I've spent dozens of hours trying to actually complete this game on the XBox 360, and it's impossible. Given Bethesda's track record, do NOT buy this for consoles - they will not patch these problems. Fortunately there's an active modding community on the PC, and there's a mechanism in-game (again on the PC only) for adjusting broken objects, characters, stories and plotlines on the fly. On the console, you're just screwed:
* Game will eventually corrupt your save game with no chance of recovery. * Game will eventually start freezing when buying from merchants (especially if you purchase a Caravan playing card) * Game will crash if certain story choices are made, or will not be completable if certain story choices are made * Game will crash if certain gameplay choices are made (e.g. don't shoot Caleb McCafferty in the head) * Game will randomly crash when fast traveling (anywhere, any time. I'd suggest saving often but you'll run a greater risk of save game corruption) * Game will randomly cause areas of the map to be "dead zones" - entering them triggers a crash (e.g. Nipton)
Bethesda has only acknowledged one of these problems, and it's taken them more than 2 weeks to promise a fix (which they haven't yet). This article is spot-on - don't buy buggy software. Bethesda makes buggy software. Don't buy Bethesda software Q.E.D.
Re:SPOILER on plot discrepancy !!
on
BioShock Review
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· Score: 1
"and it was most probably intentionally crashed"
In fact, the gift inside the package you have in the opening cutscene contained the gun you used to hijkack and crash the plane.
You're absolutely correct- if the games you play on Live were against any random player, you'd very likely be playing with someone with vastly different skills (either better or worse depending on how much time they play relative to you or other factors). That's why Microsoft implemented the "TrueSkill" system into the Live infrastructure; the games you play are usually against people of similar skill. For each game (and I believe also for each genre) you have a "trueskill" rating based on your gameplay. Matchmaking attempts to create matches between players of similar "trueskill" ratings (but it doesn't always work for low-population games or folks who haven't played a lot of games yet).
Halo has it's own similar internal matchmaking system developed by Bungie that includes the ability to match "parties" of similar skill (that's not an ability built into the standard API all developers have access to).
1up gets it wrong. Again. Look at the PS3 launch titles; there isn't a "great game" among them. According to nearly every developer interview and blog, the PS3's cell processor and development environment is quite difficult to program for. The online service is far from "superior"; it lacks critical features that have been part of Microsoft's offering since the last generation and what it does offer is still nebulous and unproven. The information is this article is garbage; it's either been written to generate traffic from fanboys or generate money from Sony's PR budget.
At least one f***up is that the ATI Radeon's DVI to Component adapter will not display DVD movies at a resolution higher than 640x480 (although all other video content is fine at HD resolutions). So if you want to use your Media Center PC to play DVDs and not change have to change the resolution beforehand, you'll need to ditch that useless component adapter from ATI. Of course, it's not like the mini has component out either; the best option for both is a direct DVI connection between computer and HDTV.
If I'm reading the up to date documentation correctly (see my earlier post for the exact wording), the school can purchase a single upgrade kit for $20, and request the "right to copy" for the remaining 1099 PowerMacs.
You replaced the stock (and functional) Apple cooling system with parts you bought assembled yourself. The instant you did this, you voided your warranty agreement. This is a common (if not universal) clause in every band-name equipment manufactuer's warranty. It's also common practice to read and consider the warranty before making any changes to equipment that it still covered. In this case, Apple's warranty states plainly:
Changes made to Apple hardware that are not authorized by Apple may void the warranty.
The only user-servicable parts in a PowerMac are the RAM, Drives, wireless cards and PCI expansion slots (again, check your documentation). Any other modification will void your warranty. Just because you believe you improved the situation doesn't make Apple responsible. If I think pressing a jelly doughnut into my Dell's motherboard will improve it, and the system is fried when I power it on, I don't think Dell will replace it for free, even if I clean up all the charred Jelly bits. No manufacturer will be responsible for repairing a system you broke if was working before your modifications.
BTW: I've seen this story multiple times in several forums, and it doesn't garner you any sympathy. It just reiterates that you still refuse to take responsibility for your own actions.
The upgrade from Mac OS X 10.2 (Jaguar) to 10.3 (Panther) is free (plus shipping and handling) for all Macintosh G5 owners. Please see http://www.apple.com/macosx/uptodate/ for more information:
If you purchased multiple qualifying Power Mac G5 systems on a single invoice, you can either (1) purchase a Single-User CD Upgrade Kit for each qualifying product, at a cost of US$19.95*; or (2) purchase fewer Single-User CD Upgrade Kits and request the Right to Copy for the remaining qualifying products.
The two questions I always ask in response to this question are "how much do you want to spend?" and "what do you want to use it for?" All of the current Macs will run OS X and basic Internet and Office applications with no performance problems (just add RAM). If portability is of any interest to you, the Apple laptops are great with regards to relative performance and durability. On the other hand, if future expansion/upgrades are important to you (and they may be, considering you're interested in playing games), the desktop is the way to go. Deciding between a G4 desktop and the G5 will likely be a cost consideration. If you can afford the G5, its performance justifies the cost. The G4 desktops can be had for considerably less money, but still offer good performance (especially in dual-processor configurations). Obviously if top of the line performance is critical, you must choose the G5, but you can easily save enough for an iPod and additional RAM if you go for the G4.
There are limitations on the allowed drive configurations for beige G3s; the (first) boot partition must be 8 GB or smaller. If you're out of spec, freezes during installation are a common result.
The G5 is actually too tall to fit in a standard 19" rack horizontally, so only 6 G5 cases can fit in a standard rack on 3 shelves (case dimensions are 20.1" by 8.1").
"Sign up for Earthlink" is one of the options in the internet setup along with "LAN", "Airport", and others. Earthlink isn't paying Apple for this; Apple actually invested in Earthlink several years ago. Personally, I think Apple wants to make sure there's at least one Mac-friendly independent ISP (not AOL or Microsoft).
At one point, my previous employeer had ~150+ IMB ThinkPad 600 series laptops operational in the office where I worked as a SysAdmin. Almost all of them eventually developed battery problems (short life and rapid reduction in its ability to hold a charge). While we operated, we kept a constant supply of replacement batteries on hand. After the.com bubble burst and the laptops were sold off, I'd guess that about 75% or more left with dead or dying batteries.
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I've spent dozens of hours trying to actually complete this game on the XBox 360, and it's impossible. Given Bethesda's track record, do NOT buy this for consoles - they will not patch these problems. Fortunately there's an active modding community on the PC, and there's a mechanism in-game (again on the PC only) for adjusting broken objects, characters, stories and plotlines on the fly. On the console, you're just screwed:
* Game will eventually corrupt your save game with no chance of recovery.
* Game will eventually start freezing when buying from merchants (especially if you purchase a Caravan playing card)
* Game will crash if certain story choices are made, or will not be completable if certain story choices are made
* Game will crash if certain gameplay choices are made (e.g. don't shoot Caleb McCafferty in the head)
* Game will randomly crash when fast traveling (anywhere, any time. I'd suggest saving often but you'll run a greater risk of save game corruption)
* Game will randomly cause areas of the map to be "dead zones" - entering them triggers a crash (e.g. Nipton)
Bethesda has only acknowledged one of these problems, and it's taken them more than 2 weeks to promise a fix (which they haven't yet). This article is spot-on - don't buy buggy software. Bethesda makes buggy software. Don't buy Bethesda software Q.E.D.
"and it was most probably intentionally crashed"
In fact, the gift inside the package you have in the opening cutscene contained the gun you used to hijkack and crash the plane.
You're absolutely correct- if the games you play on Live were against any random player, you'd very likely be playing with someone with vastly different skills (either better or worse depending on how much time they play relative to you or other factors). That's why Microsoft implemented the "TrueSkill" system into the Live infrastructure; the games you play are usually against people of similar skill. For each game (and I believe also for each genre) you have a "trueskill" rating based on your gameplay. Matchmaking attempts to create matches between players of similar "trueskill" ratings (but it doesn't always work for low-population games or folks who haven't played a lot of games yet).
Halo has it's own similar internal matchmaking system developed by Bungie that includes the ability to match "parties" of similar skill (that's not an ability built into the standard API all developers have access to).
1up gets it wrong. Again. Look at the PS3 launch titles; there isn't a "great game" among them. According to nearly every developer interview and blog, the PS3's cell processor and development environment is quite difficult to program for. The online service is far from "superior"; it lacks critical features that have been part of Microsoft's offering since the last generation and what it does offer is still nebulous and unproven. The information is this article is garbage; it's either been written to generate traffic from fanboys or generate money from Sony's PR budget.
Hence the XBox 360's built-in Media Center Extender. Leave the media PC in the den; access the content from game console in the Living Room.
At least one f***up is that the ATI Radeon's DVI to Component adapter will not display DVD movies at a resolution higher than 640x480 (although all other video content is fine at HD resolutions). So if you want to use your Media Center PC to play DVDs and not change have to change the resolution beforehand, you'll need to ditch that useless component adapter from ATI. Of course, it's not like the mini has component out either; the best option for both is a direct DVI connection between computer and HDTV.
Mod Parent up. It's either a bad battery or old firmware.
Note that cable providers recompress the original MPEG2 streams themselves to reduce bandwidth used by HD channels.
My local Apple Store burned a CD for me containing all the updates to OS X and the Apple applications.
If I'm reading the up to date documentation correctly (see my earlier post for the exact wording), the school can purchase a single upgrade kit for $20, and request the "right to copy" for the remaining 1099 PowerMacs.
The only user-servicable parts in a PowerMac are the RAM, Drives, wireless cards and PCI expansion slots (again, check your documentation). Any other modification will void your warranty. Just because you believe you improved the situation doesn't make Apple responsible. If I think pressing a jelly doughnut into my Dell's motherboard will improve it, and the system is fried when I power it on, I don't think Dell will replace it for free, even if I clean up all the charred Jelly bits. No manufacturer will be responsible for repairing a system you broke if was working before your modifications.
BTW: I've seen this story multiple times in several forums, and it doesn't garner you any sympathy. It just reiterates that you still refuse to take responsibility for your own actions.
So it will only cost them $20 for the upgrade.
The two questions I always ask in response to this question are "how much do you want to spend?" and "what do you want to use it for?" All of the current Macs will run OS X and basic Internet and Office applications with no performance problems (just add RAM). If portability is of any interest to you, the Apple laptops are great with regards to relative performance and durability. On the other hand, if future expansion/upgrades are important to you (and they may be, considering you're interested in playing games), the desktop is the way to go. Deciding between a G4 desktop and the G5 will likely be a cost consideration. If you can afford the G5, its performance justifies the cost. The G4 desktops can be had for considerably less money, but still offer good performance (especially in dual-processor configurations). Obviously if top of the line performance is critical, you must choose the G5, but you can easily save enough for an iPod and additional RAM if you go for the G4.
There are limitations on the allowed drive configurations for beige G3s; the (first) boot partition must be 8 GB or smaller. If you're out of spec, freezes during installation are a common result.
The G5 is actually too tall to fit in a standard 19" rack horizontally, so only 6 G5 cases can fit in a standard rack on 3 shelves (case dimensions are 20.1" by 8.1").
"Sign up for Earthlink" is one of the options in the internet setup along with "LAN", "Airport", and others. Earthlink isn't paying Apple for this; Apple actually invested in Earthlink several years ago. Personally, I think Apple wants to make sure there's at least one Mac-friendly independent ISP (not AOL or Microsoft).
At one point, my previous employeer had ~150+ IMB ThinkPad 600 series laptops operational in the office where I worked as a SysAdmin. Almost all of them eventually developed battery problems (short life and rapid reduction in its ability to hold a charge). While we operated, we kept a constant supply of replacement batteries on hand. After the .com bubble burst and the laptops were sold off, I'd guess that about 75% or more left with dead or dying batteries.