The Mind Of OverlordTomala
Computing

Vacation Day 1: Mild Annoyances Are The Best Annoyances

Had to do my first ever factory reset on my Fire HD8 today. I’m not sure how I managed it, but once in awhile when I plugged in headphones Alexa would try to activate, and since I don’t have the tablet registered with Amazon it begs me to register. I usually just hit the Not Now button and get back to the apps I’ve installed outside Amazon’s eco system; but there must have been a FireOS update that took it out. I tried to close out the app, but to no avail. I managed to get back to the homescreen, went into Waterfox and found that the only button I had at the bottom of the screen was the Back button. I had no choice but to restart, and found that I couldn’t continue any further until I registered the device.

Of course… I’m too much of an asshole to give up that easily. 😛 Factory resetting it did the trick, at least for now. I’ve been trying to replicate the problem again but haven’t had any luck. I’m planning to do a little science experiment with a little help hopefully not too far long down the road that could help prevent this from happening again.

I also had to fix a couple things in Windows tonight too, went under there tonight to play and privately livestream DMC2 (don’t ask). I wanted to run OBS in the background but found that my drivers were out of date, as the AMD codec was missing. Updating the drivers fixed the problem but… when installing the driver I had to hit reset on my computer because all of a sudden all of my USB ports fucking died. Windows went into Recovery Mode… and failed. I booted in anyway and sure enough, everything was fine.

So yeah, vacation is off to a great start. 😛 Better to have it now than during a busy bork week. Think I’ll end the night with a game that doesn’t end in DMC2…

Hobbies

Late Night Open Thread

It turns out one Broforce session is enough for me to make a decent sized video footage wise. I’ll have to sleep on how I want to piece this one together, and talk over a good way to end the video, while at the same time I’m also thinking most of the video will be gameplay footage… these games pretty much do all the entertaining.

All in an Overlord's day / Computing

All Systems Go!

New monitor arrived! All pixels are good. Just in time too, since I start my vacation after work tomorrow! I played a little Portal 2 tonight, and also started chopping up Broforce footage. It’s a shame that I have to start from scratch again, but there are several improvements that have been made to Shotcut since I last chopped up footage for a fresh project. Different audio tracks now show each waveform if being separated from an mp4 or mkv multitrack recording, more filters and fine tuning, and the overall performance boost from adding more RAM, the 3900x and having Manjaro installed on NVMe makes all the difference. I actually feel like I’m moving through it much faster. I also have Source Filmmaker installed to my old Samsung 870 Pros (one SFM install for each operating system) to improve long load times in due part to all of the fucking assets I’ve accumulated over the years.

Well, that’s enough self indulgence for this eve…

Gaming

Some Penguin Approved Gaming And Chill

I kicked back today with a good breakfast, a little photo work, and lots of Linux gaming. Took a bit of a break from using Proton to play some native Linux TF2 and Dusk. Apparently in Discord it reads that I’m playing hl2_linux instead of TF2, that made me chuckle a bit. The last time I played TF2 under Linux it kept giving me stack errors, nice to see they’ve fixed it.

I prepped my laptop on the Linux side for some fun lunch time shenanigans tomorrow. Since DMC5 runs so well on my Manjaro desktop setup with pure AMD hardware I want to see how well it runs on my laptop with Intel/NVidia. I did a quick test launch and it automatically detected the best settings, always a good sign! It even sees the proper refresh rate (144hz). Should make for a fun, scientific lunch break. I also installed a few Portal 2 mods in case I wanted to do somewhat actual not actual science.

Gaming

Weekend Of Linux Stuffs

My attempts to try and run this game into the ground have been futile. Other than issues with FOV during cutscenes Devil May Cry 5 continues to run, and at decent framerates despite the eyecandy being cranked to max. My attempts to mod this game on the other hand have proven to be a bit of an issue… I can install and run Vortex, but it only renders as a black window. I can also run Fluffy Manager 5000 but for some reason it doesn’t see the mod folder. Modding will take further science, but aside from that I’m still impressed with how well Devil May Cry 5 performs.

I’m also happy to report that I finally finished the 4th and final part of the Skyrim saga! I’m going to work on the video thumbnails tomorrow, and from there work out release dates, and of course start project prep for the Broforce vids.

I think I have everything pieced together the way I like. I’m running xfce with two tool bars. The one on the bottom is my Linux studio tools. I even installed Photoshop for shits and giggles, and the once in a blue moon chance I decide to use it. It kinda feels mac-ish sitting there on the desktop like that, only cooler looking because I’m outside of their walled garden. 😛

Now… I wonder what would be good for a future Linux livestream. 😛

Gaming

Add Devil May Cry 5 To The List Of Recommended Playable Linux/Proton Games

Well… I might not be able to get the first three DMC games to run under Proton, but their latest game DMC5 runs almost perfectly. I’ve only played three levels, but so far it has been just as stable as it is under Windows. The only problem that I’ve found is that it has issues rendering FOV and background/foreground blur during cutscenes.

Graphical glitches aside; DMC5 has been just as impressive performance wise as the RE2 remake. Next time I play I’ll see how it handles recording and mods, though something tells me the latter will be identical in process to Windows.

Gaming2

For The Cost Of Three Gaming Laptops You COULD Buy A Used iPhone with Fortnite

In the wake of Fortnite being taken off of Apple’s storefront (and Creepy Uncle Google’s) there seems to be opportunists that want to fix that problem… by selling used iPhones that still happen to have the app installed for thousands of dollars more than what said phone itself is actually worth?

It’s bad enough if you buy a top-of-the-line used iPhone 11 Pro for more than what a Apple charges for a brand-new iPhone; it’s worse when you’re spending that kind of stupid money—again, thousands of dollars—on something like a used iPhone XR or iPhone 8 Plus. There’s a sucker born every minute, and in a perfect world eBay would have some kind of “common sense” test they would have to first pass in order to use the service.

I really shouldn’t be surprised about people wanting to buy used phones just so they can have the Fortnite app (after all toilet paper is still a currency in some places)… from the perspective of people that have more money than sense, and the technologically impaired that don’t understand how apps work, as the article goes on to make valid points that people should not be this stupid to ignore, but will anyway because of how fucked up we are as a people:

Even in a best-case scenario, you won’t be able to play the latest version of the game with any seasonal updates Epic Games throws into the mix. I have no idea how long you’ll be able to keep on playing an older version of Fortnite, but odds are good that even this window will eventually close.

Most Apps and programs require frequent updates (content, hats, security patches, etc) and if Fortnite’s servers are all run by Epic, then a version update will make that several thousand dollar black market iPhone as nothing more than a lesson that a fool and their money are soon parted. I mean just think… for one of those Black market iPhones you could have a few of these delicious rainbow gaming machines occupying your humble abode:

Or buy one, add drives to all four drive bays, and still have money left over to buy an entire warehouse of poptarts.

All in an Overlord's day / Open Threads

Sleepy Evening Open Thread

Too tired to post anything… did a turn and burn yesterday, didn’t even have time to eat anything the whole day… made for a fun morning considering I don’t eat breakfast first thing on a workday. I’m feeling better now, but my stomach still feels like it’s recovering from trauma.

Lying down sounds really good right about now.

Gaming / Technology

MangoHUD is Sabrosa

One of my favorite websites to read is GamingOnLinux, and recently they had an article about MangoHUD. I compiled it to try today, and I have to say it’s pretty nifty.

MangoHUD lets you view your CPU/GPU stats on the fly, and it also reports what API your game is currently using.

This could come in handy for benchmarking purposes. There are more ways to configure it, including an optional GUI you can install separately called goverlay..

I might look into doing some comparison videos on Windows vs Linux performance as I continue to perfect my Linux Gaming studio. Given that I can record Vulkan (under certain conditions) things are looking on the up and up.