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Using 1 Gaming Computer For 2 People?
True Vox writes "My fiance and I have recently taken interest in City of Heroes (she's currently got a character on my account). She's got a cute little netbook, but nothing nearly powerful enough for a 5-year-old MMORPG, let alone if we take interest in Champions Online! I am reticent to buy a new gaming computer simply for what amounts to a passing phase. Has anyone had any experience using one computer to control two monitors with two sets of input devices (e.g. two keyboards and two mice, or one keyboard, one mouse, and a 360 gamepad, perhaps)? I have seen one solution that might work, but not much information from users that I can find. In short, does anyone have any experience with setups like this?"
Check out some of the refurbished systems available online and from places like Frys. You can get some raging deals on a solid mid-range box. Thin Client is absolutely abysmal as a gaming solution. This way you two can share a hobby and not drive each other nuts.
I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.
Sounds like you're complicating things a bit.
What you're not saying here is if you want to run multiple instances of the game at the same time. What kind of PC are you using now? It had better have a LOT of horsepower. 9/10 times, the simpler solution (a second gaming PC) is the smarter answer.
Keep in mind, Windows was not designed as a 'time sharing' system - at least not in the way you're thinking.
http://www.bistolas.net
It would seem as though he did not perform a google search prior to writing in?
Censorship is obscene. Patriotism is bigotry. Faith is a vice. Slashdot 2.0 sucks.
Cant do that without Windows Server. You've never been able to do that (well, it was in a beta of XP and I think in a beta of a SP once, but it got removed) on a desktop edition of Windows.
Honestly, a 5 year old game could most likely run on the cheapest of cheap systems at best buy. Go spend the 2-300$ (yes, they have them that cheap) and fish around your local recycling center/craigslist for a monitor. When you're done with the phase, sell it on craigslist for a hundred bucks as a set, or keep it as a media pc. You're on a geek website bro, there's always a use for another PC. Always.
You're asking a bunch of dorks about a technical question concerning the opposite sex?
head explodes
A tip for both you and the submitter: fiance is the groom, fiancee is the bride.
There's also an accent on the first e, but I'm not going to attempt it because Slashdot eats my unicode for breakfast.
It's called multiseat. It's a feature that's targetted for the next version of Fedora Linux . I'm not sure if there's any way to do it under windows but vmware or virtualbox might help when Fedora 12 comes out.
Just get the cheapest inspiron from dell and dump the integrated graphics for...anything that's not integrated. Then you won't have to worry about virtual machines with direct graphics access or any other time sucking rough spots.
Also, if you can wait a few weeks, keep checking the best buy circular for the coupon code for the extra-discounted cheap dell machine.
Can you be Even More Awesome?!
Parentheses, man! Learn to use them (or if you don't want to learn how to use them, just avoid using them (unless you are just trying to be hopelessly recursive (which is not always a bad thing))).
Or just use a modified termsrv.dll
Now run along kiddo, this is grown folks business.
aEN
It can't be done with Windows (at least not to my knowledge), but multiseat on Linux these days is a cinch. Google has tons of resources on the topic -- basically it involves a bit of xorg.conf hacking, and then Bob's your uncle.
I myself have done it before on an amd64 dual-core 2.2GHz system with two video cards, a GeForce 7600GT on PCI-e, and a GeForce 6200 on plain PCI. Worked beautifully. I could multiplayer FlightGear by running one instance on each seat. Each user can log on and off independently with their own keyboard and mouse.
This is a (blurry and fuzzy) picture of my setup (1280x1024 JPG). You can see glxgears running on each screen -- handled by the same computer. Cool thing about using two video cards is that each user gets his own GPU -- running two FPSes simultaneously (I tested Nexuiz) had absolutely zero slowdown.
Gamer with a fiancee? I can't believe you guys fell for this obvious troll attempt.
Village idiot in some extremely smart villages.
Here LMGTFY, found some interesting links, here's a standout Multiseat Linux - One computer, multiple monitors, mice, and keyboards Probably lots of other ways to do it as well.
# cat
Damn, my RAM is full of cats. MEOW!!
My wife went through a passing phase a while back ago, so I got her a quad-core P4 w/4gb/500Mb, Radeon 1950 x 2 in crossfire, 41" monitor, Wireless mouse, Keyboard, joysticks, gamepads. Basically everything I wanted in a game machine, while I only had a small netbook (although I could play Farcry on my netbook so it wasn't that bad...)
I thought it was a GREAT idea... She would get tired of it and I get a new gaming machine that she would never let me buy.
Unfortunately, she loved it so much she kept it and I didn't get to "inherit" it all after the passing phase.
But at least she didn't give me any grief over getting (more recently) a much better spec machine, because it cost me a lot less than hers did at the time.
GrpA
Enjoy science fiction? "Turing Evolved" - AI, Mecha, Androids and rail-gun battles. What more could you want?
It had better have a LOT of horsepower.
Meh, it isn't that difficult. I had a friend get into 5 boxing on WoW. He got a beefy system a couple of years ago, and could run 4 or 5 instances of WoW simultaneously without any real problem.
Two things to think about:
Does the game you want to play with her allow multiple instances to be run on a single computer? WoW does, but you have to have multiple WoW directories. It is possible to program a game to force full screen mode or to terminate if an existing instance is already running. Do some research on the software before buying the hardware. Find out about any tricks you need to use to get it to work.
Find out about the game controls and UI. Chances are, while it might be possible to play multiple instances on one box, it might be a PITA because of the complexity of the game to share a mouse/keyboard. Multi-boxing works in WoW because one person drives multiple characters. Two people using a single keyboard and mouse would not work very well for that game. Other games might be different.
Search google for 'Multi-boxing' + '(your game name)'. Chances are someone has already tried what you are wanting to do.
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
Well, aside from the fact that the software you pointed to requires a second video card, which for gaming, should be the most expensive part of the computer, you will also have the issue of game license issues due to only having one computer, running 2 instances of the same game at the same time will be very difficult if not impossible for many games. Most will check to see if multiple license keys are in use at the same time with online play, and to my knowledge, installing 2 copies of the same game on the same computer using different keys is not something that will work either since that is a use that was never designed into the games and they will usually check to se if it is already installed and basically say that it is already installed on the computer. And for most MMORPGs you are not allowed to connect two sessions/characters online at the same time, so that will be something you need to look at as well.
It is probably just better to build a cheap game rig. Simply do a budget gaming PC:
Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5200 Wolfdale ~$70
Asus P5QL Motherboard ~$90
4GB DDR2 RAM ~$20
320GB hard drive ~$45
DVD+/-RW ~$25
SIGMA La Vie LBYWBP computer case with 500W power supply ~45 after rebate
ATI HD4770 video card ~$100
Total: ~$395
If you need an extra copy of XP or Vista, well that will be another ~$100, and if you need a monitor, another $100-150.
We were all warned a long time ago that MS products sucked, remember the Magic 8 Ball said, "Outlook not so good"
Can we collectively as a community agree to stop answering these with things like "here's a solution: don't do what you're trying to do"?
If you don't know the answer that's fine, but don't cloak it by telling people to go outside. If I wanted to go outside I wouldn't read Slashdot!
Ask Slashdot, Get Slashdot
Dude, wtf? You aren't going to be married long with this line of thinking. Get off of it and buy your woman a fantastic gaming machine and forget this crap. It shows you care. Priorities, man. She IS paying attention to your choices.
Seriously. WTH.
Its not worth it. She'll gain 20 pounds, lose her job, and end up blowing her 19 year old guild leader when she takes a trip to go "see her parents" so she can get some extra dkp.
I'm not bitter.
No. If they are trying to do something stupid or pointless the deserve to be told so. Also people should read this before asking questions.
Specifically this poster should have read this and done number 5.
"It's because they're stupid, that's why. That's why everybody does everything." -Homer Simpson
Sure. Is it worth it? No.
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
Since you asked in short, the answer is - Yes.
Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
We can collectively stop answering these things with "don't" when people stop asking questions where it is the most appropriate response.
The answer to this question is definitely "don't".
There are ways to do it, but pretty much all of them involve far more money and/or time than just buying a reasonable PC for his fiancee. Hardware isn't all that expensive and solving a problem like this isn't easy, cheap, or particularly effective.
Slashdot gets a lot of these sorts of questions because for things where the answer is "don't" you generally don't find a lot of useful information from a google search and so people ask here instead. We tell them, don't, which is the best advice they can get.
Well, unlike what virgins living in their mom's basement may imagine, sex is only a small part of the time spent together in a relationship.
For a start, you can't keep it up all weekend. (Cue the willy-wavers to come swear they keep it up 24/7;)
Second, a woman tends to get unflattering ideas if your interest in her starts and ends at sex.
Third, humans generally, that is, including men, have more needs than sex. Look at Maslow's pyramid sometime. There's stuff in there like safety, confidence, respect, self-esteem, etc, which are actually antithetical to the role of being just a pussy on legs. You can't get much of a feeling of security of the family if, for all you know, you're just a perfectly fungible sex object in that family.
Basically I dare say that if your wife's interest in you started and ended at sex, you too would probably get insecure and unsatisfied eventually. I mean, what hint would you have that you're not just there until she finds someone with a bigger tool or more stamina?
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
Seriously, stop being sensible on Slashdot, you're spoiling it for the rest of us..
> because Slashdot eats my unicode for breakfast.
In theory, the accent should get mapped to ISO8859-1 - no need for unicode. Let' see: é.
And for the OP: forget it. It is possible with certain OS if you have low demands, but I think 3D acceleration never works on both monitors. Getting a slightly oldish PC and adding a cheap mid range graphics card would be a better approach.
step 1: buy lots of old computers
step 2: buy some serial cables
step 3: beowulf the computers
step 4: use the rs232 cables with appropriate mices.
step 5: make sure you are using linux
step 6: direct the serial signals appropriately
step 7: either use a vm xp or linux to play the game
step *: never give up trying to make it work, remember, your time is infinite - spending $300 for a dell vostro is like spelling the word "DEFEAT" in a snowbank with dead penguin bodies.
Well they say sex is like air, is a much bigger deal to people deprived of it :-)
The revolution will not be televised... but it will have a page on Wikipedia
Believe me, if you want to keep your relationship out of fights for a computer, get a new one. I say it by experience. You *do not want* yet another reason to go to bed mad at her, or she mad at you :P
This is just wrong. Yes, it will let you connect multiple people to the same computer. However, you'll need another computer with which to connect from, completely defeating the purpose.
On top of this, it doesn't allow any sort of 3d acceleration, and if you somehow get it to work it would be a slideshow. Your grown folks business of hacking DLL files is dated, lame, and childish.
The posters only option is in Linux with multiple GPUs. MPX will allow it on a single screen, otherwise it's separate X servers.
"Are this condescending to your fiance directly"
Aww, you meant to say "are you this condescending..." but your little rage took over and the keyboard and the words got all confusing and it was all a bit much wasn't it? But it's okay, we knew what you meant, and it's just adorable that you tried so hard!
The revolution will not be televised... but it will have a page on Wikipedia
I am reticent to buy a new gaming computer simply for what amounts to a passing phase.
It works like this: She gets your current gaming computer, you then reluctantly get to go out and buy a quad core with 8 gig of RAM and a gig video card. This is the way of the geek relationship.
For a start, you can't keep it up all weekend. (Cue the willy-wavers to come swear they keep it up 24/7;)"
Going with the assumption that this is a young couple, not even married yet, if they were more towards the norm, sex WOULD be one of the primary items on the agenda. I mean, that is normal early in the relationship. Think about dating, you're primarily there to try to get in her pants. And usually...good sex leads the guy to thinking marriage might not be bad 'cause he'd like to keep that to himself on a perm. basis. The deep relationship that you're talking about, that comes along later after you are 'trapped' so to speak in marriage and are stuck together. If it doesnt' develop, the marriage isn't gonna work.
Even with that last part being said...sex in a marriage is STILL a very important part of the relationship. And besides, if you go with most guys side of things anecdotally, you'd better get all the fucking you can before the numptials, 'cause that wedding cake generally cuts her sexual appetite WAY back.
"Third, humans generally, that is, including men, have more needs than sex."
True, but, for heterosexual men, they can satisfy 99% of those needs on their own, but, for sex they need the woman there. Self satisfaction jokes aside. Face it, the old joke of "Why did God give women breasts? So men would talk to them" holds a lot of merit.
If a guy didn't want women for sex, he'd not likely give them much attention otherwise...
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
Going with the assumption that this is a young couple, not even married yet, if they were more towards the norm, sex WOULD be one of the primary items on the agenda. I mean, that is normal early in the relationship. Think about dating, you're primarily there to try to get in her pants. And usually...good sex leads the guy to thinking marriage might not be bad 'cause he'd like to keep that to himself on a perm. basis. The deep relationship that you're talking about, that comes along later after you are 'trapped' so to speak in marriage and are stuck together. If it doesnt' develop, the marriage isn't gonna work.
Good graciousness! Absolutely everything about this is backwards! Honestly, this is at the root of everything that's wrong in the world now. And it's not just the obtuseness of how to go about interacting with women, lest you misunderstand me. It's the complete abdication of anything resembling acting like an adult, and taking a long-term, responsible view of the future.
You DATE to find out if it will work. The SEX is just a side benefit. Try thinking with your BRAIN for a change. If the sex is good, you'll think ANY woman would be a good wife, and that's just STUPID. I know. Been there. Done that.
(Full disclosure: Happily married to the perfect wife and mother for 15 years. 3 kids. Deliriously sated with what happens behind closed doors. Did nothing but smooch until we were married.)
Acts 17:28, "For in Him we live, and move, and have our being."
And you only get that much after you're married.
Fixed.
I can tell you all that as a girl (check real quick...yeah okay, I am in fact a girl) I would prefer to have sex. I tried to play NWN with my programmer boyfriend only to realize that though we were in the same room together, on the same designated server.....I still needed an upload of something else.
Sex is a HUGE part of EVERYTHING! Girls do want it, trust me. Monogamy, though unnatural (I am a biologist), does not ruin sex. I try on a regular basis to get the goods from my geek, only to be ignored for the computer. When we are together, I know he is thinking about coding on that bitch in the computer room.
Gaming is nice, don't get me wrong. I love my emulator that lets me play FF7 whenever I feel nostalgic, but unplug for a bit and see if you can find someplace more fun to plug that dongle in ;) 3
"Don't Panic"
Good graciousness! Absolutely everything about this is backwards!
Has it occurred to you that different people might have different needs and interests in a relationship?
As someone who actually does this - I have one system with 3 monitors, another with 2 - it's possible. Is it easy? No.
First of all, all I know is linux. I have no clue about Windows.
If you have a separate GPU per monitor, you can get full acceleration. There's some voodoo you have to pull off to separate the GPUs in xorg, but the info is out there.
If you have a dual-dvi card with a single GPU, you won't get acceleration on either one as you have to run Xephyr on top of your X server.
If it's just a "passing phase", I'd go down to your local computer recycler, buy a relatively recent box for $100, and be done with it.
Right now Xorg is in a state of flux and maybe in 6 months or a year true multiuser will arrive with the rootless X server, but I'm not holding my breath. The xorg devs are doing a fantastic job, but it's a big job....