Ugh 3.0

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In addition to yesterday, or should I now be saying yester-yesterday… being one heck of a day it’s own right, things have been busy.

I was awake non stop from Sunday to late Monday afternoon. When I finally crashed from the days exhaustion, even if only for an hour or two.

Started with the system backups on Sunday: ensuring that my impeccably backed up home directory is safe, along with less commonly used things—plus a full “local” backup. That is, everything that seperated the FreeBSD install there from a simple install FreeBSD, install updates. That includes about 6-7GB of applications, system wide configuration, custom kernel configuration, and an archive of /var; where the database of installed packages are. Life without the Windows registry, is so sweet ;).

While that was getting done, I rigged vectra to fetch the current ISOs for FreeBSD 8.0-Release and Ubuntu 10.04 Desktop. The plan being to reformat the laptop (dixie) with GNU/Linux and be ready to set it up to dual boot with BSD, which could be restored easily from the backups I made. Simply put FreeBSDs file system can be grown larger, but not shrunk smaller o/. Out of the ~30 GB of data there’s about 10~12 GB in backups. The rest can be done from install media or network.

My main reason for the switch has to do with XFire support in Pidgin, and being able to use better file sync software. All of which work on just about everything quite smoothly, except for the BSDs :-(. I’m happy enough with GNU/Linux but do actually prefer a BSD unix system.

Monday was riddled with it’s own affairs, plus having to *fix* crap with the laptop. Assuming my instant messenger has stopped crashing (blasted xfire plugin), most things are stable now. The closest I get to sleeping, is being staring at my computer screen all morning: listening to 94.9’s radio stream and hoping to pass out eventually. With luck I get a few moments sleep spread across the late local-morning 15-20 minutes at a time.

Tuesday (what’s now “Technically” yesterday), my brother finally showed up. Not that the combination of Lady Gaga and cigar smoke is not my idea of perfection, I did get some driving time on his car. Although admittedly, it is well past the point where hours matter. It was however nice to get to see my brother.

Broke the “Cease fire” today (eh, yesterday, whatever), very much needed a good walk after everything on Monday. Price justified, even if my mother will likely make my life a living hell if she finds time to think about it. Went to the library. Started to read the Aeneid but only bored my mind clear enough to get work done. Started on a few C++ files before heading home in the thunder. Having done enough walking and running for my sides to hurt and my head to swim, I think I can say: I’m starting to hate running! Walking however is quite relaxing. Rather than make it home to a much needed shower, I instead got dragged across two stores. I definitely hate shopping.

Had a string of messages on my PC by then, and ended up joining someone for a little bit of Raven Shield. Took a break to perform surgery on the laptop, after about 10-15 minutes of that. I rarely play RvS these days unless I’m invited or it’s someone I rarely bump into otherwise.

Laptop is almost done… just a question of whether or not I’ll actually sleep tonight. And tomorrow I get the spend the morning in the vets office bright and early o/.

sigh.

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After all these years, I really do not want to know what percentage of the day I spend in front of a computer.

Thoughts on Left 4 Dead 2

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Lately I’ve been playing a lot of L4D2, the sequel to Left 4 Dead. I was never able to acquire L4D, so I was of course happy to find part two on sale :-D.

At first glance it is a fairly typical game: the objective is to reach the levels end (safe house or final evac point) alive, while killing anything that gets in your way. Then again that pretty much describes most games on the planet, doesn’t it? Even most of the original Rainbow Six was that way really, until the patches came. For joe smuck, L4D2 is certainly enjoyable enough from the perspective that you have like a good 150-600 zombies per map, the average is closer to 300 I would say.

What I have found, is an incredibly well designed game!

Left 4 Dead works off the premise that a rabies like virus has plunged the world into a zombie apocalypse. Unlike the more graphic depictions in the original Night of the Living Dead, or the flesh-eating norm in most zombie flicks: L4Ds infected “Zombies” just beat the loving crap out of people, no eating. The weak of stomach will be happy that there is nothing remotely resembling the whole truck/gas station thing from NotLD. Gore mongers ofc being made happy by what happens to the zombies ;).

Four “Survivors” are thrown together in the plot, and multiplayer tends to recreate this feeling through a lobby oriented way of hosting games, as well as a “Quick match” function. Gladly, they avoid the brain damage behind SWAT 3s massive lags. Rather than being strictly round based, killed survivors may respawn in a “Closet” somewhere and are stuck in spectator mode until “Rescued” by living survivors. Even going this far, they work to help bring that survival-horror flick mood to things. You just never know who your going to meet during a zombie apocalypse ;).

At it’s heart, Left 4 Dead is a game for people with a different “Taste”. It’s not going to satisfy simulation fans and it isn’t just another DooM clone in a CoDs skin either. The game play and design tends to attract a different crowd, enough so that I have been impressed by some of the teamwork you can get going with a random crowd of survivors. We can only hope the same happens if there ever is such a zombie take over o/.

The control layout at first glance, just breaths of a console games influence (it’s also on the XBox 8=). In actual practice though, it works flawlessly: it is simple, consistent, and almost intuitive. I say almost intuitive because it’s more consistent than most preceding games on the PC lol. At its core, you simply shoot everything as normal or shove things around using what’s equipped. When medical items are in hand, holding fire uses it on yourself, where as holding shove uses (or give) it on(/to) the team mate you’re looking at or shoves. More normally that would’ve been an action/use-button kind of thing. Once you get used to the item model, you’ve mastered the only “Thinking” required. There’s also few controls, which makes my old-side happy, since I grew up where six buttons and a D-pad was a lot of keys. Whoever worked through how to play test this thing, must really have earned their pay cheque IMHO.

Since each level is riddled with a ton of common infected, having four guns firing is a great help. With a little applied thinking and the fact that you are so much stronger than a single infected (zombie), team mates are not needed so much as they come in handy. Namely with that much bullets and limbs flying everywhere, someone is going to protect you or draw off attention from you, sooner or later ;). A basic application of tactics can also be useful, but needs to be adapted to fighting swarms of melee-oriented targets rather than an armed attacker.

Most game modes are little evolved past single player, so there is no real reason not to play in Campaign (co-op) or Versus mode. The difference between co-op and versus mode, is that one team controls the “Special” infected and their spawn points (under tight control). In the strictly co-operative mode, everyone is a survivor, and bots fill in for missing or idle players. Having players as the special infected in versus mode, generally results in a more challenging game than co-op, if not quite as plausible as the one driven solely by the “A.I. Director”. You can’t spawn to close to the survivors, or to fast, but the positioning can still be a bit much at times. Such as a bathroom that’s already been swept clear.

Something that really makes the game, is the special infected: most posse an attack that once successful, is effectively a death sentence unless another player saves your bacon. The rest are mealy a recipe for mopping the floor with everyone. It’s been done to such an exquisite balance that loose cannons are still found, but you will almost always find *team* games! No one can survive alone indefinitely, and statistics tend to add up when a campaign takes nearly an hour (or more depending on pace). The shortest game I’ve actually had, was about 35 minutes for one campaign, but we blew through it like four lighting bolts, hehe.

I’ve never seen a game that so well balances individual skills along side the need to work together, let along one that feels like your knee deep in zombies gone wild.

The game can be rather gruelling at times from the horde, but it’s rather enjoyable. Where as most games have fairly limited replay value, L4Ds use of a “Director” to drive the gameplay takes things to the next level. At the very least, randomising the location of items and enemies is a pretty damn simple thing to do in terms of game design, if so often ignored. In L4D however, it goes as far as giving the A.I. Director control over enemy spawning, item placement, and can be unforgiving at times. In the end the game play is always slightly different, and tends to flow with how well you’re doing. One of the most impressive moments (from my developers perspective) was playing through The Parish campaign, and noticing on the previous attempt: we found a weapons cache in a store room, second attempt it was totally barricaded off – because we were doing well that time around.

I wish every game could take advantage of such technology. It would make things so much nicer, and sure as hell beats Raven Shield. The closet I’ve seen to L4D, is SWAT 3s best maps, but L4D takes it to many more levels of gameplay.

My only gripe with the game has been it’s fairly short: about 6 campaigns (Dead Centre, The Passing, Dark Carnival, Swamp Fever, Hard Rain, and The Parish), ranging perhaps 3-5 levels each. Realistically you could clear the entire game (online) in 3-4 hours time with a solid team, and a rapid pace of attack, sans failures of course. That and the game crashes if I set the shader setting to a higher quality setting than my graphics card apparently supports >_>

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Finishing up my laptops backups and prepping for an overhaul of the software setup…. why do I feel like my stress levels are about to climb a dozen rungs?

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For the first time in quite a bit, I’ve opened my Private Airport kai map, watching tangos climb up a drain pipe today was a good memory jogger ^_^.

Almost everything I had worked on was complete, except for the question of what to do with the terminal buildings now accessible roof. I need to redo a lot of the maps original layout there, because of how the fake backdrops were done (creating distant scenery for unreachable areas). The amount of work all that represents, means I need to decide whether or not to make the second tarmac area and associated grounds accessible to the player. Well, technically it is accessible since you can walk through a fake backdrop but the HOM effect isn’t welcome lol. I’ve also modified a few things to reward an inquisitive player, rather than making it as obvious as first planned.

I’ve added a set of rooms on the terminals roof, meant to simulate a small office like environment that is rather missing from the stock maps architecture. Minor tweaks to the backdropping there, extra spawns, and some finishing touches in the administrators office, then my map is basically RC ready.

Today I also had a rather interesting idea: while adding that office space, it occurred to me that it would be practical to put a small catwalkesque bridge over to the air traffic control tower would be a nice idea. The ATC of course, is just a big static mesh, which is fairly normal (modern) practice for such scenery – but surprising for raven shields level designers. That means there is no way to make a habitable ATC without building one from scratch. Since the fake backdrops in the area are associated to the ones near the new offices, there is a fair bit of work to be done in that area anyway. The only problem with building a proper ATC however, is the fact that I’ve never had to climb one before lol.

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At least Random is consistent, he usually proves my train of thought correct once he opens his mouth.

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I’ve spent most of the day cleaning stuff out, circumstances being as they are, ma finally decided on cleaning out the hallway closet – a prelude to deeper cleaning. I always knew she would find someway to enlist me >_>.

The thing that irks me is that of course, my mother hates to throw anything out. My family are pack rats, among other things. Out of the entire closet, I would say that the keep pile outweighs the chunk it pile. At least plenty got done for a change, I could swear some of that stuff was older than I am!

People go through life acquiring a lot of stuff, to some people their “Stuff” is everything. In my honest opinion, if it’s no use to you: then either find someone who can use it or throw it out, and skew this years landfill calculations in a more accurate direction lol. I offered suggestions where I know a better home for some things (generally accepted), even noted that others like the useful “Collections” of encyclopedic or more scientific materials should be donated to the library. Of course, she wouldn’t hear that and those had to be chucked 8=). They were the kind of books you would go to a library for anyway (or grep several websites per topic).

When it comes to cleaning things out, I default to THROW OUT!

From the entire closet, of which ma has probably kept at least 1m2 or closer to it – there were only four things I would’ve opted to keep. Two boxes of comic books because you never know when you’ll run out of real books, and two dusty old children’s books that are “Time before time” kind of old. Only reason I would opt to keep those, is because I’m sentimental. When I was very, very young and long before her Alzheimer’s set in, one was a book my grandmother always read to me whenever we visited. So they invoke my more ‘fond’ memories of her. I don’t have many childhood memories to be fond of either. Yet, if there was no place to put it, I would still put that in the out pile if absolutely necessary: because I don’t need  the book to remember, my memory is to close to photographic to forget that sort of thing. It’ll be on my book shelf.

My mother on the other hand, if there’s so much as a 0.001th chance it could be useful, if it cost plenty, or if it took effort, she won’t throw something out. Even if the damn thing was never used in the first freaking place o/.

Generally I’m more sentimental than not, but first and foremost… I’m a practical son of a gun. Space and usefulness generally outweighs most other concerns when you have to set priorities. I don’t think my mothers ever been good at that either.

Finally looked at Randoms remarks

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I heard a while ago from friends (firstly one in [SAS] uniform) that Random had been banned off NTFs Raven Shield server(s). I also had decided not to look up the threads mentioned. To be honest, I hadn’t stayed up to date with either clans forum for several months, nor really cared much about doing so. Those close to me, likely have some understanding of my point of views -> this thing doesn’t change that! What has, is I can’t say nothing…. after reading that thread. Y’all said it was bad but I didn’t think it could be THAT bad.

A few days ago, I was playing a mod that was mentioned a long time ago in NTFs forums and I wanted to make a reply now that I tried out the mod. Did that. Since leaving [SAS], as a matter of respect (since I have friends in each), when I check one clans forum I tend to check the other as well. While I was on [SAS]’s forum, I checked Randoms thread in clan topics and was appalled.

When I was an [SAS] member, if I had posted anything like that, I would have been eaten alive. It’s the kind of stuff that could get a member banned from the entire clan!

Since seeing the clans commanding officer, in my honest opinion managed to disgrace everything [SAS] members have been demanded to uphold in their conduct, I posted a “Thank you” message addressed to Random. Publicly because he disgraced the regiment publicly in his own forum! Why a thank you? Because having to see just how low things have been allowed to sink, when the CO pulls that off and gets away with it unquestioned, it makes me happy to be out of the picture once and for all.

A [SAS] member questioned me about it, and since he has offered no objections to it when prompted, I will quote myself as a brief explanation of my logic:

Spidey01: If NTF, Rouge, and Medic each fall into the set of “other players and organizations” in the [SAS] Code of Honour, where it is clearly understood as other than an “[SAS] member”, does it follow that Randoms conduct in Clan Topics is “therefore a demotable, and potentially a bannable offense if any member is caught being disrepsectful in any online server, forum, chat room, or game room.” –> ?

Spidey01: I would act the same way if it was Tom, Dick, and Harry from clan Fools Horde.

Spidey01: Since all [SAS] Members are bound by the [SAS] Code of Honour, and Random is an [SAS] Member, it surely follows that Random is bound by the [SAS] Code of Honour. Yes?

And of course I mean no disrespect towards NTF, Rouge, Medic, Tom, Dick, Harry, or Fools Horde by that remark ;).

In my opinion Randoms conduct in [SAS]’s public forums, does constitute major breaches that code. It may even be the single biggest violation of Article 1 that I have ever seen in my life. Public and in-front of the mebership is the only areas I’ve seen GCHQ enforce the clans code of honour, so it is deffo applicable to a public forum post in Clan Topics.

If you have ever been inside [SAS] for more than a brief stay, then you know how members are supposed to resolve “Issues”, if you are or were ever of Sgt grade, then you have probably read the Moderator guidelines (last stored in the policy forum afaik), all you should have to do is read the [SAS] Code of Honour and Randoms thread, to conclude that it is a violation of [SAS] CoH. I don’t give a crap if NTF justified such action or if they gave him every possible concession, no [SAS] member is above the CoH. There is __N_O__exception to that, and even that is all but coded into the CoH! The CO has the final authority in holding members accountable: but who holds the boss man accountable, hmm? When I joined [SAS], that kind of thread would never have gotten past Randoms first posting before being obliterated as a CoH violation. The member responsible for posting it would’ve had head on a chopping block. Being a red blooded American, you could say that notions like that, may as well be tattooed on my hind end, and proud of it.

Considering that my membership in [SAS] amounts to about a quarter of my life thus far, after reading that thread, I really can’t avoid saying Random blew a nuclear sized hole in the CoH and appears to be getting off scot free.

It’s not slanderous either, it’s as factual as a speeding ticket.

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I may hail from the Inner Sphere, but even I know the meaning of Zellbrigen.

QOTD 2010-07-13

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‘A true friend is someone who
knows you’re   a good egg
even if you’re a little cracked.’