing issues with GTA4 getting HD res, you need to take 720p out of your settings. I assume they'll fix this with an update down the road, but if you're checking it out day 1, you may want this handy little tidbit.
*sidenote*
After some additional confusion regarding the multiplayer aspect, simply press Up on the D-pad and then X when the phone is up to get the sub-menu.
Check out the Getting Started in Multiplayer for GTAIV PDF. It's got both PS3 and XBox360 but I bet XBox Live users didn't have such a difficult time with it ;)
Labels: games, ps3, technology
posted @ 09:32
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Saturday, March 01, 2008
post://179204888476567451/It's been a long time since I needed to download something I couldn't find on a web page, and I guess that's why I've stayed away from Torrents.
I am digging through my pile of older games now and after trying Gothic 3 again (yes, it did the same stuttering crap - guess it's not compatible with the 7950GX2) I tried Aliens VS Predator 2.
I had the CD along with the insert that has the serial key. Apparently there is also a disk 2, as I was prompted for it when I got about halfway through the install. I checked the AvP2 box (one of the larger game boxes) and it's got all my other game manuals in it, but no CDs.
... so I'm not sure where it would be - so I go looking on the internet. I really only need the disk 2 ISO because I have the serial and the first disk, the play disk - so no crack needed and after I get it all installed - fully legit.
If it was easier to call a company and request a disk it might not be necessary... but it's also instant gratification (almost - I've got about 1:30 left)
I came accross this little baby for Torrents - BitComet. I've used all sorts of different ones in the past but this has got quite a bit of stuff and I had to bypass minimal junk when I installed it. If you're in need of a torrenterorer, give it a shot.
Labels: commentary, games, hardware, nostalgia
posted @ 11:02
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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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Wednesday, February 06, 2008
post://118971903657824975/Nicole and I couldn't find a Clarissa Explains It All drinking game so we made up our own:
Keep in Mind:
~ Both the DVD and the real show (should you see it somewhere with commercials) still have commercial bumpers.
~ you shouldn't try level 2 unless
a) you're only watching 1 episode
b) you're so super hard core, there's no need to pull punches
c) glrealjrlj .... get nakked! blrgl.. *hic* auuuuuuuuuuuuughhhhhh...
Level 1 - Lets Watch the Whole Disk! / Marithon
Update/Report (Clarissa Report, Clarissa Financial Report, Clarissa Update, etc)
- 1 Drink
Clarissa Calls Her Brother a name other then "Ferguson"
- 1 Drink
Clarissa Actually Calls Her Brother "Ferguson"
- 2 Drinks
Clarissa Talks to the Camera
- 1 Drink
(while oblivious to everyone else in the scene)
- 2 Drinks
Time Speeds Up
- 1 Drink
Clarissa's Mom creates a soy-based food
- 1 Drink
Commercial Bumper (Both To and From)
- 1 Drink
Clarissa creates a Computer Simulation
- 1 Drink
Computer Animation / Marker on the Screen
- 1 Drink
Clarissa Mentions One of Her Teachers
- 1 Drink
Clarissa uses a word above her grade level
- 2 Drinks
Elvis Reference
- 1 Drink
Oversized Prop (as in wouldn't actually fit out her door) in Clarissa's Room
- 1 Drink
Level 2 - What the Hell Are We Doing / OK, Maybe We'll Watch 1 Episode
(Combine with Level 1)
Someone says "Clarissa"
- 1 Drink
Someone says 'Sam"
- 1 Drink
Opening or Closing Credits
- 1 Drink
You See Clarissa's Bedroom
- 1 Drink
You See Their Kitchen
- 1 Drink
You see their Living Room
- 1 Drink
Labels: booze, games, nostalgia, tv
posted @ 20:44
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- awesome!! i have a suggestion - every time Sam comes in a window, 1 drink. every time Sam comes in a door - finish the drink you've got!!
also, every time Ferguson mentions his political aspirations, drink.
every time Dad refers to his architecture job, drink!
- Brilliant!
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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Saturday, December 15, 2007
post://7510775520533038749/I think I'm done with computer gaming. I just don't have the money to do it well. I invested for the monitor - and it's served me well, but I just can't believe what NVidia just announced - SLi x 3. I have 3 major problems with this:
1.) Cost - If you want 3 8800 GTX Ultra cards you are spending 3 x $700, that's $3000 just on video cards. I've never been one for building a $5000 PC, and this is hands down the way to do it.
2.) Space - Who has room for 3 oversized, extra long cards that suck 200 watts each? 1000W minimium is going to become 1500W, then 2000W.
3.) I jumped on Quad-SLi and there has been no further development. They're DX9 so that's it... not even next gen optimizations. There's so much more that could be done with them as ususally all 4 are not being used properly... why optimize when you can just throw another one in.
I'm very curious to see what happens with Spider from AMD/ATI. I have not like ATI in the past, but I expect AMD will do good things with them.
Labels: commentary, games, hardware
posted @ 10:22
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- Quad SLI gaming in VISTA update:
none, don't bother - even when it works in "Single SLI" mode I see a line between the top and bottom sections of the screen, when I try 4 x SLI alternate frame rendering I see differences in the smoke, and issues when there is more going on in one section then another.
VISTA is a further example of PLRGLMPHLLLLL....
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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Wednesday, December 12, 2007
post://6623514275047193929/So I had heard about "S.T.A.L.K.E.R." a while back and was quite excited by it. I looked it up and wow... it was already out, and had been out since March! That meant it was only $30 now, so I went to go pick it up.
It ran like crap, and ran even worse at lower resolutions which shouldn't happen. Every other time I'd run it I'd get really good frame rates in the rendered intro scene and then it would get better rates in the game but still nothing too good.
I was rather disappointed by the whole thing... I certainly don't have the best video cards but they're quad-core, 2 x 7950s in SLi so I expected they'd run ok since the game wasn't brand new. I still think there's a tweak I can perform that will make it run better.
I also got a copy of Crysis - the demo ran like crap, but the full version runs much better - it doesn't work in native 64 bit but that's to be expected with a... second hand version.
Call of Duty 4 is a really great game, I'm currently playing it in 1280 x 800 16x10 res with no AA or AS filtering and I'm getting very strange effect. The lighting is a tad surreal, the edges around the other characters is too bright. The game itself is really good - the squad AI covered my ass for most of it. I tend to jump into the fire, so this was a new experience. Throwing a flash bang into the room while the 2 guys flank the door and then rush in once it goes off was really cool - I think the AI makes this the best squad based game I've played, though I think the last one I played was Swat4 =)
posted @ 13:10
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post://6330594734812820111/
posted @ 12:49
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Saturday, October 27, 2007
post://6542161125107825633/Pirates BF 2 Mod
Labels: games
posted @ 22:44
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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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Tuesday, August 28, 2007
post://2241580024027101468/This whole review is good, but this part about Bioshock DX9 vs DX10 screenshots is pretty apparent that it's not worth another $800.
posted @ 18:42
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Sunday, August 26, 2007
post://8992549208084479802/ET is rated the worst game of all time
Labels: games
posted @ 21:05
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post://7206391819715320815/
Settlers goes 3D live it love it.... suck it.
Labels: games
posted @ 20:14
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Thursday, August 23, 2007
post://6468140070894410466/I played BIOSHOCK last night - loved it, in fact, here's another bioshock screenshot I got "on the way down".
I purchased it on the way home today. It is a very very nice looking game. I enjoy the concept, and I LOVE the art deco. The artists who created this masterpiece should be congratulated and hugged.
I'll be posting more of the interesting screenshots as I go. I'll be replaying the demo levels so I'll know when to snap. Hopefully XFire grabs them this time - last night it didn't want to work so I had to use print screen which doesn't always work how you want it to.
Oh... forgot something - XBox controller. It was designed around it - so I can sit back and I don't have to be all up in the piece that is the keyboard and mouse.
Love... it.
downsides:
Widescreen <-debunked via www.cultofrapture.com (official site)
Online Activation - can only activate 3 computers, must be online to activate
Labels: fun, games, graphics, vista
posted @ 17:47
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Wednesday, August 22, 2007
post://2239550656350973730/I downloaded the BioShock DEMO while I was at work today, just installed it and haven't even gotten around to a main screen yet - literally just got in the building and I have to post this screenshot of the Bioshock demo. I've got everything turned up, only DX9, and only 1280 x 800 resolution. I'll post a few later at full. The frame rate might give you an indication as to why I didn't start there right off. It's on VSYNC though for the LCD so it could be higher =)
posted @ 17:02
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Sunday, August 05, 2007
post://8681203176590360302/Apparently 3D gaming glasses went byebye with the CRT. I found out after cruizing a bit, my interest sparked by a detail line in the nVidia drivers readme. I had a pair of glasses built into my old GeForce3. It was pretty cool, it could turn any 3D game into 3D. Of course it worked better with some games then others. Sometimes you could tell that they only made a sprite where a 3D shape should be, and that just sent things all askew.
I'm sure the technology is about where it used to be, but with my 30" monitor - I have a renewed interest in having things pop out at me. I also have the wheel again, so driving games would be interesting.
I kept seeing "CRT support only" as I looked around, until finally I searched for 3D glasses LCD and found that one company ("first and only") was supporting LCDs with their glasses. They recommend 70hz or better - so it still may not look all that great (my monitor goes 60hz max).
So if you've got an nVidia card (and apparently ATI supports it too?) and $100: Check out these 3D Glasses for LCDs from EDimensional.
Labels: consumerism, games, hardware
posted @ 11:40
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Monday, June 25, 2007
post://677787430548305474/I saw this article about the best HDTVs for gaming on MSN. It caught my eye and it started out with just what I wanted to know: response time and refresh rate averages.
Apparently Plasma is 4ms, LCD is 8ms, and refresh rate with the new LCDs is effectively 120hz (120 updates per seccond).
It doesn't really go into what else you may need, but review the models they chose on the seccond page, and compare those stats and you may just learn what makes them better then the others for HD gaming.
Labels: games, technology, tv
posted @ 12:03
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Wednesday, May 09, 2007
post://7623732760857600780/Jay's Birthday party / Cinco De Mayo was fun.
I can't download Rockstar Table Tennis, but I can download Tomb Raider: Legend for PC.
I did just that, and it plays (with my XBOX 360 Controller) just like XBOX 360.
Take a look, I may take another pic at a full 2560 x 1600, but this one is 1600 x 1024.
posted @ 17:51
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Saturday, January 20, 2007
post://8634045842280028503/I'm collecting old PC games. I've been collecting them for some time, but each time I do a major hardware upgrade, or come upon games I forgot about - I like to pop them in and see what used to pass for "good".
Over the past couple weeks I've tried the following:
Metal Gear Solid 2
Wing Commander Prophecy
Start Trek: Next Generation - New Worlds
Sacrifice
Mech Commander 4 - Black Knights
True Crime
I'm still installing True Crime. 4 CDs of waiting. Console games play right off the disk, but since all consoles have predicible read speed - they can do that.
Metal Gear Solid and True Crime 2 that I had way back when but the DVD I backed them up on got damaged. I was able to find Metal Gear Solid 2 on Overstock for $12 on DVD and just found True Crime at EBGames today for $4.99 on CD. Amazing what you can find when scouring the racks.
Metal Gear worked pretty well with the XBox controller, but I had to remap the trigger axis to buttons in order to use them. It still looks ok, and will play at 2560 x 1600.
Star Trek was 1024 max, and crashed right before getting to actual game play.
Sacrifice played at 2560 x 1600 and was very 3D, incredibly simple world when comparing it to today's games. It was like a 3D Warcraft. I don't often have the patience for RTS.
Wing Commander Prophecy required a few fan made patches, but worked quite well. The best I could hope for was a "high quality" patch, which I think brought it up to 1024 x 768, fixed the audio skipping, and removed the interlacing from the video.
Mech Warrior 4 looked a lot better then I thought it would with 1600 x 1200. The landscape was, again, really barren - and my joystick doesn't feedback nor does it swivel left right, have a hat, or a throttle - all very useful in MW. I don't think I'm about to go buy a new Force Feedback joystick for the game, but it was fun, and if I feel like driving a mech I just may play it again.
True Crime is... yep, you guessed it - still installing.
Maybe this will be helpful for someone wondering if they should keep their old games, or wonder how they'll play on their new system.
I'm expecting to be able to go full res with True Crime, but something that surprised me - Battlefield 2142 runs incredibly at 2560 x 1600. I finally picked it up again after trading in my original digital download copy when it stopped being able to find the EA server regularly. It was $10 less and I now have an actual DVD.
I still had all my awards and score, so I'm not starting as a Private, makes it a lot more fun to pick up again. There are similarities to BF2, but 2142 is very well thought out. They get better with these Battlefield games every time they make a new one.
posted @ 18:15
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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.
music recommendations
links
discuss (no longer in service)
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pictures
mobile
archive
music recommendations
links
discuss (no longer in service)
...mysterious
pictures
mobile
archive