Technology

Vulkan 1.0 arrives.

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This will be good news on the Linux front (and for a bunch of people overall). Vulkan 1.0 released today!

Khronos’ aim with Vulkan is implementing a low-level API that is simpler and more efficient than its predecessor. The company says that “simple drivers allow for low-overhead efficiency and cross vendor consistency,” and that there is “layered architecture so validation and debug layers can be loaded only when needed.” Another benefit over OpenGL is Vulkan’s ability for multiple threads / cores to handle graphics work.

The Talos Principle has already called dibs as the first game to have implemented Vulkan support.

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I think Vulkan is the kick in the pants needed to start off a proper competition between Linux and Windows, because unfortunately OpenGL as it stands is not up to par with Direct X. And I want to see Linux succeed as a gaming Operating System. Once things start to move I might have to open up Talos Principle under both OS’s and see how well things handle.

The Malware Museum

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This is your computer, this is your computer on drugs.
This is your computer on drugs.

Want to look at some old viruses for nostalgia sake? There is a Malware Museum with neutered old MSDOS viruses that run in DOSBox within your browser, or you can download them as keepsakes if you have DOSBox installed on your system. Some of them are pretty trippy like LSD.COM, or weird like this virus featuring some old guy walking across the DOS screen. There’s even an interactive one that gives you the option to play one armed bandit to save your data, heh.

I remember a few of the ones on that page, but by the time I saw any of them they were gutted and turned into joke viruses. These truly are some fine examples of early trolling in the 80’s and 90’s.

Final Conclusion: Steam Controller is all kinds of awesome

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SteamController2

I posted my Steam Controller review the other day via Steam (What a shocker). In case anyone didn’t see it I’ve decided to put a link to it here. Surprisingly I was 99% serious in my review. But considering a broken clock is right twice a day I guess it was bound to happen. Here’s the the review.

More fun with the Steam Controller

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steamcontroller

Yesterday I took it for a field test on one of my TF2 servers to see how it stacks up compared to other controllers or a Keyboard and Mouse. I went in as a Pyro with the default layout tweaked a bit to my liking. Not many people know it but the Steam Controller comes with a built in Gyroscopic sensor not too different from what you would find in a VR headset or a smartphone/tablet. I used that combined with the right touchpad and managed to get the drop on my enemies multiple times. Keyboard and Mouse will always be king IMO but this makes it great if you want to get away from your desk and just sprawl out in another area while doing basically the same thing.

The response time over wireless was amazing, in fact I didn’t notice any latency when I pointed my controller towards an enemy. The gyro sensor does take some getting used to though. I played it with some racing games and it does take some practice if you want to use the Steam Controller as a steering wheel, but it’s fun once you get used to it!

The Steam Controller also supports DOS games. I tried to play some Wolfenstein 3D but didn’t really care for it on the controller. However it handled the original 1996 Tomb Raider like a champ. I didn’t use the D-Pad as I find it to be too stiff compared to your typical controller, but the analog stick worked perfectly. Someone made a config that makes it handle kinda like the old Playstation controller. It was comfortable and I think even better since it has extra places for button assignments. For example sidestepping was assigned to the bottom bumpers of the controller instead of it’s more traditional spots like LT and RT, which to me felt more natural.

Overall I still haven’t regretted the pre-order. In fact it keeps getting better and better with every update. They recently introduced a shortcut menu that you can use to bring up keyboard shortcuts. It’s handy if you play games like Skyrim which have a big keyboard layout.

The Controllerpocalypse

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On the subject of Controllers lately, I’ve rounded up this collection:

Controllers

Surprisingly they all work. Even the mutant one with the too many buttons. The two Saiteks in the picture were not very memorable; then again in the 90’s and early 00’s controllers on PC were going through that awkward phase still.

The Playstation controllers still work, one of these days if I ever felt like playing an emulator I might get the proper adapters. Or just setup the old PS1. I always liked the way the Playstation Controllers felt, which was why I would really enjoy the Logitechs later on which are basically a lovechild of Playstation’s Dualshock with the XBox’s buttons. Then we have the Steam Controller; which has been pretty cool so far.

Steam Controller Diary: Day 1

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controller

Yesterday I spent a good portion of my time futzing about with the new Steam Controller. I took it slow at first and tested it out by playing some platformers like Abyss Odyssey and Blade Kitten, that handled well as expected, as did PacMan. Then I decided to kick things up a notch and try configuring Skyrim. That’s when things got a little confusing. At least until I decided to look up configs created by other users.

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Each game (if someone creates a config to share) has a config that you can use if you’re not sure what would be a good layout. I took one of the configs for Skyrim and made a slight edit to it and surprisingly it handled real well. Well enough that I could play it away from my desk if I so choose to.

After finding the community section for games I decided to look at other games in my collection. Surprisingly even PacMan has some user created configs for it. Even some old DOS games. Daikatana though? Forget it! 😛

I still have many more games to go through, but so far I’m pretty impressed with how Skyrim performed. I don’t think it’ll completely replace my Logitech Controllers, but for versatility this stands a good chance. I’ll have to see how some Hack n Slashes and FPS games perform with it. Perhaps today during my lunch hour I’ll play with it some more using the gaming laptop. I already put some configs on there for a few games I might play today, depending on my mood.

SNES controller is making a comeback

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This could be neat neat for people who run Nintendo emulators, or just pure nostalgia. 😀 I might consider getting one in the future to play some old Mario games in my favorite emulator.

With its classic gray body and purple buttons, the SNES30 looks like a replica of the Super Nintendo controller of your youth. But this one supports both Bluetooth and USB, making it easy to adapt it to use while playing your favorite modern games-the best of both worlds. You can use it for up to 20 hours before recharging, and the battery will recharge 1,000+ times.

Vizio TV’s are the Big Brotherlyist of all.

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Well, this is good information for people who are interested in purchasing a Smart TV.

Vizio’s TVs capture what you’re watching, when, and how — so, for example, they know if you’re watching live broadcast TV, or something on your DVR, or on-demand programming from your cable provider, or an app like Netflix. All of the smart TVs can do that. But Vizio then goes farther: they then match that data to your IP address, which makes it personal. Because from your IP address, they can match it to third-party data sources that have a pretty good fix on your other demographic information: age, income, gender, and other marketable bits of information.

Not that I’d ever buy a Smart TV let alone a Vizio. Vizio’s suck. I find it’s better to get a regular TV and add a separate streaming device to it. Roku’s for example don’t Ad Target you, they have ads yes but it’s like normal cable when it comes to commercials (only with less commercials!). They’re random, not targeted. If I have to see any commercials/ads I like them randomized. It’s less creepy and hey, I might see something I never even heard of before.