The Mind Of OverlordTomala
Gaming

Dear Esther: Multiplayer

I’ve been doing a good job breaking in the new GPU! Yutram and I went on some GMod adventuring yesterday; we traveled from Dear Esther to China, it was the most fun I had playing Dear Esther.

I’ve installed some watermelon themed mods onto the main sandbox server, one of those mods is a virus that infects both NPC’s and players. If one of these bouncing melons is absorbed into a victim they will eventually turn green and explode into watermelons; thus multiplying until no one but watermelons remain. Fortunately we contained the virus where no one will ever look; a random hole in Dear Esther (or as Yutram calls it: Scotland).

Yutram also took us on a cruise in his jumbo jet boat.

Dear Esther is a already a scenic experience, but something about adventuring this place with a friend makes it better.

I also upgraded my flashlight. 😛

We ended the night by visiting the watermelon petting zoo at a Chinese temple. What a perfect ending to a perfect day!

Ramblings1

What I’ve Learned About Masks & Allergies

 

(Note: Not my art.)

When I was a kid I remember having seasonal allergies every spring and fall, though back then when I didn’t understand allergies I always thought I was just sick all the time. When I was first introduced to allergy medicine I was happy to be able to breathe! what I didn’t know was the side effects for being able to breathe. I always wondered why I was so tired afterwards, and years later I found it was the allergy medicine that kept knocking me out, or it would make me feel loopy. Within the last year I’ve almost completely stopped taking antihistamines, and the only thing I’ve done differently is wear a mask everyday. It makes me wish masks were a thing when I was little, it would have been nice to breathe without feeling like I’ve been doped up to the point of wanting to hibernate all spring, and I do like ninjas so it would have worked out. 😛

I have to walk by a wall of flowers every morning, and around this time of year it usually burns my throat if I don’t hold my breath. Thanks to wearing a mask I just have to endure just the aroma. I remember the Easter lilies were so potent that I would end up in urgent care, but with my mask it isn’t nearly as bad. We should of had them as an option a long time ago, for allergy and flu seasons.

I don’t think masks are a replacement for allergy medicine, but I know for a fact that I’m not spending nearly as much money on it as I used to thanks to wearing them. I think I’ll be wearing them on my outings when the pollen count is high. I’ve only needed one shot of nasal spray, and that was all the way back at the start of March!

Gaming

Watch Out For This Source Engine Exploit

If for any reason you find yourself playing a multiplayer Source Engine game DO NOT accept any invites from strangers.

Secret Club are a not-for-profit reverse engineering group who’ve found a number of exploits with Valve’s software, which they explain in a series of posts on Twitter. Each of these exploits are remote code execution flaws, which Secret Club told me via email gives a hacker “full control over the victim’s system, which can be used to steal passwords, banking information, and more.”

If what is being reported in the article is true then Valve has been aware of this exploit for two years. This is a serious exploit to have open in the wild, and hopefully the exposure encourages them to get off their duffs to 86 it from their code! Be very careful when playing Source games until this gets resolved.

It’s ironic reading this a day after playing around in GMod with Yutram! Fortunately, it was just the both of us goofing around on maps that would probably be unappealing to twelve year olds Fortnite enthusiasts.

Food/Drink2

Sunday Noodly Appendage

When I was a kid I loved to have noodles for breakfast, and years later I found that noodles are a staple in Chinese breakfasts. I wanted to do a Chinese brunch this weekend, and it was cool enough that a warm soupy noodle dish would fit the bill. This particular noodle dish uses:

  • Chicken Stock (pretty much any stock will do though)
  • Brown Rice Noodles (any thin noodle will work just as well)
  • Green Onion
  • Bok Choy
  • Shredded Ginger
  • Chopped Garlic
  • Sesame and Chili Oil
  • Pinch of Salt
  • Cilantro and Peanuts (for garnish)
  • Pot Stickers/Chinese Dumplings

I based it on this recipe I found while browsing the interwebz for weekend brunch inspirations, and I’ve always had a soft spot for noodles as they are the ultimate comfort food. I’ve made plenty to easily last me a few days.

To that I say “RAmen”.

Gaming

Shadow Of The Game Library

I broke down and played something tonight. I wanted to play a game that would really stress test the card, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider delivered. I managed six achievements worth of progress. I did a private livestream with one of my friends. Together we both praised and ridiculed the game for its strengths and weaknesses, solved a puzzle here and there… etc.

I was treated to a drug influenced nightmare sequence that could rival any Max Payne nightmare sequence I could recall from my childhood. Happened just around bedtime too! Time to look at kittens to try and omit the inevitable weird dream that awaits my tired imagination.

Hobbies

My 6800XT Is Making Linux Suicidal

My plans to reinstall Manjaro have hit a brick wall… Updating to Manjaro 21 didn’t fix anything, in fact it wouldn’t even let me into the operating system and produced the same result as yesterday when I tried to login. I tried installing ArchLinux, but the installer decided to throw auditing errors just as it seems to want to do under Manjaro. I also decided to give Solus a whirl, but that just ended up freezing the fucking installer. I finally got Mint to install, but now I’m having issues installing drivers via PPA.

I forgot to factor in the GPU shortage makes it difficult for Linux developers to code for them. This is going to require more research; I’ll have to rely on Windoze until I can find time to get it sorted. But I’ll get it working at some point… I always do.

All in an Overlord's day / Hobbies / Technology1

I’ve Been Busy!

After a long delay in transit I finally, FINALLY got my 6800XT today! I’ve spent a better part of the evening benchmarking it for performance… what a beast! Unfortunately Manjaro won’t boot in properly with the new GPU in place, but I was planning on already doing a reinstall when the card arrived anyway. Manjaro has been giving me issues on every other boot, and I’m hoping Manjaro 21 might fix the issue, and hopefully not create new ones… Manjaro is already pretty easy to setup, so I might even be able to get back to work on my video project tomorrow! or at the very least be ready to tear back into it on Friday. I would have done it tonight, but I wanted to verify that the card worked properly PLUS I have an early work day tomorrow and need as much rest as I can get. I should be sleeping now actually, but I need my tea hydration fix.

I’m sure about one thing; this weekend is going to be awesome!

Gaming

Bringing Zen To My Lunch Hour

Sometimes my fellow co-workers will catch a glimpse of my lunch time adventures; one day I might be a playing a pride coloured dragon, a demon hunter, a ridiculously overpowered dragonborn, etc. Today I was caught playing Okami HD by a co-worker who I wouldn’t really describe as a gamer, she’s more of the old granny type (not that granny’s can’t get their game on, look up Skyrim Grandma as an example). I gave a brief description of what the game is like, the general story around it, and showed her what you could accomplish with a few brush strokes. She even went as far as to say that it would be something she would consider playing if given the chance! She was fortunate enough to catch me on a day where I didn’t feel like slicing or shooting things. 😛

I think it’s possible that everyone has at least one game they can take joy in, it’s just a matter of finding what it is.

Gaming

My Chariot Awaits

Today was a “Fuck it I’m not feeling well” kind of day. So, instead of working on my current video project I installed this little beauty.

This is a model(s) replacement for D-Horse. Why ride around on a normal looking horse when you can let these guys cart you around?

Huey really is a horse’s ass.

Well, that’s enough for one weekend I guess. I’m just glad to have played this without any issues, and even with mods!