101
Completely Unrelated / Mako
« on: 2010-03-28 05:30:32 »
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102
Troubleshooting / STICKY: An up-to-date guide for newbies on playing FF7
« on: 2010-03-27 20:30:42 »
I was reading through some tech support posts by newcomers recently when I was struck by how out-of-date some of the information on this site is. A newbie could come here, read all of the stickies and FAQs on how to play the game, and be completely misled, installing patches and whatnot that are no longer needed and for which there are simpler, more elegant and less buggy replacements. With this in mind, I think it would be a good idea for us to come up with a complete guide on how to get the game working and what patches to avoid. Moreover, this guide should be in a very prominent position so that newcomers can find it easily. At the moment, advice on how best to play the game in 2010 is harder to find than advice on how best to play the game in 2006, and the latter is often stickied or otherwise made to look more authoritative. I'll make a start and hopefully other people can chime in with corrections and additions.
_________________________________________________________________________
What you will need
The game discs OR .iso images of the game discs (of course, these images should be ones that you made, not downloaded from The Pirate Bay
)
The 1.02 patch (which can be found here: English | French | German; Titeguy3's 1.03 Spanish patch is here).
And Aali's custom graphics driver, which can be found here.
NB: version 0.7.8b of the driver closes when non-essential files such as ff7input.cfg and the save files are missing. If you're using this version of the driver, make sure you have the .cfg file and save files 00 - 09
_________________________________________________________________________
Windows users
One should start by replacing the ff7.exe file with the 1.02 patched version. People using Vista or Windows 7 may need to allow administrator privileges. When that is done, the custom graphics driver should be used; instructions on how to use it are included in each new release post by Aali. Once again, one may have to allow administrator privileges.
If all goes to plan, these are the only things you will need if you want to play the game from start to finish. The custom graphics driver also allows the game to be played in whatever resolution one chooses (amongst other things). There is no need to install Truemotion codecs.
Linux and Mac users
With the release of the graphics driver, FF7 can now be played in Linux with WINE. I don't know whether it can be played with WINE on a Mac, and any Mac users who have time on their hands may wish to try it out
.
sithlord48 has a guide to playing FF7 with WINE on Kubuntu 9.04. This guide should work for people using any *buntu distro and most other Debian-based distros; in fact, it will probably work on most Linux distros. At some point during the next decade, I may get around to trying out FF7 on Fedora and write a guide for that.
It's worth noting that some modding programs might not work with WINE. Problems have been noted with Wall Market and Proud Clod, although some users have had some functionality with them.
Laptop users
If your keyboard does not have a numberpad, and you are want to use the keyboard rather than a gamepad when playing the game, there is a laptop keyboard patch.
_________________________________________________________________________
Obsolete patches
The following patches have been made obsolete and should not be installed; the graphics driver can do all of their jobs and allows greater compatibility with other mods that one may wish to make:
Chocobo patch
Hi-res patch
Battle-swirl patch
Upside-down movies patch
Minigame/frame limiter patch
and probably several more...
DO NOT USE THESE:
UItima edition
Animevamp 1.4/XP patch
The UItima edition is a pirate edition of the game, so it goes without saying that it can not be supported here. However, that it not why it is in this part of the guide. In the past, it may have been easier to for people to get their game working on a modern Windows operating system by downloading the UItima edition, not bothering with CDs and maybe using any patches that came pre-installed. Thanks to the work done on these forums, the full version of the game is now fully compatible with modern operating systems and there is no reason to use the UItima edition. Even people who don't want to bother fiddling with CDs don't need it any more; .iso images can be mounted with daemon tools, getting rid of the need for no-CD cracks. Furthermore, there seems to be a great deal of disagreement on what the UItima edition is. One person's "UItima edition" may have very few differences from the normal game beyond an installer and a modified ff7.exe file, and be compatible with this guide if modifications are made. Another person's "UItima edition" might not have any CD images and be completely incompatible. In any case, I must advise against using it; getting hold of a clean, unmodified version of the game is the best way to avoid any problems.
The animevamp patch is a knock off of a patch which is no longer needed and deletes important system files without telling the user. It should never be used and it would be better if it disappeared from the Internet completely.
_________________________________________________________________________
Modding Tools
Modding battle scenes: Hojo and Proud Clod are the only tools that you will need; they allow one to modify nealy every single byte in the battle scenes with relatively easy-to-use GUIs, and will soon allow everything to be modded. Both programs work with both the PSX and PC versions of the game. Proud Clod might not work in WINE.
Wallmarket (PSX and PC) can edit everything in the kernel.bin file (including, but certainly not limited to, weapon, magic, armour, materia and item data, as well as characters' stat growth, starting equipment and AI). Might not work in WINE.
White Choco (PSX and PC) can edit much of the shop data.
LIBRE (PSX and PC) can edit limit break data.
Palmer allows one to edit the backgrounds in the field scenes. As far as I know, this is the latest release.
Biturn, Kimera and PCreator will be necessary for editing things like battle and field models and textures. Note that these tools are for things like extraction and conversion to and from formats the game recognises. The actual modding should be done with tools such as Photoshop and Gimp (for textures) and 3DSMax and Blender (for models), with the models and textures then converted for use in the game. Please see the threads for these tools for information on using them.
More coming soon
Obsolete modding tools
Scenester and SceneEdit have been made obsolete by Hojo and Proud Clod, and SceneReader will be obsolete after the next Proud Clod release.
_________________________________________________________________________
Miscellaneous
Here is a very useful save game compilation with almost 150 saves; one for each save point and a few bonus saves as well.
Playing Movies from the hard drive
Although there is no option to do so by default, registry editing lets you play the movies from the hard drive:
_________________________________________________________________________
What you will need
The game discs OR .iso images of the game discs (of course, these images should be ones that you made, not downloaded from The Pirate Bay
)The 1.02 patch (which can be found here: English | French | German; Titeguy3's 1.03 Spanish patch is here).
And Aali's custom graphics driver, which can be found here.
NB: version 0.7.8b of the driver closes when non-essential files such as ff7input.cfg and the save files are missing. If you're using this version of the driver, make sure you have the .cfg file and save files 00 - 09
_________________________________________________________________________
Windows users
One should start by replacing the ff7.exe file with the 1.02 patched version. People using Vista or Windows 7 may need to allow administrator privileges. When that is done, the custom graphics driver should be used; instructions on how to use it are included in each new release post by Aali. Once again, one may have to allow administrator privileges.
If all goes to plan, these are the only things you will need if you want to play the game from start to finish. The custom graphics driver also allows the game to be played in whatever resolution one chooses (amongst other things). There is no need to install Truemotion codecs.
Linux and Mac users
With the release of the graphics driver, FF7 can now be played in Linux with WINE. I don't know whether it can be played with WINE on a Mac, and any Mac users who have time on their hands may wish to try it out
.sithlord48 has a guide to playing FF7 with WINE on Kubuntu 9.04. This guide should work for people using any *buntu distro and most other Debian-based distros; in fact, it will probably work on most Linux distros. At some point during the next decade, I may get around to trying out FF7 on Fedora and write a guide for that.
It's worth noting that some modding programs might not work with WINE. Problems have been noted with Wall Market and Proud Clod, although some users have had some functionality with them.
Laptop users
If your keyboard does not have a numberpad, and you are want to use the keyboard rather than a gamepad when playing the game, there is a laptop keyboard patch.
_________________________________________________________________________
Obsolete patches
The following patches have been made obsolete and should not be installed; the graphics driver can do all of their jobs and allows greater compatibility with other mods that one may wish to make:
Chocobo patch
Hi-res patch
Battle-swirl patch
Upside-down movies patch
Minigame/frame limiter patch
and probably several more...
DO NOT USE THESE:
UItima edition
Animevamp 1.4/XP patch
The UItima edition is a pirate edition of the game, so it goes without saying that it can not be supported here. However, that it not why it is in this part of the guide. In the past, it may have been easier to for people to get their game working on a modern Windows operating system by downloading the UItima edition, not bothering with CDs and maybe using any patches that came pre-installed. Thanks to the work done on these forums, the full version of the game is now fully compatible with modern operating systems and there is no reason to use the UItima edition. Even people who don't want to bother fiddling with CDs don't need it any more; .iso images can be mounted with daemon tools, getting rid of the need for no-CD cracks. Furthermore, there seems to be a great deal of disagreement on what the UItima edition is. One person's "UItima edition" may have very few differences from the normal game beyond an installer and a modified ff7.exe file, and be compatible with this guide if modifications are made. Another person's "UItima edition" might not have any CD images and be completely incompatible. In any case, I must advise against using it; getting hold of a clean, unmodified version of the game is the best way to avoid any problems.
The animevamp patch is a knock off of a patch which is no longer needed and deletes important system files without telling the user. It should never be used and it would be better if it disappeared from the Internet completely.
_________________________________________________________________________
Modding Tools
Modding battle scenes: Hojo and Proud Clod are the only tools that you will need; they allow one to modify nealy every single byte in the battle scenes with relatively easy-to-use GUIs, and will soon allow everything to be modded. Both programs work with both the PSX and PC versions of the game. Proud Clod might not work in WINE.
Wallmarket (PSX and PC) can edit everything in the kernel.bin file (including, but certainly not limited to, weapon, magic, armour, materia and item data, as well as characters' stat growth, starting equipment and AI). Might not work in WINE.
White Choco (PSX and PC) can edit much of the shop data.
LIBRE (PSX and PC) can edit limit break data.
Palmer allows one to edit the backgrounds in the field scenes. As far as I know, this is the latest release.
Biturn, Kimera and PCreator will be necessary for editing things like battle and field models and textures. Note that these tools are for things like extraction and conversion to and from formats the game recognises. The actual modding should be done with tools such as Photoshop and Gimp (for textures) and 3DSMax and Blender (for models), with the models and textures then converted for use in the game. Please see the threads for these tools for information on using them.
More coming soon
Obsolete modding tools
Scenester and SceneEdit have been made obsolete by Hojo and Proud Clod, and SceneReader will be obsolete after the next Proud Clod release.
_________________________________________________________________________
Miscellaneous
Here is a very useful save game compilation with almost 150 saves; one for each save point and a few bonus saves as well.
Playing Movies from the hard drive
Although there is no option to do so by default, registry editing lets you play the movies from the hard drive:
# Create a folder called C:\Program Files\Square Soft, Inc\Final Fantasy VII\movies
# Insert Final Fantasy VII CD1, copy all files from the movie folder to C:\Program Files\Square Soft, Inc\Final Fantasy VII\movies
# repeat for each disk, so all movies from all disks are on your hard drive in the same movies folder
# Click Start, Run, type regedit, push OK
# Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Square Soft, Inc.\Final Fantasy VII
# Double-click on MoviePath and change it from "d:\FF7\Movies\" to C:\Program Files\Square Soft, Inc\Final Fantasy VII\movies\
# Push OK and close regedit
103
Completely Unrelated / Ya know what really grinds my gears?
« on: 2010-03-23 19:23:10 »
Hollywood or other mainstream adaptations of games, anime, books or other works with a cult following that rape the spirit of the original and suggest a conscious effort to move away from the franchise's original fanbase.
I was reminded of this phenomenon by reading this article about a Hollywood adaptation of Bleach (NSFW), and there have been quite a few examples of Western adaptations of anime and manga that have deliberately ignored or tried to hide its origins (see the paperback version of the Haruhi light novel (original/hardback version here) and the Spice and Wolf light novel (NSFW)), but they do the same thing with other media as well.
There are quite a few things about this that piss me off:
Firstly, it's patronising. It suggests that things have to be changed because mainstream audiences/Westerners won't be able to cope with the original. Presumably we'll choke on our hamburgers if things aren't properly localised (possible NSFW ads). Don't people have any faith that mainstream audiences might like things more if they are left as they are? Interestingly, Pokemon were almost made into scary looking monsters for Western audiences, on the assumption that we wouldn't want anything "cute". IIRC, the cute Pokemon went on to be rather popular; when I was 12, I was (literally) the only person in my class at school who didn't collect Pokemon cards and battle with them every day. It seems that Pokemon did just fine without being patronisingly "localised".
Secondly, it's a slap in the face to the original fans. What the adaptors are saying is "You guys made this franchise what it is; it's popular because of you; because of you the creators aren't homeless and destitute and because of you we heard about it. However, you are no longer useful; we don't want you as fans any more. We want to hang out with the cool kids. Now f*** off".
Thirdly, if you don't want to appeal to a cult audience and make something culty, why adapt a cult classic? If you don't want to appeal to geeks and make something geeky, why adapt something geeky? If you don't want to appeal to weeaboos and make something that looks Japanese, why adapt an anime? Why not make something completely original? It seems that some people can't come up with any ideas of their own and instead adapt and rape an existing franchise until the only things left are the names and a very basic story/character outline. They want to appeal to a certain audience and make something in a certain genre but can't come up with their own ideas, so they take an existing product from a different genre and change it until it looks like it will appeal to the audience they want. FFS, either adapt something and stay faithful to the spirit of the original or make something completely new: do one or the other.
it should be noted that these kinds of adaptation are rarely critical or commercial successes. Most of the time, they get the same audience they would have got if they hadn't raped everything; the difference is that they have an audience of angry geeks who then write nasty things on the internet instead of an audience of happy geeks. As a rule, successful adaptations tend to be the more faithful ones.
I was reminded of this phenomenon by reading this article about a Hollywood adaptation of Bleach (NSFW), and there have been quite a few examples of Western adaptations of anime and manga that have deliberately ignored or tried to hide its origins (see the paperback version of the Haruhi light novel (original/hardback version here) and the Spice and Wolf light novel (NSFW)), but they do the same thing with other media as well.
There are quite a few things about this that piss me off:
Firstly, it's patronising. It suggests that things have to be changed because mainstream audiences/Westerners won't be able to cope with the original. Presumably we'll choke on our hamburgers if things aren't properly localised (possible NSFW ads). Don't people have any faith that mainstream audiences might like things more if they are left as they are? Interestingly, Pokemon were almost made into scary looking monsters for Western audiences, on the assumption that we wouldn't want anything "cute". IIRC, the cute Pokemon went on to be rather popular; when I was 12, I was (literally) the only person in my class at school who didn't collect Pokemon cards and battle with them every day. It seems that Pokemon did just fine without being patronisingly "localised".
Secondly, it's a slap in the face to the original fans. What the adaptors are saying is "You guys made this franchise what it is; it's popular because of you; because of you the creators aren't homeless and destitute and because of you we heard about it. However, you are no longer useful; we don't want you as fans any more. We want to hang out with the cool kids. Now f*** off".
Thirdly, if you don't want to appeal to a cult audience and make something culty, why adapt a cult classic? If you don't want to appeal to geeks and make something geeky, why adapt something geeky? If you don't want to appeal to weeaboos and make something that looks Japanese, why adapt an anime? Why not make something completely original? It seems that some people can't come up with any ideas of their own and instead adapt and rape an existing franchise until the only things left are the names and a very basic story/character outline. They want to appeal to a certain audience and make something in a certain genre but can't come up with their own ideas, so they take an existing product from a different genre and change it until it looks like it will appeal to the audience they want. FFS, either adapt something and stay faithful to the spirit of the original or make something completely new: do one or the other.
it should be noted that these kinds of adaptation are rarely critical or commercial successes. Most of the time, they get the same audience they would have got if they hadn't raped everything; the difference is that they have an audience of angry geeks who then write nasty things on the internet instead of an audience of happy geeks. As a rule, successful adaptations tend to be the more faithful ones.
104
Completely Unrelated / Duplicate file finder
« on: 2010-03-17 18:02:23 »
http://www.auslogics.com/en/software/duplicate-file-finder/ (there are others available, of course)
I always wondered whether any software like this exists, and it turns out that it does. It finds duplicated files on one's hard drive (there are options to search in only certain folders, to ignore small files and to only search for certain file types) and lets one choose whether to delete any of the repeated files (and if so, which ones), allowing one to save a lot of space. It's particularly useful for those of us who save thousands of pictures from image boards and don't know whether we have multiple copies of facepalm.jpg or trollface.png or shittingdicknipples.gif.
inb4 spambot
I always wondered whether any software like this exists, and it turns out that it does. It finds duplicated files on one's hard drive (there are options to search in only certain folders, to ignore small files and to only search for certain file types) and lets one choose whether to delete any of the repeated files (and if so, which ones), allowing one to save a lot of space. It's particularly useful for those of us who save thousands of pictures from image boards and don't know whether we have multiple copies of facepalm.jpg or trollface.png or shittingdicknipples.gif.
inb4 spambot
106
Completely Unrelated / lol uncrackable DRM
« on: 2010-03-05 23:43:29 »
http://www.boingboing.net/2010/03/04/ubisofts-notorious-u.html
For those who don't know, Ubisoft recently took DRM to a whole new level with the PC port of Assassin's Creed II. Customers who bought the game will have to be online for the whole time they play it, and if their internet connection goes down at any point, they'll lose all progress since the last save. Or so I've heard; I don't play modern PC games, so this isn't my area of expertise. God help anyone with a dodgy ISP or anything like that.
Of course, this was all necessary in order to fight piracy: you see, the way to stop people from stealing things is to punish the people who buy them legally. The more hoops you make the legal buyer jump through, the better.
Naturally, this DRM wasn't as effective as Ubisoft thought it would be, and was cracked within 24 hours of the game going on sale. Ubisoft now have to deal with the fact that gamers have a choice between paying money for crippled game and paying nothing for a superior version. If this means that sales of the game are lower than expected, Ubisoft will no doubt decide that the DRM wasn't tough enough, and will spend even more time making something even more inconvenient for the sequel. Perhaps one of their lawyers will stand there and watch as you buy the game, open the box and play, and become your shadow 24/7. And so the cycle continues...
Thank god the only modern games I play are for consoles. No fucking about with DRM; just buy the game, stick the disc in the drive, and then play.
For those who don't know, Ubisoft recently took DRM to a whole new level with the PC port of Assassin's Creed II. Customers who bought the game will have to be online for the whole time they play it, and if their internet connection goes down at any point, they'll lose all progress since the last save. Or so I've heard; I don't play modern PC games, so this isn't my area of expertise. God help anyone with a dodgy ISP or anything like that.
Of course, this was all necessary in order to fight piracy: you see, the way to stop people from stealing things is to punish the people who buy them legally. The more hoops you make the legal buyer jump through, the better.
Naturally, this DRM wasn't as effective as Ubisoft thought it would be, and was cracked within 24 hours of the game going on sale. Ubisoft now have to deal with the fact that gamers have a choice between paying money for crippled game and paying nothing for a superior version. If this means that sales of the game are lower than expected, Ubisoft will no doubt decide that the DRM wasn't tough enough, and will spend even more time making something even more inconvenient for the sequel. Perhaps one of their lawyers will stand there and watch as you buy the game, open the box and play, and become your shadow 24/7. And so the cycle continues...
Thank god the only modern games I play are for consoles. No fucking about with DRM; just buy the game, stick the disc in the drive, and then play.
107
Completely Unrelated / Visual Novels
« on: 2010-03-05 22:06:27 »
So, since Heavy Rain has been a runaway success (500k copies sold worldwide, and 100k here in Britain, so I hear), I wondered whether VNs, which have very similar gameplay but are in 2d, will be brought to the attention of more people. I'm a big fan of what I've seen so far, but unfortunately I don't get as much time to [play them as I'd like.
At the moment they're a niche genre in Japan and a tiny niche in the west. This is, no doubt, because they're often made by small companies who can't afford to advertise much, partly because piracy harms their sales and partly because of the stigma attached to games that have any sexual content at all. (Apparently, having 30 mins of sex scenes, all of which contribute to the story, in a 50 hour+ game makes that game into pornography with no redeeming artistic value).
TYPE-MOON classics Fate/Stay Night and Tsukihime are both popular starting points for beginners in this genre, if for no other reason than they're the most well-known VNs and pictures of characters from them pop up on image boards everywhere. FSN also has an anime adaptation, which may actually be better known than the game (sigh). Some people will say that there's a Tsukihime anime as well, but others say that such a thing never happened and that no-one should ever talk about it.
At the moment they're a niche genre in Japan and a tiny niche in the west. This is, no doubt, because they're often made by small companies who can't afford to advertise much, partly because piracy harms their sales and partly because of the stigma attached to games that have any sexual content at all. (Apparently, having 30 mins of sex scenes, all of which contribute to the story, in a 50 hour+ game makes that game into pornography with no redeeming artistic value).
TYPE-MOON classics Fate/Stay Night and Tsukihime are both popular starting points for beginners in this genre, if for no other reason than they're the most well-known VNs and pictures of characters from them pop up on image boards everywhere. FSN also has an anime adaptation, which may actually be better known than the game (sigh). Some people will say that there's a Tsukihime anime as well, but others say that such a thing never happened and that no-one should ever talk about it.
108
Completely Unrelated / Microsoft's European browser ballot
« on: 2010-03-05 15:42:05 »
As many will already know, Microsoft has been forced by EU anti-monopoly laws to offer alternative browsers to people who find it too difficult to download their own:
One might wonder exactly what this will do, since Europe is the biggest market for non-Microsoft browsers (IE has less than 50% market share), and one might presume that the only people left who are still using IE are people who have to (at work, for example) and people who are too scared to use anything else and won't know what the hell is going on. Nonetheless, Opera have reported that downloads have tripled since Microsoft released the update.
Also, notice how the description for Apple's browser is completely and obnoxiously over-the-top compared to the others and reeks of advertising speak.
One might wonder exactly what this will do, since Europe is the biggest market for non-Microsoft browsers (IE has less than 50% market share), and one might presume that the only people left who are still using IE are people who have to (at work, for example) and people who are too scared to use anything else and won't know what the hell is going on. Nonetheless, Opera have reported that downloads have tripled since Microsoft released the update.
Also, notice how the description for Apple's browser is completely and obnoxiously over-the-top compared to the others and reeks of advertising speak.
109
Completely Unrelated / In Utah, miscarriage is murder
« on: 2010-02-28 14:59:17 »
Sauce
The proposed law isn't quite as bad as the headline makes it out to be, but still, WTF?
In other news, some people in Tokyo are apparently proposing a law which would make it illegal to sell Lucky Star or Haruhi DVDs to anyone under 18. (possibility of NSFW ads)
In both cases, I'm sure that the people proposing the laws are just thinking of the children, and are certainly not trying to force their own moral views on anyone else
The proposed law isn't quite as bad as the headline makes it out to be, but still, WTF?
In other news, some people in Tokyo are apparently proposing a law which would make it illegal to sell Lucky Star or Haruhi DVDs to anyone under 18. (possibility of NSFW ads)
In both cases, I'm sure that the people proposing the laws are just thinking of the children, and are certainly not trying to force their own moral views on anyone else
110
Completely Unrelated / Apple, Adobe and false advertising
« on: 2010-01-31 20:57:51 »
So, it looks like Apple are continuing to refuse to support flash, even though they claim that the iPad is the world's greatest browsing experience or something. Naturally, Adobe are a little upset by this, and one of their employees has shown us what browsing without flash will be like.
Furthermore, Apple's promo for the iPad clearly shows it supporting flash, even though that won't happen. Naughty, naughty.
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/01/ipad-flash/?intcid=inform_relatedContent
Also, I doubt anyone will be able to get through that video without facepalming so hard that they give themselves a concussion. In fact, you'll probably start vomiting after the first ten seconds.
Of course, there might be one upside to this. Flash is sh*t and it would be nice if it disappeared and was replaced by something else. Unfortunately, although some websites are beginning to support H.264 video as an alternative to flash, Firefox might not be supporting natively it any time soon, owing to its proprietary nature. There was recently an attempt at a VLC plugin to do the job, but the reviews say it doesn't work.
Furthermore, Apple's promo for the iPad clearly shows it supporting flash, even though that won't happen. Naughty, naughty.
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/01/ipad-flash/?intcid=inform_relatedContent
Also, I doubt anyone will be able to get through that video without facepalming so hard that they give themselves a concussion. In fact, you'll probably start vomiting after the first ten seconds.
Of course, there might be one upside to this. Flash is sh*t and it would be nice if it disappeared and was replaced by something else. Unfortunately, although some websites are beginning to support H.264 video as an alternative to flash, Firefox might not be supporting natively it any time soon, owing to its proprietary nature. There was recently an attempt at a VLC plugin to do the job, but the reviews say it doesn't work.
111
Completely Unrelated / Bloke claims to have hacked the PS3
« on: 2010-01-23 19:55:33 »
http://geohotps3.blogspot.com/2010/01/hello-hypervisor-im-geohot.html
Currently, we only have his word for it :3
Currently, we only have his word for it :3
113
Completely Unrelated / Yet another desktop thread!
« on: 2010-01-13 20:09:09 »
Here's mine. I have the Nanami theme installed; she's cute, but she keeps saying "chinchin". What does she want?
And yes, Sakura is calling me senpai. So ronery ;_;
I demand that everyone else post their desktops!
And yes, Sakura is calling me senpai. So ronery ;_;
I demand that everyone else post their desktops!
114
Completely Unrelated / Computers should be banned from schools!
« on: 2010-01-13 09:13:07 »
Lol Daily Mail.
I'm particularly intrigued by his belief that children are going to be playing GTA 4 on their government issued laptops. If what I hear about GTA 4's system requirements is true, I certainly hope the government won't be spending over £1000 per pupil buying them gaming laptops.
I'm particularly intrigued by his belief that children are going to be playing GTA 4 on their government issued laptops. If what I hear about GTA 4's system requirements is true, I certainly hope the government won't be spending over £1000 per pupil buying them gaming laptops.
115
Completely Unrelated / What software do you use?
« on: 2010-01-12 21:03:08 »
I fear that this thread will get ignored, but I'll give it a shot.
What software do you use for the following:
OS
Browser
Video player
Audio player
Image editing
Photo editing
Image viewing
Torrent client
Video Editor
Office tools
Anti-virus?
In my case it's
Windows 7
Firefox
Media Player Classic
Foobar2000
MS Paint
Gimp
Windows Photo Viewer (yeah, I know. 
I used to use Picasa and Irfan View, but I haven't yet reinstalled them on the new OS) Fast Stone
uTorrent
Windows Movie Maker (unfortunately, there's a severe lack of decent freeware video editors)
Openoffice.org
Avast! & Microsoft Security Essentials. Obviously, I use Common Sense 2010 as well.
What software do you use for the following:
OS
Browser
Video player
Audio player
Image editing
Photo editing
Image viewing
Torrent client
Video Editor
Office tools
Anti-virus?
In my case it's
Windows 7
Firefox
Media Player Classic
Foobar2000
MS Paint
Gimp
I used to use Picasa and Irfan View, but I haven't yet reinstalled them on the new OS)uTorrent
Windows Movie Maker (unfortunately, there's a severe lack of decent freeware video editors)
Openoffice.org
Avast! & Microsoft Security Essentials. Obviously, I use Common Sense 2010 as well.
116
Team Avalanche / System requirements
« on: 2009-12-30 04:59:56 »
This may seem like a silly question, or be a question that has been asked already, but does anyone have an idea what the system requirements might be for running FF7 in higher resolutions when the project is finished, and is it likely that FF7 modding will ever reach the point where more than a small number of people will need to update their graphics cards?
I don't play graphically intensive PC games, so I don't know much about this kind of thing, but I wondered whether the amount of detail being put into the models and textures would make it taxing for lower end graphics cards (i.e. ones that currently sell for about $50) to play at resolutions like 1280x960 or 1600x1200.
Of course, I wouldn't want anyone to worry about this; making FF7 look so good that people once again have to think about their systems when choosing which resolution to play it in would be quite an achievement for Team Avalanche
I don't play graphically intensive PC games, so I don't know much about this kind of thing, but I wondered whether the amount of detail being put into the models and textures would make it taxing for lower end graphics cards (i.e. ones that currently sell for about $50) to play at resolutions like 1280x960 or 1600x1200.
Of course, I wouldn't want anyone to worry about this; making FF7 look so good that people once again have to think about their systems when choosing which resolution to play it in would be quite an achievement for Team Avalanche
117
Completely Unrelated / It's Christmas!
« on: 2009-12-24 18:31:40 »
Jari posted these last year, but one of the vids has been taken down. Anyway, here's how Santa gets from the forests of Lapland to your living room:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAvBliyF2Y4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vepUUfWkhPs
So remember how much hard work goes into every getting every stocking filled when you open your presents tomorrow morning (or now, if you're German or from Asia-Pacific).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAvBliyF2Y4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vepUUfWkhPs
So remember how much hard work goes into every getting every stocking filled when you open your presents tomorrow morning (or now, if you're German or from Asia-Pacific).
118
Completely Unrelated / VIDEO GAMES ARE SEXIST!
« on: 2009-12-17 20:31:41 »
lol equality now (NSFW)
I'm intrigued by the question "does “killing†a prostituted woman in Grand Theft Auto just reconfirm to a gamer the “lesser value†of women in prostitution generally?". Have they ever played GTA? Players can and do kill anything that moves. (It wouldn't matter if they had, since they love taking things out of context even more than creationists do.)
We've already established that video games are racist if the player gets to kill black zombies as well as white ones, but it seems that they are also misogynistic if the player gets to kill women as well as men. Personally, I think that we should only be able to kill white, middle/upper class males from protestant backgrounds; anything else would be bigoted.
Since Sancom is involved in a feud with "Equality" Now, the article must be taken with a pinch of salt, although I doubt there's any kind of context in which the rantings of this group over the past few months on the subject of games and porn can be seen as anything other than hysterical, ignorant and almost certainly dishonest. For those who don't know, they seriously quote people from 4chan and websites with similar cultures in their press releases as evidence of what there's up against. Perhaps I'll find some extremist (or better yet, satirical) feminist message board where the posters say that men should all be castrated at birth and say that it is an accurate representation of what all feminists think? That's basically what they're doing by taking anons seriously (oh for fuck's sake). Of course, how they react when confronted with internet culture is hardly surprising, since we've seen from the way they interpret Japanese pornography that they have great difficulty understanding any culture other than their own
I'm intrigued by the question "does “killing†a prostituted woman in Grand Theft Auto just reconfirm to a gamer the “lesser value†of women in prostitution generally?". Have they ever played GTA? Players can and do kill anything that moves. (It wouldn't matter if they had, since they love taking things out of context even more than creationists do.)
We've already established that video games are racist if the player gets to kill black zombies as well as white ones, but it seems that they are also misogynistic if the player gets to kill women as well as men. Personally, I think that we should only be able to kill white, middle/upper class males from protestant backgrounds; anything else would be bigoted.
Since Sancom is involved in a feud with "Equality" Now, the article must be taken with a pinch of salt, although I doubt there's any kind of context in which the rantings of this group over the past few months on the subject of games and porn can be seen as anything other than hysterical, ignorant and almost certainly dishonest. For those who don't know, they seriously quote people from 4chan and websites with similar cultures in their press releases as evidence of what there's up against. Perhaps I'll find some extremist (or better yet, satirical) feminist message board where the posters say that men should all be castrated at birth and say that it is an accurate representation of what all feminists think? That's basically what they're doing by taking anons seriously (oh for fuck's sake). Of course, how they react when confronted with internet culture is hardly surprising, since we've seen from the way they interpret Japanese pornography that they have great difficulty understanding any culture other than their own
119
Completely Unrelated / Xbox cheaper in Britain than in the US?
« on: 2009-12-16 21:05:16 »
£109.97 ($180) at game, $199 in the United States.
It's only the price at one shop, but this is very unusual; usually, electronics (and most other things) are much more expensive on this side of the Atlantic, and especially expensive on this side of the English Channel. What could be the reason for this? (answers on a postcard, please )
It's only the price at one shop, but this is very unusual; usually, electronics (and most other things) are much more expensive on this side of the Atlantic, and especially expensive on this side of the English Channel. What could be the reason for this? (answers on a postcard, please
)
120
Completely Unrelated / The truth about love
« on: 2009-11-20 19:43:12 »
These are facts; they can not be denied!
Unfortunately, the prospects for me and Hermoor aren't so good
Anyway, this thing seems to produce a lot of lulzy results.
What other results can people get from this thing?
This was my idea, of course. I certainly didn't see this on another forum and decide to post it here because I was bored. No.
Unfortunately, the prospects for me and Hermoor aren't so good
Anyway, this thing seems to produce a lot of lulzy results.
What other results can people get from this thing?
This was my idea, of course. I certainly didn't see this on another forum and decide to post it here because I was bored. No.
121
Completely Unrelated / I like smart women!
« on: 2009-11-12 12:24:42 »
The reason why, likely to contain some NSFW ads.
Interestingly, this proves what Lucky Star fans have known all along:
Interestingly, this proves what Lucky Star fans have known all along:
122
Completely Unrelated / lol America
« on: 2009-11-11 15:48:12 »
Here (possibly NSFW) and here (SFW). It seems that playing doctor with other children in the playground has joined pissing outside on the big list of things that will get you put on the sex offenders register in the US (or at least in some parts of it)
I say "lol America", but it's only a matter of time before something similar happens here in Blighty. After all, we usually lead the way in paedophile-related hysteria (lol @ 9:53)
I say "lol America", but it's only a matter of time before something similar happens here in Blighty. After all, we usually lead the way in paedophile-related hysteria (lol @ 9:53)
123
Completely Unrelated / Daily Fail lulz
« on: 2009-11-03 18:10:25 »
Greetings, my dear subjects!
Some of you may be aware of the controversy in Britain regarding David Nutt. For those of you who aren't, he's a government adviser on science who said some facts that didn't go along with Labour's policies, prejudices or "morals". Of course, he was fired immediately, thanks to the god complex of our government. You see, they make the facts; it's obvious that politicians who got were they are by being friends with more powerful politicians know far more about the effects and dangerousness of drugs than scientists who have spent their lives studying them. Surprisingly (since the Daily Fail usually hates Labour), one hack agrees.
See some typical British journalism here
For those who have a moral objection to reading this rag, some of the highlights are his claim that
Damn those empirical facts! They should base their theories on hatred of anything they don't understand instead!
Some more are the inevitable Godwin where he says that Nazi Germany was a classic example of what happens when politicians accept science*, the inevitable claim that science is a religion and the sympathy for every crank theory that ever gets shouted down, sympathy that comes from the belief that statements about objective facts should be treated the same way as opinions instead of being immediately dismissed when they are obviously nonsense.
I must say that, even by the standards of the worst tabloid in the country with the worst media in the civilised world, this is a new low. It would be funny were it not for the fact that this is Britain's second most popular newspaper, and would be the most popular were it not for The Sun's policy of putting 18-year-old tits on page 3.
Let the sh*tstorm begin!
*Complete nonsense, of course. The Nazis would only allow Aryan scientists to study, and they weren't allowed to contradict the government. What happened to Max Planck is an example.
Some of you may be aware of the controversy in Britain regarding David Nutt. For those of you who aren't, he's a government adviser on science who said some facts that didn't go along with Labour's policies, prejudices or "morals". Of course, he was fired immediately, thanks to the god complex of our government. You see, they make the facts; it's obvious that politicians who got were they are by being friends with more powerful politicians know far more about the effects and dangerousness of drugs than scientists who have spent their lives studying them. Surprisingly (since the Daily Fail usually hates Labour), one hack agrees.
See some typical British journalism here
For those who have a moral objection to reading this rag, some of the highlights are his claim that
Quote
The trouble with a 'scientific' argument, of course, is that it is not made in the real world, but in a laboratory by an unimaginative academic relying solely on empirical facts.
Damn those empirical facts! They should base their theories on hatred of anything they don't understand instead!
Some more are the inevitable Godwin where he says that Nazi Germany was a classic example of what happens when politicians accept science*, the inevitable claim that science is a religion and the sympathy for every crank theory that ever gets shouted down, sympathy that comes from the belief that statements about objective facts should be treated the same way as opinions instead of being immediately dismissed when they are obviously nonsense.
I must say that, even by the standards of the worst tabloid in the country with the worst media in the civilised world, this is a new low. It would be funny were it not for the fact that this is Britain's second most popular newspaper, and would be the most popular were it not for The Sun's policy of putting 18-year-old tits on page 3.
Let the sh*tstorm begin!
*Complete nonsense, of course. The Nazis would only allow Aryan scientists to study, and they weren't allowed to contradict the government. What happened to Max Planck is an example.
124
Completely Unrelated / BEST GAME EVAR!
« on: 2009-11-01 20:45:36 »
According to Sancom, "Woman CEO Rena" for the Wii sold 100 copies in its first week. This surreal Touhou-esque level, which looks like a cheap flash game, seems to be one of the highlights.
125
Completely Unrelated / lol
« on: 2009-11-01 03:59:36 »
Ladies and gentlemen, some great British journalism
There's a reward of over $9000* for anyone who can get some teenagers to actually say all of these words.
I'm familiar with chillax, dis, lush, noob, pwnage and uber, and I'm pretty sure that "gel" meaning "connect with" has been used in everyday speech for many years, but I've never heard of most of these words. It seems that the journalists and the "experts" (lol) have absolutely no idea of the context in which "noob" and "pwnage" are used either (which is no surprise, seeing as commentators on youth speech usually don't have any concept of context or register, as is evident from their belief that SMS language and internet slang are the same thing). Either that, or some idiots are using Internet slang IRL (that kind of thing makes me facepalm every time I hear it).
*Zimbabwean
There's a reward of over $9000* for anyone who can get some teenagers to actually say all of these words.
I'm familiar with chillax, dis, lush, noob, pwnage and uber, and I'm pretty sure that "gel" meaning "connect with" has been used in everyday speech for many years, but I've never heard of most of these words. It seems that the journalists and the "experts" (lol) have absolutely no idea of the context in which "noob" and "pwnage" are used either (which is no surprise, seeing as commentators on youth speech usually don't have any concept of context or register, as is evident from their belief that SMS language and internet slang are the same thing). Either that, or some idiots are using Internet slang IRL (that kind of thing makes me facepalm every time I hear it).
*Zimbabwean