Scrivener

Well, how often I reformat my hard disk depends on what software I'm currently testing. But I keep a second HD (60Gb HD seperated intot wo 30Gb partitions) and keep all the stuff on my primary C drive (30Gb single-partition) backed up the second partition of my 60Gb HD, drive E. That way, when I really mess things up, I can just pull all the important junk off my E drive.

I really need to stay off the internet... but that would be like living without sleep -- after three days I'd start halucinating and all kinds of wild stuff. But the more I surf, the longer my list of Must-Get-Games grows... and so my bank account never tops $300. Here's some PC games on my must watch list (BTW, I forgot to mention Drakan 2 as a must-get X-Box title): 1) Battlecruiser Millenium (Duh!) *Need I explain? 2) MS Flight Simulator 2002 Professional *The Vegas Tour video on the MSFS website sold me on this one. The graphics are simply SPECTACULAR. And I have fond memories of MS Space Simulator (Remember that one?) as well as MSFS 95. 3) TES: Morrowind *After Arena, I took a vow to buy everything Elder Scrolls. I have yet to be dissapointed. 4) Call of Chtulhu *OMG, it's the game that actually uses THE formula. The one and same formula that I and my friends would jsut lounge around and discuss... the formula for the PERFECT Horror Game. I submitted a preview to EB Games a few days ago, but they butchered the game's title pretty badly. It was something like "Call of Catluhulu." 5) Civilization 3 *Civ III has been a long time coming, and finally its almost here (It went Gold just days ago). With Sid Meier behind it, its a sure-fire hit. 6) AquaNox *I have always had a fetish for underwater themed games. BUT, in all of gamings history there are maybe a handful. I was a huge fan of Archimedan Dynasty back in the day, and Aquanox being the sequel, it could be the best thing since Sub Culture. 7) Dark Age of Camelot *Ok, this sounds really cool... BUT, I have some qualms. First, I'm a Scopic/Bardic man through and through. Not much for fighting, but rather making merry and following about various bands of adventurers whilst singing and herolding their bravery and valour. Now I know there are bards, but what worries me is their "Travelling Song". I DO remember SoW from EQ... and I'm worried about every other person playing my favorite pacivistic class because of it. BTW, did I mention that there are SIEGE WEAPONS!!! But i also remember the day I spent playing the beta, I was VERY unimpressed. But Betas change, what is everyone elses thoughts on this game? 8) Soldier of Fortune 2 *GHOUL2, nuff said. Hmm, thats pretty much it for the moment.

Raindrops on roses And whiskers on kittens Bright copper kettles And warm woolen mittens Brown paper packages tied up with strings These are a few of my fav-orite things!

I've actually been using XP for a few weeks (No, it's not legitimate... yet) and I LOVE it. It is exactly a cross between ME and 2000... but even though I'm pretty sure its all beta code, this thing is unbeliavably stable. But where it really gets Kudos is that with the new DetonatorXP drivers, I get an extra 20% performance increase in my games (Thats on top of the Driver's performance boost). This is actually the first time I think I have ever been somewhat impressed by one of Microsofts OS's. It's stable, it's fast, and it's friggin pretty (It's all colorful and... colorful) and *really* easy to network (Win98SE needs a little tweaking, LAN parties are so much easier on XP, believe me). The downside is, there are almost guaranteed to be some big, gaping security holes. There always are with MSs releases. *snic* But other than that, I find nothing wrong with XP. My [legit] copy is pre-ordered.

To work at Home Depot for $9.50 an hour or Electronics Boutique for $7 an hour? The problem is that at HD, the new guys are getting hired on at $10 an hour, I've been there over a year, longer than anyone else in my department. There are two things I wanted to happen before my year review 1) Get moved to a different department where I can trust my fellow associates to work as hard as I do (Plumbing is one department that comes to mind). 2) Get a raise from $9 an hour to AT LEAST $10 an hour. After a month working at HD, you understand why they pay so much. If they didn't, noone would work for them. Neither of those things happened, and I'm sick of working in the lot. None of the other associates raise a finger to do anything; leaving me, the closing associate, to pick up all the slack for a day of negligence as well as taking care of my own responsibilities. I've expressed my concerns to the managment time and time again. The funny thing is, the other associates seen to get the merit badges and I get nothing (They'd rather flirt with the Hot Dog cart girls than actually work). A large part of the problem is that none of my "supervisors" actually work the closing shift, so when the store is clean in the morning, they assume its because of the opener. I'm sick of it, I'm insulted by they're giving me a $0.50 raise to $9.50 and calling it fair when I'm supposed to train people who are making more than me! This has been going on for almost 6 months. I'll have one LAST talk with the store manager. On the other hand, EB is, like, heaven. They may start me at $7.00 (Right now I'm making $9.50) but I don't doubt in the least that I'll love it, as is I pretty much live there now. I'll just have to be a little more conservative with my money. No buying every last D&D book to come onto the market. Cut back on collectors edition games. Wait a little longer to buy my SCUBA equipment. No more ordering Double Quarter Pounder with cheese meal Super-Sized when a Regular Quarter-Pounder with Cheese meal will suffice. And no more buying every last game to hit store shelves (As is I have only played about half of them); I'll have be a little more picky. What do you all think?

Oh, yeah. And "The Thing." Chances are it'll be a multi-platform title, but if its on the X-Box, I'm buying it!!!

If you get a blue screen while installing (Regardless of whether you manage to finish installing it or not), DO NOT UNINSTALL IT. I'm pretty sure I managed to nix it off the Little Box (My secondary computer) manually, but still, that kind of bug just shouldn't happen. I really hope you don't plan on playing a Bard, Wizard, or Druid, either. They're not in the game. Like I told the manager at EB, I'll come back for it when it's been patched up to the point that people are no longer discussing class-action lawsuits on the BBoards. Also, when they add in Bards. I might even have weathered out the ix-bardom if I could have played a wizard or druid... and if any of them were able to attack a monster at that. The game is, quite simply, incomplete and untested.

Dark Summit is "sort of" a snowboarding game. As far as console games go, I dunno, it just looks interesting. http://www.thq.com/darksummit/main.htm -------------------------------------------- I actually ordered the Bravo Bundle that was being offered at Ebgames. It comes with Dead or Alive 3, Oddworld: Munch's Odyssee, and Halo. I'm not that entralled about Dead or Alive 3, but it looks pretty, at least. I'm not into sports games AT ALL, so the Madden 2002 bundle didn't really appeal to me that much. Munch's Oddysee might be decent, but I wonder how it stacks up to it's predecessors? Gunvalkyrie also looks pretty snazzy and it's another game I've been thinking about pre-ordering. I'm more willing to take a chance on a game when I know I can return it, after all. Batman Vengence shows some promise as well. I am rather fond of Batman, but licensed game scare me. Chances are I'll wait for the reviews first. I currently have a $10 deposit on the X-Box version of Morrowind. Funny thing is, I have the PC SE version pre-ordered as well. I'm eccentric enough to buy both, y'know. I love Bethesda Softworks... most of the time. I'll never stop holding a grudge for the cancelation of Dreamland Chronicles, though. And thats about it, for now, since you will never see me buy a Football, Basketball, Hockey, or Wrestling game... ever.

Actually, most places that take pre-orders are sold out now. Fortunately I ordered mine Sept 1 from Ebgames.com. I am looking forward, somewhat, to Halo and Dark Summit. Everything else is just kinda of... "blah," if you know what I mean.

Well, it's back in EBs hands. I got the feeling that the manager thought I was BSing him about my second computer, which sucks because I'm still trying to get a job there (And asked him about the application I turned in a month ago). With the $70 I payed off Civ 3 Limited Edition and put another $10 on Morrowind.

Technical problems aren't really a major issue with me, but the only three major bugs I've encountered so far are Being unable to attack, graphical Antialiasing glitches with DetonatorXP, and ending up with numerous corrupt save games. I did get the blue screen error while installing it on my second computer, so I know NOT to attempt to uninstall it. The clincher is that the game feels litterally unfinished. Not just untested, but out-and-out unfinished. There are no Bard, Wizard, or Druid classes. In that same order, my three favorite classes. Neglecting the Bard alone would have been enough to warrant my taking it back. But whats more insulting is that the game claims to use 3rd edition rules, but forces you to use preset Feats & skills for the class you chose. Multiplayer is ashamedly bad. You cannot make a new character, but have to chose one of the prefabs (Including the characters you created for SP). POR is more like a turn-based Diablo than D&D. AND I still have to make a decision on how to get it off my second computer without destroying Windows. I guess I could just delete the folder and manually hunt down the registry keys. Really, though... unless you thought Tresspasser was a good game, don't buy Pool of Radiance.

How sad. I had hoped that everyone would have learned their lessons from games like Ultima 9, BC3K 1.0, Vampire: The Masqeurade, Anarchy Online, WWII online, and Descent to Undermountain. But of all the incomplete and untested games ever released, Pool of Radiance 2 has just earned itself a place in history as the most disasterous game ever released. *sigh* Hopefully EB will take it back without my reciept (I wore my wallet to the beach... and forgot about it. Ouch)... that's $70 that I could use for Civ 3, Morrowind, Call of Chtulhu (Spelling?), or Neverwinter Nights. Will the industry EVER learn?

I never got to see "The Leap Home." *sigh* I've seen every last episode of QL except for the last. There isn't any place I can get it on tape or DVD is there?

As far as Star Trek Pilots go, this was an absolute masterpiece (Recalls DS9's pilot episode "Emissary"). Pilot rating: Perfect 10. Now the more reasonable view: Scott Bakula was born to be a ST Captain. He could do no wrong. As for the Vulcan chick... I hope they kill her off soon like Tasha Yar in TNG. It's just so cliche it hurts. Then when they broke into the oil scene... I mean, WTF! I was expecting SOMETHING... a kiss maybe, followed by a slap perhaps... but that was just gratuitous and wonton... and funny as hell, I could hardly believe what I was seeing. And of course, the captain was obligated to ask her to stay... because it wouldn't attract any viewers without at least one regular babe in an ultra-tight body suit. *sigh* That aside.... I think Paramount tried a little too hard to make Enterprise stick out independantly of the ST franshise (Why do think it they called it "Enterprise" rather than "Star Trek: Enterprise") and lost some of the important plot points in the process. Maybe we havn't seen everything yet (We never did find out WHAT that Klingon guy said to Archer), but I do remember mention that Klingon First Contact started a war, yadda yadda. Then, I still would have liked to see a valid excuse linking STs (Original) Klingon's lack of head crests with the latter episodes redesign. *shrug* I hate to seem like I'm picking nits, but, eh. The series still shows promise. We'll see where they take it.

No worries. Athlons run HOT. During peak usage its not unusual to be running at 120-125 degrees F. You should start worrying when it goes OVER 125 F. If you want to cool it down, I would recommend picking up a new heatsink/fan and some Arctic Silver II thermal compound. If you want the best of the best, drop by www.2cooltek.com and order an Alpha PEP66 Xtreme Kit w/40CFM fan. Just make sure you have some room around your Mobo first (Since it dosnt fit, unmodified on a KT7, my mobo, but fits perfectly on my friends new KG7). Never substitute generic thermal compund for Arctic Silver II. As for your HD. YES. Clean installing everything makes a HUGE difference. No more will you have all those old DLLs and drivers bringing your Windows OS to its knees. The longer you have your computer w/o clean installing, the slower it gets.

Eh, I'd steer clear of Red Faction (PC). While it's good for a console FPS, it's really just BLAH for the PC. Geomod is gimmicky at best, and gets old fast. The gameplay is really nothing special and for a semi-seasoned PC FPS veteran, there's really nothing in Red Faction that another game you've already played hasn't done better. If you want classic FPS joy, try Soldier of Fortune Platinum. If you want the best damn FPS ever made, get Operation Flashpoint. Wait for Red Faction to hit the $10 bagain bin, that's about all it's worth.

ROFL!!! OMG, so many moments. So many magical, magical moments. I never thought I'd see a game like this. *weeps*

I DLed the SP demo last night (Even though I have the full game) Just to let you know how accurate it is. Well, it's obviously a demo made from beta code and the mission is rather sloppy, but more or less it does a good job of showing off some of the things the game is capeable of. From what I hear, a multiplayer demo was just released. That one should be built from the final code so if you dont have the full game, I'd grab it ASAP (Or just buy the full version -- it's definately worth your money... and remember, when you buy from EB, if you don't like it, take it back).

Have any of you played Operation Flashpoint? I picked this game up two days ago, and instead of working my research papers due Monday (Man, and I have to work all weekend) I havn't been able to pull myself away from this game. I think O.F. proves, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that uber-realism can be more fun than most games designed specifically to be more "fun" than realistic. I really don't know how to explain it... it's so different than anything else. Relating some of the fond memories I've been left with might help. In one instance, I crowded onto the back of a truck with six or seven other soldiers. We were evacuating a town that was, at the same time, being overrun by enemies... including tanks. I was watching the tanks move into the town through the back of the truck as we drove up a hill to the north. Every now and then an explosion would go off just in front of, behind, or to the sides of the vehicle. At the time I thought it scripted... then, in a single moment, blood flew everywhere, fire filled the air -- and everyone died as our truck was reduced to tinder. Apparently it wasn't scripted after all... the tank shot us! Reload time. Not to mention that with all the LOD options maxed out, the graphics are just increadible. And the AI... OMG!!! I'm not sure what's in the demo, but you should really check it out for yourselves. Get it at: http://www.flashpoint1985.com/download/demo.html Why do I bring this up here? Because BC fans will most likely appreciate the depth and level of detail that OF offers. If you already own the game, what do you think? [ 09-21-2001: Message edited by: Scrivener ]

We'll, I'm putting a computer together for a friend. His budget was $1500 total (After tax and everything). Here's the gist of the package: 1) CREATIVE LABS SOUNDBLASTER AUDIGY X-GAMER 24-BIT ADVANCED HD 2) MULTIWAVE 256MB PC2100 266MHZ ECC DDR DIMM 3) ELSA GLADIAC 511 64MB AGP GEFORCE2 MX400 W/TV OUT 4) AMD THUNDERBIRD K7 1400MHZ(1.4GHZ) 266MHZ 3D OEM W/O COOLING FAN (1 YEAR WARRANTY) 5) ABIT KG7 AMD 761 CHIPSET ULTRA ATA100 ATX FORM FACTOR 1xAGP(4X)/6xPCI/4xDDR 6) QUANTUM 60GB ULTRA ATA66-100 QM360000AS 7200RPM 2MB 8.5MS(Bare drive) 7) VIEWSONIC 19" G90F .25 1600X1200 FLAT SCREEN 8) CREATIVE LABS CDRW MK4216 32X-READ/12X-RECORD/10X-REWRITE 2MB EIDE INT REWRITABLE W/SW & BUFFER UNDERRUN ERROR PREVENTION (Retail) I didnt bother including Floppy drive/case/etc on the list. Cases simply MUST be picked out in person, and floppy drives are only, like, $20. All of the above cost just a couple bucks over $1000 at www.mwave.com. Their warehouse is near where I live, though, so I can pick the stuff up for a $5 will-call fee rather than pay shipping costs. Good deal. Try to get the ELSA Gladiac 920, though, if you can afford the extra $200. It's the best GF3 card available right now, IMHO. Addendum: I forgot to say, order your cooling fan from www.2cooltek.com. Unless you have a Dremmel at home (For altering your heatsink) chose your heatsink/fan combo very carefully. [ 09-20-2001: Message edited by: Scrivener ]

Ok, seriously... Freakazoid. Yeah, I like the Tick too -- but Freakazoid was, hands down, the funniest thing ever to grace a television screen. I miss that show.

Of course, the fact that its a generic drive is a very bad sign. Generic drives tend to crap out when your forget to start your sentences a capital letter, lets not even talk about game CDs (Which use programs and features like Autorun and SafeDisk). I'd go buy myself a nice new Creative Labs DVD Encore 16X w/ Dxr3 decoder card... and one of those new Sound Blaster Audigy cards too. Mmmmmm, Audigy. Edited: I spelt sentences incorrectly. [ 09-13-2001: Message edited by: Scrivener ]

Hey! That one guy. Y'know, from that one thing... the one with the stuff who could do that thing. The one with the cloths and the hair and the eyes. That guy. Y'know... THAT GUY! Yeah, that one. NO... the other guy. No, yeah, THAT guy!?!? [ 09-13-2001: Message edited by: Scrivener ] [ 09-13-2001: Message edited by: Scrivener ]

I'll keep my opinion short, because that's the only way I can keep from breaking into a continous stream of cursing, swearing, and slurring. But if America declares war (Especially on Afghanistan... *restraining racial slurrs*) I will be one of the first to sign up. Bush is no pansy, and I shudder to think how this might turn out were Gore in office right now. Clinton, at least, made all his decisions based on polls (Both a good and bad thing)... if he were in office... there would be blood.

I actually keep a list of all the old games that I want to collect (Whether I play them or not is insubstantial). Among them is both Obsidian and Blade Runner. I actually owned Blade Runner at one point, but sold it because the game ran almost unplayably slow (My old Packard Hell had 712k of video memory. Blade Runner required 2Mb. I remember thinking "Omg, TWO Megabytes!!!! Hah). Both are out of print and very difficult to find in reasonable condition (Ebay is worthless these days. Everyone lies and hardly anybody actually pays for the items they win. So don't bother suggesting it).