We get together and play a full conversion Serious Sam mod that transforms the game into a Garry’s Mod depiction of the Metal Gear Universe.
Weekend Open Thread: Bethesda Owns My Ass Edition
Despite the nice crisp weather I’ve been feeling under the weather today… I can’t tell if if its allergies or the cold going around… or if I’m just sleep deprived which is a huge possibility I’ll try to sort soon (though I’ve found some nice foolproof sleeping aids if you know what I mean :v: ). But other than feeling a little off I had a nice chill day. Played a little bit more of Fallout 4, and even managed to do a little bit of Quake Champions with Yutram for awhile. We tried out different game modes and ended up annihilating each other other over separation anxiety due to the fact that it kept placing us on separate teams… and not being able to read the damned dark red font over everyone’s head. As usual there is footage involved, but the question “will it ever see the light of day?” looms over it.
Aside from that some of the other modes were fun. I’ve always been an old school style Deathmatch or gone for some TDM, but I did have a bit of fun with Sacrifice, Hot Rocket and the gamemode that spawns you as different people. Oh! Slipgate was fun too. Though chasing that red anus sometimes got confusing, though I guess that depends on the map doesn’t it…
Here’s to me waking up without half my face feeling like its on fire. :happy:
Using my noodle
It’s been awhile since I’ve shared any culinary wisdom. Tonight I took leftover roasted ham and turned it into a dish that I made by scratch with no help from a book.
One of my favorite sauces to make is a white sauce. I added Parmesan and smoked Gouda, and also a few splashes of Marsala with Italian spices as well as the ham. Tasted like a nice creamy Alfredo by the time it was thickened and ready for noodles.
Folded in the noodles. They’re wheat noodles, while the rest of the food may be fatty the wheat will help counterbalance it. 😛
That and the corn, can’t eat pasta alone… But eating this was really excellent. I’ll have to remember to try adding different boozes to cream sauces in the future to see how well they turn out. Will probably stay away from Creme De Menthe and Midori though…
The Playstation Classic runs on an Open Source Emulator
Ever since the release of Nintendo’s NES Classic we’ve been seeing more mini consoles/computers pop up, such as the C64 Mini, and the Playstation Classic. An interesting detail was noted about the latter device, apparently it runs on the PCSX emulator:
The PlayStation Classic uses an open source emulator, PCSX. Lesser educated people might see this as a cause of frustration, but here's the reality: it's an acknowledgement that an "amateur" emulator can be just as valid as an "official" one (and they're usually better!). pic.twitter.com/zJztoiYiwT
— Frank Cifaldi (@frankcifaldi) November 8, 2018
Nice to see that Sony has learned their lesson after the bleem incident. (Bonus points to anyone who knows what I’m referencing.) 😛 I shouldn’t be too surprised considering other consoles are pretty much the same internally with a tiny shell to give us warm fuzzies of a long gone era, but at the same time the idea of casting out $100 for a tiny computer with a built in emulator configured to play only 20 games doesn’t seem worth the dough (though I could say similar for the others). Unlike Sony though, I have to give props to Nintendo for at least selecting more memorable games. The list of games for the PSClassic are quite lackluster with the exception of a few titles. I remember the PS1 era for Metal Gear Solid, Tomb Raider, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro The Dragon, Twisted Metal and a few others. I’m going to guess there’s a possibility that at the very least Activision might have something to do with the lack of Crash and Spyro. But I figured since one of the Final Fantasy titles would have appeared on the Classic that Square Enix would have parted with at least the original Tomb Raider?
I still expect people to go forth and purchase these things for nostalgia sake… but I’ll just hold onto my original, the PS3, and my emulators. I don’t need to spend a large chunk of my paycheck on something I could build, configure and install myself. :v:
My face won third place
Today was my first day back to the grind… It was busy, but nothing too bad… I did find out that I had won third place in the Halloween contest recently, so I came home with some Halloween swag. :happy: Some candy, a gift card and a thermos. Surprisingly the haul was better than last year. I was in a three way tie for first place and got $2 gift card… Who knew that by underachieving I would have a better prize? 😛
Happy 6th Anniversary to Steam On Linux
It was six years ago today that Steam announced that they were working on a beta client for Linux. The beta was limited to only a little over 60,000, though later on in the month they would invite another 5,000, and I was among one of those that was honored to receive an invitation. I installed Ubuntu as that was the recommended Linux distro at the time, and began using Linux as a desktop alternative to Windows on the side much as I do now but with Mint instead, as well as Fedora and CentOS over the years.
I remember my library only having a couple of GoldSrc titles in it, but eventually that would expand and improve. Looking at back when I started, and then looking at my library today things have changed dramatically. I have more options for gaming under Linux thanks to certain developers keeping Linux in mind, the introduction to Vulkan (formerly AMD’s Mantle graphics api)and Proton as an added compatibility option to play Windows games under Linux. I can now look at my library and have access to a good chunk of it despite platforms, and depending on an older game it can sometimes run better under Proton instead.
This has also lead to other programs being developed under Linux, such as OBS Studio for making it easier for gamers to record their gameplay. There are also now more video editors for Linux (the video I released yesterday was entirely edited on the Linux version of Shotcut, as well as some others I have planned ahead).
These changes and improvements over the years may not have come at a fast pace, Windows may still hold the crown for PC Gaming, but people need to remember that Windows wasn’t always considered a gaming platform either. There were people like me back in the day having to exit Windows to use DOS which still had a larger game library at the time.
For some people who only play certain games, and having those games available on Linux could be a game changer for them. Me? As I’ve said many times before I still have certain things holding me back from switching completely… But I am using it now more than ever. If something becomes available under Linux, and it runs just as well if not better, that’s one less reason for me to use Windows.
Fallout 4 Photo Bomb
Today I let myself get lost in the Wastelands of Fallout 4. This seems to be one of those games that I don’t get around to often, but when I do that one day just gets consumed by all of the quests and adventure. It really is similar to Skyrim, only with guns and a more gloomy atmosphere. Where Skyrim is role playing based around magic spells, dragons and swords, Fallout 4 is about venturing a post nuke world. Both games are very similar, yet give me different emotions when I play. Both are equally fun though in their own ways, no denying that at all.
I covered a lot of ground today, found a vault and even completed some quests, side quests and helped some random settlers. I didn’t just wander the wasteland like a buffoon as I normally do. 😛
During my journey I met up with a robot named Ada. Her and I beat up some ghouls before I decided to call it quits.
I have come to the conclusion that Ghouls and Draugr are both relatives in between these universes. Both are enemies that are destined to fall at my blade. I will say that I really needed to play this, I’ve played too much of the newer Tomb Raider games recently, and I kept trying to use the controls from those games in this one as well as a couple of other ones I’ve revisited recently (TF2 the other night was awkward).
I think the most rewarding part of the game though was encountering my first radscorpion, and introducing it to my friendly neighborhood rocket launcher. The monster was no more… unless you count me in the fiery distance. 😛
I’m thinking tomorrow I’ll go back to Quantum Break for a bit instead; been meaning to advance on that one for awhile but haven’t had a chance.
Sunday Evening Open Thread
On October 26th a mod that I wrote about “Half Life: Year Of The Dragon” was released, and I only remembered that today. I downloaded the game and was bummed to see that it was Windows only. For the hell of it I tried launching it as I already have Wine installed, and aside from there being no in game audio and there being some missing pieces on the HUD it was near flawless. I’ll be sure to play it under Windows at a later date for the full experience. :v:
I also fiddled with epsxe under Linux, as well as another emulator… and I’m kinda bummed by the lack of controller plugins to get my Steam Controller working with it. Granted I have a Dualshock 3 that I could setup but I like the additional buttons I get with the Steam Controller. I haven’t tried it yet, but I heard that there is a PS2 emulator that lets you use both PS1 and PS2 roms, so perhaps some of my old discs and ROMS can be put to the test. I’ll save that for another time… I can only nerd so much in one day.