Does anyone know where i can find a list of bugfixes that this service pack includes, in addition to the already mentioned new security features? I've been battling with USB in XP (a webcam/digicam that makes the system reboot), and got nowhere so far.
... you know, the cheap card, that has a simple cooling solution, doesn't need a molex connector for aditional power and plays current generation games more than acceptably. I like gaming a lot, but i can't afford $200-300 for each new gfx hardware generation.
Say what you want about the FX5200, but for it's price it can't be beaten.
DirectX is Microsofts' standart to abstract software from the hardware (not only graphics, it also covers audio, controllers, networking, and so) as much as possible. Direct3D is DirectXs` 3D rendering part.
The thing with DX is that it's aimed mostly to games, and, while full-featured, it's incompatible with everything else. OpenGL, much like D3D, is dedicated exclusively to graphics but can be ported much more easily, and it's (IMHO) overall a cleaner implementation. Both can coexist in a single machine (if you have a modern videocard, that's most likely the case), but are independent, requiering separate drivers and so.
I have some old C64 games magazines whose reviews consisted on only, well, a review of the game in matter, but *no* score. At most, they would do top 20 at the end of the year, of the games they liked most, and why. Reviews were also quite detailed, IIRC. You also got the demo tape, which was cool;)
I agree with you, the "74.2%"-kind scores are insane. I honestly can't see how you could balance that.
... i don't care if reviews work as opinion columns or as facts statement; i want them honest. Which sadly, is no longer the case for the majority of online/magazine reviews (Driv3r, anyone?). When games that are shit have 7 out of 10 reviews raving about them, well, don't be surprised if people find them "controversial". People are not that dumb.
What i do when i want good online reviews (for games, music, hardware or whatever) is go for the ones with the lower scores. At least most reviews that dislike an item go to the lengths of actually explaining why they didn't, instead of glorificating gratuitously.
He was referring to HL, but yes, you're right. Ditch Steam some day, fire up The All-seeing Eye and you'll find tons of 1.5 servers still arround, all filled with players. Coincidience?
I've played this game recently, and i swear to God it's the most inmersive FPS i've ever played, not to mention the only "horror" game that actually managed to spook me. My studies suffered while i was finishing that game.
It's graphics are ok (a bit dated, through they look great over 1024x768), and the sound is *excellent*, even on todays' standarts, and creates an great atmosphere for the game. Nothing was more horrifying that listening those damn monkeys coming near you and not being able to spot them...
Quake 3 is not only as fun today as it was when it first came of, it also looks *gorgeous* and runs smoothly on almost any system you might come across today. Can't say that about most classics...
Oh yes. XFCE4 is incredible; it looks great (GTK2-based), is very customizable and easy to use AND very fast and light on resources. The next relase (already in RC) includes desktop icons and a session manager, which IMHO are the only things lacking from this DE.
I said it before on another forum; XFCE is what GNOME should be today. Both KDE and GNOME are way too bloated for their intented purposes today, and XFCE strikes the right balance between features and bloat.
(Ignore my previous post as AC. I forgotted log in)
I was thinkng just the same thing. Of course, this is in the best interest of this so called OSRM.
I find it funny how the only way detractors seem able to attack Linux is by legal FUD and court-mudding. Linux still has a way to go, but some people seem to be scared shitless.
Hear, hear. CS is *very* fun if you play it with down-to-earth folks, but the downright retarded comunity that has spawned arround it drove me away as well.
And "cyberathlete"... sheeze. I work at a cybercafe, and i hear people from 15 to 30 years old seriously considering "living off CS". It made me chuckle the first times. Now it's pathetic.
Yeah, $100,000. If you win, then it has to be splitted to all members of your team (no less than four). Once or twice a year, maybe. And i wonder how much of that is real cash as oppsed to sponsors' hardware.
I really don't enjoy playing Grand Theft Auto games because they're too violent... because of this, I kept wondering what made the games so compelling that they were these huge uber-best-sellers.
Maybe is just that. Violence sells, in videogames and every other form of enterteinment.
Well, if that's the case; tough luck. Really. Want to play Windows games? Buy Windows. It's not that Wine kills FPS (it doesn't - as a matter of fact), 80% of the games won't run AT ALL. It boils down to that.
Look, i'm not bitching about Wine. It's an impressive piece of software, and God knows it made my life easier more than once. But people like to throw a fit when their *WINDOWS* games don't run properly on *LINUX* - i mean, what did you expect? It's emulation software, for a platform that's a moving target. It will never run as good as the real thing under those circumstances.
Like you said, Epic and iD are doing a great job supporting Linux games, and more are following. In the meantime, if you like gaming, you're more or less forced to have a Windows partiton somewhere. It sucks, but that's how it is.
...do we really need to focus so much effort on emulating Windows on Linux? Don't get me wrong, Wine/WineX it's cool, and i've used Wine to run specialized software unavailable on Linux (like EE software).
But when you talk Wine, 99% of the time you're talking games. Wine is cool, but most modern games don't run well at all on it; i just prefer keeping a Windows partition handy, or playing native Linux games (which is much better. Games tend to fly on linux). They won't run well anytime soon either, as Wine is always playing catch-up. It's no coincidence that all games that play 100% correctly are at least a couple years old.
I say this because people expect Linux to do *everything* better, even running games for another OS! It's simple, if you want to play the latest Windows game like it should, keep a Windows partition handy. Linux versions are becoming more common lately, but in the meantime, that's the only way to go.
I mean, those with a "cartoony" feel to it. Gish was great in this regard as well.
I just downloaded the flash version to play it at home. I just love when the lil' alien pops up the knife;)
For an excellent PC game using cel-shading, check XIII (http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/xiii/review.htm l). Great fun, and the cel shading works very well in such a game; it gives it a great comic book look & feel.
Slashdot Mirror
Does anyone know where i can find a list of bugfixes that this service pack includes, in addition to the already mentioned new security features? I've been battling with USB in XP (a webcam/digicam that makes the system reboot), and got nowhere so far.
DirectX is Microsofts' standart to abstract software from the hardware (not only graphics, it also covers audio, controllers, networking, and so) as much as possible. Direct3D is DirectXs` 3D rendering part.
The thing with DX is that it's aimed mostly to games, and, while full-featured, it's incompatible with everything else. OpenGL, much like D3D, is dedicated exclusively to graphics but can be ported much more easily, and it's (IMHO) overall a cleaner implementation. Both can coexist in a single machine (if you have a modern videocard, that's most likely the case), but are independent, requiering separate drivers and so.
I have some old C64 games magazines whose reviews consisted on only, well, a review of the game in matter, but *no* score. At most, they would do top 20 at the end of the year, of the games they liked most, and why. Reviews were also quite detailed, IIRC. You also got the demo tape, which was cool ;)
I agree with you, the "74.2%"-kind scores are insane. I honestly can't see how you could balance that.
This is great, and just in time, because Expl... Ooooh, lookie! A flying pig!
What i do when i want good online reviews (for games, music, hardware or whatever) is go for the ones with the lower scores. At least most reviews that dislike an item go to the lengths of actually explaining why they didn't, instead of glorificating gratuitously.
I just readed the original threads, and this popped into my mind immediatly. I mean, isn't it obvious?
I'm not looking to bash Microsoft, but "it's only spyware" will not be a good explanation when machines stop working out of the blue.
Wasn't this the patch "delayed" because it crashed 3 out 5 XP machines?
Guess i can wait a while to install it at work...
As usual, Penny Arcade once captured my griefs with EA quite well (http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2004-
He was referring to HL, but yes, you're right. Ditch Steam some day, fire up The All-seeing Eye and you'll find tons of 1.5 servers still arround, all filled with players. Coincidience?
System shock 2
I've played this game recently, and i swear to God it's the most inmersive FPS i've ever played, not to mention the only "horror" game that actually managed to spook me. My studies suffered while i was finishing that game.
It's graphics are ok (a bit dated, through they look great over 1024x768), and the sound is *excellent*, even on todays' standarts, and creates an great atmosphere for the game. Nothing was more horrifying that listening those damn monkeys coming near you and not being able to spot them...
By all means, if you haven't tried it, do so.
Yup. I hate most turn-based PC games, but X-Com (and it's sequel) were both excellent. I wouldn't mind seeing a modern remake of either.
Quake 3 is not only as fun today as it was when it first came of, it also looks *gorgeous* and runs smoothly on almost any system you might come across today. Can't say that about most classics...
Oh yes. XFCE4 is incredible; it looks great (GTK2-based), is very customizable and easy to use AND very fast and light on resources. The next relase (already in RC) includes desktop icons and a session manager, which IMHO are the only things lacking from this DE.
I said it before on another forum; XFCE is what GNOME should be today. Both KDE and GNOME are way too bloated for their intented purposes today, and XFCE strikes the right balance between features and bloat.
(Ignore my previous post as AC. I forgotted log in)
I was thinkng just the same thing. Of course, this is in the best interest of this so called OSRM.
I find it funny how the only way detractors seem able to attack Linux is by legal FUD and court-mudding. Linux still has a way to go, but some people seem to be scared shitless.
Hear, hear. CS is *very* fun if you play it with down-to-earth folks, but the downright retarded comunity that has spawned arround it drove me away as well.
And "cyberathlete"... sheeze. I work at a cybercafe, and i hear people from 15 to 30 years old seriously considering "living off CS". It made me chuckle the first times. Now it's pathetic.
Yeah, $100,000. If you win, then it has to be splitted to all members of your team (no less than four). Once or twice a year, maybe. And i wonder how much of that is real cash as oppsed to sponsors' hardware.
Remember LCP for the C64? (http://www.lemon64.com/?mainurl=http%3A//www.lemo n64.com/reviews/view.php%3Fid%3D77). Think of a Tamagochi inside your C64 and you'll have a pretty nice description of it.
I was a boy back then, but i remember people flipped over this one. I never saw what the great deal was.
I can't. It's like a fucking bench with fresh paint and a "Don't touch!" sign on it. I can't help myself.
:)
Ah, you insensitive clods
Second that. XFCE4 is amazing. I'm looking forward to e17, but XFCE is the first time i've ever felt really comfortable with a linux DE.
I *DONT'T* want to hear another peep about Doom 3 from here to release date. Please... you're hurting me.
No, seriously.
Really.
I really don't enjoy playing Grand Theft Auto games because they're too violent... because of this, I kept wondering what made the games so compelling that they were these huge uber-best-sellers.
Maybe is just that. Violence sells, in videogames and every other form of enterteinment.
Well, if that's the case; tough luck. Really. Want to play Windows games? Buy Windows. It's not that Wine kills FPS (it doesn't - as a matter of fact), 80% of the games won't run AT ALL. It boils down to that.
Look, i'm not bitching about Wine. It's an impressive piece of software, and God knows it made my life easier more than once. But people like to throw a fit when their *WINDOWS* games don't run properly on *LINUX* - i mean, what did you expect? It's emulation software, for a platform that's a moving target. It will never run as good as the real thing under those circumstances.
Like you said, Epic and iD are doing a great job supporting Linux games, and more are following. In the meantime, if you like gaming, you're more or less forced to have a Windows partiton somewhere. It sucks, but that's how it is.
But when you talk Wine, 99% of the time you're talking games. Wine is cool, but most modern games don't run well at all on it; i just prefer keeping a Windows partition handy, or playing native Linux games (which is much better. Games tend to fly on linux). They won't run well anytime soon either, as Wine is always playing catch-up. It's no coincidence that all games that play 100% correctly are at least a couple years old.
I say this because people expect Linux to do *everything* better, even running games for another OS! It's simple, if you want to play the latest Windows game like it should, keep a Windows partition handy. Linux versions are becoming more common lately, but in the meantime, that's the only way to go.
I mean, those with a "cartoony" feel to it. Gish was great in this regard as well. I just downloaded the flash version to play it at home. I just love when the lil' alien pops up the knife ;)
For an excellent PC game using cel-shading, check XIII (http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/xiii/review.htm l). Great fun, and the cel shading works very well in such a game; it gives it a great comic book look & feel.