The end of my day can’t get here soon enough to suit me. I’m about fit to split. Energy. Excitement. Enthusiasm. All those and more. Two reasons why I’m eager to leave the office today:
- My piano gets tuned tonight – finally. I can’t wait to hear how much better it sounds once all the strings actually resonate with their true frequencies (or at least as close as we can get them). I’ll be much more likely to sit down and play on a regular basis after it doesn’t hurt to listen. It’s amazing just how much an out-of-tune piano can turn even the most avid player away until things are set to right again.
- At long last I’ll be acquiring my Xbox 360. Thanks to an anonymous benefactor (whose namelessness is driving me batty), I can now join the ranks of Halo 2 (and soon, Halo 3) players on the killing fields in higher resolution. It’s rumored that there’s water on Warlock. I aim to see it.
I can’t wait. 5:00 is so far away…
Tags: halo, halo-2, halo-3, Piano, warlock, xbox, xbox-360
The fans speak, and Bungie delivers. Word came down today that on April 17, two new Halo 2 multiplayer maps go live for download. Initially, talk was that Microsoft was going to release these new maps as Xbox 360 exclusives, an announcement that fans responded to with a great deal of animosity. Bungie quickly stepped up and said they would go to bat for their fans and urge Microsoft to release the maps to everyone with an Xbox Live Gold account.
Personally, I think Microsoft made a wise and fair decision in releasing these maps to everyone who owns Halo 2. It would have been patently unfair to release them any other way. The two maps – Tombstone, which is a remake of Hang ‘em High, and Desolation, which is a remake of Derelict – are maps I never got to experience in Halo: Combat Evolved. I’m pumped about being able to finally play these two popular maps and try them out in Spartan-vs-Spartan combat.
Good choice, Microsoft, and thanks for loving your customers so much, Bungie! We owe you one!
Tags: desolation, halo-2, multiplayer-maps, tombstone, video-games, xbox, xbox-360
This just seems remarkably unfair:
FyreWulff pointed out a thread on Bungie.net discussing the new Halo 2 maps coming out soon – Jeremiah mentioned that these maps would likely be incorporated in a significant number of playlists – and (at least at this point in the developments) those playlists would no longer be available to people playing on the original Xbox.
This is, of course, a Microsoft decision. If Bungie had their way, everyone who had already purchased Halo 2 and had an Xbox Live account would also have access to these new maps – and they’re going to work to see if there is any way to make such a thing happen. But I’m annoyed and a little angry that Microsoft continually tries to shaft their customers this way. I can understand and appreciate their desire to get as many Xbox owners to upgrade to an Xbox 360 as possible – they understandably want to make as much money as possible. And I can appreciate that we, as consumers, don’t actually deserve to get new maps for free; heck, I’m willing to pay for the new maps. But I do believe it’s terribly unfair to single out Xbox owners from being able to get these maps just because they’re Xbox owners who haven’t been able to upgrade yet.
I’m really hoping that Bungie is able to talk some sense into the powers-that-be at Microsoft to actually make these maps available for everyone. We who love Halo 2 so much want to experience every aspect of the game. This is especially true for those of us in specific communities who will end up being left behind on some of these matchmaking lists if it turns out that we won’t be able to acquire these maps.
It’s just another way that Microshaft is trying to take it to their customers by punishing them for not purchasing certain of their products. It’s bad market sense, it’s bad public relations, and it’s a terrible way to keep your customers happy. Here’s hoping they repent of this decision, but I’m not holding my breath waiting on it.
Tags: bungie, halo-2, haloverse, microsoft, video-games, xbox
My wife bought me this game for Christmas since it had been on my list for quite a while. Prince of Persia is basically a game of puzzles, with a healthy dose of sword fighting thrown in for a change of pace. It’s a short game – I completed the whole thing in just under 10 hours of gameplay. It requires both brains and coordination to make it through, as booby traps and pitfalls abound. There isn’t a whole lot to the story – as plots go, it’s fairly basic and could probably be told in under five minutes. But this game doesn’t actually need much of a storyline to be fun (which is probably one of the only times you’ll ever hear me say that). The enjoyment here is in solving every riddle and finding solutions to every secret.
One of my favorite features of the game is the cinematic effects. The camera angles shift as you move along, providing you with unique and interesting viewpoints. Of course, these camera angles can also sometimes be annoying, but such instances are few and far between. The fighting sequences are both fun and frustrating, but once you get the rhythm, they’re generally pretty easy to move through.
I really enjoyed this game, so much so that I’ve already started a second run-through, and despite having beaten it once, it’s actually no easier the second time around. Of course, a healthy dose of over-confidence may be partially to blame for this.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time comes highly recommended from me.
Tags: games, gaming, prince-of-persia, puzzles, xbox
Here’s one I don’t really get. I mean, I ‘get’ it, but I don’t ‘get’ it.
I keep my ear to the ground for Halo-related videos – machinima, montage, etc. A lot of these videos get posted up on public forums – i.e. a discussion thread with the link to the video download. It’s a pretty streamlined way of doing things, allowing people to post comments and feedback on the video in that same thread.
Here’s my question, though. Just how big of a social loser do you have to be where you consider it something grand and fabulous that yours is the first comment in response to the video? Specifically, when that response consists of “downloading now edit when i’ve watched it.” Has anyone heard of “15 minutes of game?” In this case, though, I doubt the ‘fame’ in question even makes it 15 seconds. I dunno – just seems like if you get your jollies from being the first poster in a video thread, then you really need to get a life.
For what it’s worth…
Tags: culture, halo, halo-2, montage-videos, xbox
Quick note before I dash off again.
- I’ll be telling you all soon about an interesting and exciting new writing project I’m starting on with several others. Details to follow in the next day or three.
- I have a book review I need to write up on Tobias Buckell’s Crystal Rain. Again, details to follow in the next few days.
- Lots of stuff happening lately, including the possibility of adding another 30 acres to our property. Lots of research going into this, and we’ll see if things go through.
- Good night of Halo last night. Good friends, good games, lots of laughs. Makes me want to jump again real soon and play some more.
- I’m working on polishing a short story. I missed my August submission goal, but I’m going to shoot to have this one done in the next two to four weeks. I want to finish up this first draft, get a critique, revise again, possibly go for a second critique, do a final polish, and submit. That’s the plan, folks.
Aight, I’m audi…
Tags: 100-voices-in-the-night, crystal-rain, halo-2, multiplayer, tobias-buckell, video-games, Writing, xbox, xbox-live
Sheesh, has it really been three days since I last updated? I didn’t really think the weekend had been that busy, but I suppose it was. How about some highlights?
- Friday night was Halo night. Terrible night for me. I have absolutely zero game. Dunno what happened. I guess we all just have our off nights.
- Saturday involved guests over in the morning and early afternoon, followed by carriage driving downtown for the evening. Nasty little thunderstorm made for a shorter night, so we were home early, horses fed, and in bed by 2AM. Quite nice by comparison to most Saturdays.
- Sunday was my day to complete my third flash challenge at Liberty Hall. It’s funny how being able to complete one of those challenges always gives me a sense of accomplishment and productivity for the weekend, no matter how badly other things go. Over 1000 words for this one, and another story that, with some expansion and polish, may be submission worthy. I’m starting to get backlogged on stories that need polishing…
- Then, of course, this morning everything gets wacky. How is it that Mondays end up being the days where so many things go wrong? The horse feed this morning was done in the pitch black, in the pouring rain, with thunder and lightning all around. Plus a large tree branch fell while I was out there and sprawled across my car. I had to move it before we could leave for work this morning. And wouldn’t you know it? Just when I go inside to get cleaned up for work, the rain stops.
Busy week ahead. Much to do today and tomorrow. But the bonus is the upcoming 3-day weekend. That’ll be a nice relief.
Tags: carriage-driving, halo-2, liberty-hall, xbox, xbox-live
Ok, bear with me for a few moments. My inner geek needs an audience.
Those of you who have been reading me for a while know that I’m an avid Halo/Halo 2 fan. A little while back, I was invited to join the writing staff for a relatively new blog for gamers called Dead Man’s Hand. The guys (and gal) who ran this blog were members of a Halo 2 clan called the TTL Gunslingers. At the time I joined the staff, I was the only writer for the blog who was not already a Gunslinger.
Earlier this week I finally completed the application process for the clan and received my invite. And in purusing the clan discussion forum, I noticed that the software they were using was not the popular phpBB. It was a relatively new forum software called Simple Machines, and it didn’t take long in playing around with it to be very, very impressed – so impressed, in fact, that I have since converted my own discussion board – Open Dialogue – to the SMF software.
Here’s where the gushing comes in – the features in SMF are, quite simply, amazing:
- The installation of SMF had a significant WordPress feel to it – upload the files, run the install, complete the very simple form, and let the install program do its thing. All I had to do at that point was sit back and watch. It did take a little longer to install and setup than WordPress does, but then again, SMF has quite a few more files and tables.
- I was hugely impressed with the fact that the SMF installation actually paused several times throughout the process. The reason for this is to give the server a break by not chewing up all the site’s bandwidth. It was a very conscientious touch on the part of the programmers, and I was very impressed with the foresight and consideration put into that bit of code.
- One of the things that discussion forum administrators dread when switching from one forum software to another is converting the old forum into a format that is usable with the new one. It’s not generally a simple process, and things almost always end up looking and acting screwy. The conversion from phpBB to SMF was every bit as easy, clean, and simple as the installation process itself was. You can browse the forum now and never see any indication that it started out as a phpBB site.
- Adding modifications to SMF is likewise a breeze. With phpBB anytime a modification or hack is added, you have to follow a rather complicated and time-consuming process. Half a dozen or more files have to be opened, specific bits of code located and either modified or have new bits of code added around them. It’s always a rigorous task and not much fun. And the downside is that whenever the forum software undergoes an upgrade to a new version, all those modifications are overwritten and have to be put back in place. With SMF the modification folder is simply uploaded to the ‘Packages’ folder inside the forum directory structure, then click the ‘Install’ button in the admin panel, and within second the modification is active. No files to open, no code to hack, and the modifications are persistent through upgrades. I was nearly weeping for joy at this point.
- In phpBB the admin panel is an almost completely separate environment from the forum itself. It sometimes feels like you are interacting with two completely different websites whenever you have to go into phpBB’s admin panel to take care of some issue in the forum. With SMF the admin panel is actually built right into the forum itself. The headers and footers are all there, and the level of administrative integration is astoundingly comprehensive.
- phpBB includes only the basic and most commonly used features in their base installation. Everything else has to be added as a hack or a mod. SMF has a lot of those extra features built right in. For instance, you can easily print a printer-friendly version of any discussion thread. You can email a friend with a link to a particular discussion right from the thread itself. Offensive posts can be quickly and easily reported to a moderator. Private messages can actually be sent to multiple recipients at the same time. SMF even has RSS built in. All this is automatic, with no additional work aside from the installation needed on the part of the forum administrator. Did I mention that I was impressed?
- One of the things that I have always wished phpBB could do was have sublevels of certain discussion boards. For instance, an entertainment and media discussion board could be broken down further into a music board, books and literature board, games board, and so on. Again, SMF has this feature built right in. Any board can have child boards, which themselves can have child boards, etc. It’s a great way to organize specific types of discussions and keep them all together. I’ve been working on reorganizing much of the content on Open Dialogue in a more logical fashion.
- SMF also gives both administrators and users a higher level of control. Users can select their own custom titles, attach files to forum posts for ease of sharing, and create custom text to display beneath their avatar. Administrators jobs are made easier by automating certain functions. If a user selects an avatar that is too large, SMF will automatically resize the image to manageable dimensions. No more need for people to play around in Photoshop to crop the image just so.
As I’ve said, SMF is a truly remarkable and impressive bit of software. The only modification I wanted that didn’t come standard was a spoiler tag, to hide spoiler information in certain movie, book, and video games threads on the site. And the activation of the modification was so simple I couldn’t believe how quick and painless it was. I’m looking forward to using this software more and trying to get the forum active again.
I’ve been considering broadening the scope of the board to include more than just theological and philosophical discussions, though I do still want that to be an important board. I tend to think that there might be interest in a board that does more, and now that I have the ability for child boards, I think managing a higher level of content will be a much more manageable process. So, come on over, check us out, and please offer up suggestions of new boards that can be added and what sort of directions Open Dialogue should go in. It’s a community project, an open marketplace of ideas, and the more people who share in it, the better and more successful it will be.
I’ll keep the door open and the light on for you.
Tags: blogging, dead-mans-hand, discussion-forum, geek, halo, halo-2, open-dialogue, phpbb, simple-machines, software, ttl-gunslingers, video-games, WordPress, xbox, xbox-live
Tied the Leader: Shameless!
I have a sneaking suspicion that, given the appropriate battery of tests and surveys to complete, the vast majority of cheaters would display what is considered to be less than healthy levels of self-esteem and self-respect. These are the kids (and adults) who believe that they simply don’t have what it takes to compete on a level playing field with the rest of the world. These are the kids who, in the context of DeeJ’s article, modify their Xboxes to do things that they shouldn’t be able to do in Halo. They’re the ones who collect as many 2-month free trial memberships as they can, systematically using each to get one or two games in before Bungie’s fantastic programs detect and summarily ban them for cheating in multiplayer action and ruining the experience for everyone else. Ironically enough, these are also the kids who spend their entire time raging and ranting, heaping upon everyone else (who are, incidentally, much better players than they are) a wide variety of disparaging, insulting, and racist epithets, who curse and swear in their high-pitched, pre-adolescent voices, who make the rest of us wonder where these kids’ parents are.
I suspect that these are the kids who have no idea how to interact with the real world, who have no social skills to speak of, who couldn’t get a prom date even if daddy gave the girl a financial incentive to date his son for even just one evening. These are the kids who, if you were to see them during the day, are hiding out in the corners of their middle and high schools, hoping that the lunchroom bully won’t find them and beat them up for their lunch money. They’re the ones who have no self-respect because no one has given them a reason to like themselves. It almost makes you feel sorry for them, except for the fact that they take out their pent-up aggression on everyone else via Live because that is, for them, a safe place to give back a little of what they’ve been taking. They haven’t realized yet that just because they’ve been bullied, just because they don’t feel good about themselves, it doesn’t give them the right to make others feel bad or to act aggressively toward everyone else. They haven’t yet realized that cheating and anger are not acceptable responses all the crap they take.
Of course, you have the genuinely narcissistic who believe it is their God-given right to dominate and bully in whatever method they can conceive. For them power is the ultimate high, and they get their jollies from beating other people in whatever way they can.
Most of us, though, prefer to earn our wins the old-fashioned way – through a little hard work. We prefer the respect of our peers because we actually won fair and square. And when we are faced with the esteem challenged and narcissist, we simply roll our eyes, put them on mute so we don’t have to listen to their verbal garbage, and report them to the appropriate cheating authorities. Sure, we’ll probably see them again, albeit under a different screen name, but ultimately they are just little children who haven’t got a clue.
And the game goes on, without them.
Tags: bungie.net, cheating, halo-2, self-esteem, sportsmanship, tied-the-leader, video-games, xbox, xbox-live, xerxdeej
I was finally able to complete Advent Rising over the weekend. While the gameplay mechanics were a bit clunky and frustrating at times, the story was one of the best I’ve seen in a video game. The developers did an excellent job of writing a story that flowed well and of creating dialogue that sounded natural.
And if you are planning at any point to play the game and don’t want to have the story spoiled, this would be a good place to stop reading.
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Tags: advent-rising, storytelling, video-games, xbox, xbox-360
