Re:Temple of Excremental Evil.
on
Troika Games Closes
·
· Score: 3, Informative
I've enjoyed several Troika games and plan on playing Vampire soon, but the incredibly unfinished Temple of Elemental Evil was a huge black mark on their reputation. Entire levels were only partially furnished. There were parts where you could wander for half an hour opening empty chests in unfurnished empty rooms.
You can thank Atari for that. They published it early, and a two month old build at that.
If you look around for some of the user patches and install them, the game is quite playable.
Actually, the 3d hardware in the Saturn wasn't bad. However, the Saturn was designed as a killer 2d system. Once they found out about the PS1, they slapped a 3d chip on the board and tried to engineer around it. For that reason, 3d programming was extremely difficult and only the Sega teams were able to get any real 3d performance out of it.
Actually, for me it was Project Gotham Racing (having bought the Dreamcast for Soul Calibur, I had also been exposed to it's "prequel" Metropolitan Street Racer). I also Picked up DoA 3, of course. Interesting game, but certainly not a system seller. Since then, I've picked up plenty of good to great games on the system, but then I like racers:-) I didn't pick up the original Halo until something like 2 years later, btw, when it *finally* went on a 1-day Thanksgiving sale for $30.
As far as Rogue Leader goes, that was the reason I *didn't* buy a Game Cube. I thought it might have been interesting and the reviewers seemed to be raving about it, so I played it in a store. First, it really, really made me dislike the controller and second, I just didn't like the game.
On the PS2 side, I'm not a sports game fan and I dislike the FF series of games. A friend picked up the PS2 and got Ridge Racer, but seeing as I had beaten it over the weekend he had brought it over, there didn't seem to be much reason to buy it after that:-)
You might try cleaning the lens on your X-Box with a DVD Lens cleaner.
I had this problem as well and noticed it happened in different spots. I ran the cleaner and most of the pop-in went away. Not all of it, but then I've got an old system I bought at launch.
5. The device is compact...where the hell are you going to cram a digital I/O (TOSLink) port?
This was 10 years ago, but my original Sony Minidisc player had 1/8" input/output jacks that were both analog and optical. The optical cable looked just like an 1/8th jack, but was plastic with the optical fiber in the tip.
It was a great setup, but I haven't seen that style of connector used in a long time. The only other place I'd seen it was a few years ago when I bought a Panasonic portable CD player in Japan. It seemed pretty common over there, but I couldn't find anything like it in the US.
DVD is a new-ish format, but it basically offers the same audio and video performance as Laserdisc, which was introduced in . . . 1978, if I recall right. Both of them will output basically what NTSC can display.
Not quite the case. LaserDisc is an analog format with specs slightly higher than SVHS. There is one digital audio track and one analog audio track. If I remember correctly, the effective resolution was something like 450 horizontal lines of resolution. DVD is a compressed digital format that has a max resolution of 720x480. If the compression is done well and given a sufficient bitrate, the quality can be significantly better than LaserDisc.
DVD's advantages don't stop at the video quality, however. You get a far smaller disc (many people had trouble dealing with those 12" platters), single disc runtimes in excess of 2 hours, multiple audio tracks and slightly better than closed captions subtitle support.
I think you can register any existing serial numbers with Steam for games you already own. This should get you HL and Opposing Forces, but I don't know about HL: Source...
It's not for everyone, but it can do a lot of things standard home equipment can't.
As for your problem list:
1) I have my media PC hooked into a UPS. I have a UPS because I have a Projector. Besides, small UPS's are really cheap these days.
2) Image the hard drive with Norton Ghost or some other imaging program. 5-10 minute restore if there's any problems.
3) Takes me about 6 seconds to boot under Windows as I use Hibernate. If I used Standby, it would be more like 2 or 3, but I don't want the machine running all the time.
*real* problems with PC media centers?
1) Expensive.
2) Don't always have the best of interfaces (MythTV and others helps fix this).
3) Can be a bit noisier than an appliance.
- If you can't sufficiently control the light in the viewing room, you'll need a screen. Tab-tensioned glass bead screens are not cheap.
You can build your own screen for far cheaper and have just a good finished product as all but the most expensive screens. It's not hard to do and doesn't take very long.
- You will probably want to buy a projector mount.
Or you can buy a security camera mount that costs around $20. Or just set it on a coffee table, depending on your kid/animal situation. Many projectors can be set on a bookshelf in the back corner and have adjustments to square out the picture.
- You'll need to run signal/power to the projector.
preplanning and finding the best room in the house to do this. This is probably the biggest hurdle because if you don't have a room that works, then you don't have a room that works and there isn't a lot you can do about it. Fortunately, it's not usually a problem.
- Controls are not as intuitive for non-tech types.
A little misleading. Actually, the biggest problem facing a FP system user is their viewing habbits. Generally, your bulb will not last the rated hours if you don't treat it well. This involves leaving it on for at least an hour or two before turning it off and leaving it off for about the same before turning it back on. The absolute minimum is around 10 or 20 minutes (the bulb won't spark unless it's cool), but it will take a toll on the life of the bulb. When bulb costs are 300-400 bucks you want to make that thing last:-)
- Most data projectors are loud.
Most Home Theater projectors are not. There is a price premium, but in many cases you not only get a quieter projector, but one with better saturation and a faster color wheel (when dealing with DLP).
If you read the headline, it's talking about the nForce SLI. In short, you're going to be supporting all of your normal hardware in addition to two video cards. Possibly two GeForce 6800 video cards which already need quite a bit of juice.
Of course, most of the "playlists" you mentioned are accomplished by the browse function on an iPod. By and large, allowing the creation of playlists on the device itself is cumbersome at best, which is why Apple mostly avoids it.
These aren't really playlists, per se. The Rio DJ is a very easy to use function that you can use in just a couple of joystick clicks. I never use playlists, in fact, because the DJ has me covered:-) Really, I can't imagine using a player that didn't have it.
When I first got the Karma, I did build playlists in the player and really, it was pretty fast and easy. The only think that's missing from the whole scheme is that you can't seem to save a player created list, you'll have to build one in the desktop software if you want it to be permanent.
I have a Game Gear. It has some fun games. Games that work well in a handheld format.
The biggest problem was switching batteries out every few hours of play... that gets expensive really quick unless you want to be tethered to a wall wart. I think this, more than anything else, killed the system. I'm not saying that's it's only problem, but arguably it's biggest.
The PSP will have rechargable batteries, so you don't have to worry about battery cost (at least not for another 3-4 years). The big question is the life per charge. 2 hours avg will not be enough. 8 hours (judging from the number of iPod fanatics) will probably be just fine. 16 hours is probably dreaming:-)
Once they jump the battery life hurdle, then people will start looking more seriously at the games...
Actually, I've helped install a heat pump system at a hospital. Temperatures as low as 30-40 degF can heat a building. You use glycol in the loops and use a refriderant in a compressor to do the heat exchange. Pump in 30 degF water, get 18 degF out and change 65 degF air to around 72-75 degF air out.
Still needs electricity to run the heat pump, but it's cheaper than electric heating strips and more predictable than outside air. I believe it was also quite a bit cheaper than running a gas boiler (which is usually how you heat large buildings). Plus you use the same system for cooling in the Summer. Neat stuff and all run from a relatively small lake next to the building.
No, unfortunately, the X in PCI-X does *not* stand for express. I have seen PCI-Express abbreviated to PCI-E.
PCI = parallel 32 bit 33mhz bus speed
PCI-X = parallel 64 bit, either 66 mhz or 133 mhz bus speed.
PCI-E = serial full duplex channels running at around 2.5 ghz, I believe. These channels can be bonded (ie, 1x, 2x, 4x, 8x, 16x, etc.)
PCI-X has been around in the server market for quite a number of years.
Basic, in general, has always used a For -- Next syntax instead of a block syntax. In C, and most other languages, you use {} to define your block. Python, I believe you use white space. Anyway, Basic doesn't have such a syntax, so you have to close your blocks with a statment:
for f = 1 to 10 ... next f
do (true) ... loop
if (true) ... end if
select case (x) case 1 ... case 2 ... case else ... end select
etc.
And now you know more about VB than you really wanted:-P
A lot of the newer XBL enabled games come with a coupon code for a free 2 month trial of XBL. If I remember correctly (and I could certainly be wrong), it mentioned not needing a CC number to use the trial.
I've been waiting for this Ninja Gaiden pack to go live before using mine:-)
Actually, I play DDR with mine just fine, but then I have it ceiling mounted. What you can't play are light gun games. Which really sucks, btw... they would be great on a huge screen:-)
Here's one example (hard to find because most schools do not list specific institutions): Texas Tech. If you select Texas, then DeVry and View all Courses, you'll find quite a list of credits that will transfer.
No matter how they spin it. I wouldn't even compare it to a Tier 3 university. Do they even teach a foreign language or History or any other liberal arts curriculum that is a crucial part to any well rounded university undergraduate program?
Even engineering programs at major universities require 20+ credit hours of liberal arts. There's a reason for that you know!
Yes, they do offer History, English and Writing classes and you do have to take them to get a degree. No foreign languages or basket weaving or visual arts, though. DeVry is Accredited and thus must offer the proper number of hours of various types of studies to match whatever degree you're going for.
And I don't even want to get started on comparing their faculty with the faculty of a major universities engineering department. Because there is no comparison!
The facilities probably aren't that great for things like hard sciences, but the electronics and computer labs aren't bad. The faculity must also work so many years out "in the real world" for so many years that they teach.
Actually, DeVry is an Accredited college. Most of the credits you earn at DeVry will transfer to any other college. The difference between DeVry and most colleges is that they offer courses targeted at a degree without any electives. You go 3 years and you come out with a Bachelor's degree in the field you chose. They do indeed offer courses such as Writing, Math (up to around Calc II, if I remember), Science, etc. etc.
Don't confuse DeVry with a trade college. They may act like one on TV, but they do offer real degrees without any of the chaff.
Slashdot Mirror
You can thank Atari for that. They published it early, and a two month old build at that.
If you look around for some of the user patches and install them, the game is quite playable.
It was a monster at 2d games, though :-)
As far as Rogue Leader goes, that was the reason I *didn't* buy a Game Cube. I thought it might have been interesting and the reviewers seemed to be raving about it, so I played it in a store. First, it really, really made me dislike the controller and second, I just didn't like the game.
On the PS2 side, I'm not a sports game fan and I dislike the FF series of games. A friend picked up the PS2 and got Ridge Racer, but seeing as I had beaten it over the weekend he had brought it over, there didn't seem to be much reason to buy it after that :-)
I had this problem as well and noticed it happened in different spots. I ran the cleaner and most of the pop-in went away. Not all of it, but then I've got an old system I bought at launch.
It was a great setup, but I haven't seen that style of connector used in a long time. The only other place I'd seen it was a few years ago when I bought a Panasonic portable CD player in Japan. It seemed pretty common over there, but I couldn't find anything like it in the US.
DVD's advantages don't stop at the video quality, however. You get a far smaller disc (many people had trouble dealing with those 12" platters), single disc runtimes in excess of 2 hours, multiple audio tracks and slightly better than closed captions subtitle support.
I think you can register any existing serial numbers with Steam for games you already own. This should get you HL and Opposing Forces, but I don't know about HL: Source...
Also, if you go the Silver route on Steam ($59 instead of $49), it includes not only HL: Source, but Opposing Forces and a few other games as well.
It's not for everyone, but it can do a lot of things standard home equipment can't.
As for your problem list:
1) I have my media PC hooked into a UPS. I have a UPS because I have a Projector. Besides, small UPS's are really cheap these days.
2) Image the hard drive with Norton Ghost or some other imaging program. 5-10 minute restore if there's any problems.
3) Takes me about 6 seconds to boot under Windows as I use Hibernate. If I used Standby, it would be more like 2 or 3, but I don't want the machine running all the time.
*real* problems with PC media centers?
1) Expensive.
2) Don't always have the best of interfaces (MythTV and others helps fix this).
3) Can be a bit noisier than an appliance.
http://www.tcbmi.com/strokeit/
When I first got the Karma, I did build playlists in the player and really, it was pretty fast and easy. The only think that's missing from the whole scheme is that you can't seem to save a player created list, you'll have to build one in the desktop software if you want it to be permanent.
The biggest problem was switching batteries out every few hours of play... that gets expensive really quick unless you want to be tethered to a wall wart. I think this, more than anything else, killed the system. I'm not saying that's it's only problem, but arguably it's biggest.
The PSP will have rechargable batteries, so you don't have to worry about battery cost (at least not for another 3-4 years). The big question is the life per charge. 2 hours avg will not be enough. 8 hours (judging from the number of iPod fanatics) will probably be just fine. 16 hours is probably dreaming :-)
Once they jump the battery life hurdle, then people will start looking more seriously at the games...
Still needs electricity to run the heat pump, but it's cheaper than electric heating strips and more predictable than outside air. I believe it was also quite a bit cheaper than running a gas boiler (which is usually how you heat large buildings). Plus you use the same system for cooling in the Summer. Neat stuff and all run from a relatively small lake next to the building.
I'm not sure if NVidia has something similar.
PCI = parallel 32 bit 33mhz bus speed
PCI-X = parallel 64 bit, either 66 mhz or 133 mhz bus speed.
PCI-E = serial full duplex channels running at around 2.5 ghz, I believe. These channels can be bonded (ie, 1x, 2x, 4x, 8x, 16x, etc.)
PCI-X has been around in the server market for quite a number of years.
A lot of the newer XBL enabled games come with a coupon code for a free 2 month trial of XBL. If I remember correctly (and I could certainly be wrong), it mentioned not needing a CC number to use the trial. I've been waiting for this Ninja Gaiden pack to go live before using mine :-)
The only regional accreditation is with the Council for Higher Edication Accreditation. DeVry is accredited with the NCA of the CHEA as are these institutions. Most colleges will take credits from another college accredited by the same regional association.
Here's one example (hard to find because most schools do not list specific institutions): Texas Tech. If you select Texas, then DeVry and View all Courses, you'll find quite a list of credits that will transfer.
Don't confuse DeVry with a trade college. They may act like one on TV, but they do offer real degrees without any of the chaff.