Author Archives: Snake

shits they are a happenin

Posted on October 3, 2005 by Snake

There’s a few things that have gone on lately that I shall point out.

First, I released the next major version of my Rise of Nations Script Maker last week. It adds a lot of cool shit and fixes a few bugs like: scrippet options; maximizing/resizing the window; preresearching techs, units, and buildings; update checks; message log; max craft in object stats; and new scrippet editor. So, pick this shit up.
RoN Script Maker Full Version
RoN Script Maker Lite Version

I also recently uploaded my incomplete Uber Resources T&P v2 to RoNH. It adds the T&P campaign rares like gold, rum, and cattle. Snatch that here.

The next item has to do with the website. I recently asked my host about upgrading my site to a new package and here’s the answer I got back:

I’ve upgraded your account to the GigaDeal X5 package and the monthly price is the same as your previous package. If you need further assistance, please let us know. Thank you.

Check this page to see what the package offers. You’ll obviously notice that it upgrades my space from a measly 200MB to 5GB. Given the copious space, I’ve decided to upload a bunch of my music (original, unfinished, and remixes) and videos. You can get to it by clicking the Downloads button on the nav or here.

And boom. I guess that’s it. I’ll probably be playing Dungeon Siege all week, so yeh…won’t be very productive.

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Red Orchestra = Best Multiplayer FPS

Posted on August 8, 2005 by Snake

That’s right, I’ve been playing a lot of Red Orchestra. Wanna fight about it? I swear it’s the most realistic and intense war FPS you can play online since Infiltration. So I urge you, my faithful three visitors, upgrade your rigs, get UT2004, download RO, and let the getting pwned because you’re noobs begin. I was a noob, too, when I started playing at 3.1. Now at 3.3, I’m really starting to get the feel for the game. Just see for yourself.

How to start playing Red Orchestra:
You’ll need a computer that’s no more than 3 years old. The CPU should be no less than 1.6Ghz; 2Ghz or better is recommended. Lots of RAM is a must: 512MB is good, but 1GB is best. The video card doesn’t have to be real great; a GeForce 3 or Radeon 8500 is probably bare-minimum. A mouse with a lot of buttons is great to have, as is a large screen. Also consider that UT2004 with RO takes a good 7GB of disk space.
Since RO is a mod of UT2004 for now, you have to buy UT2004. It’s less than $20 at most online places. I’d suggest buying it unless you hope to get lucky with finding a serial somewhere that isn’t banned or in use. You can get UT2004 from Newegg.
Then, you gotta download RO itself. It’s up to about 700MB these days. Get your preferred format of download here. Be sure to find the community map packs to download, too.
Finally, you should practice with the bots for a few days before you jump onto a server. There are a lot of factors to get used to, such as that machineguns have to be set down on something to be aimed accurately; you can only aim accurately by looking down the sights; only a few people can occupy most roles; there’s no ammo display, so you have to count your shots; etc.

PS: I reviewed the new iteration of Delta Force here.

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It’s me again. Who else?

Posted on July 11, 2005 by Snake

About a week ago, Danky was talking about his uptime being twenty-some days and then I was like “I bet I could make an app to display uptime in like 10 minutes.” 10 minutes turned into an hour and then into a whole week. This will eventually be the world’s most complex/feature-full uptime clock. I still have some things I’m working on with it, but a fully functional version is already available from my VB Apps Page. Give it a try.

I also did a really short Column just now that details a useful multitool glitch in Deus Ex Invisible War. It’s rather interesting. See it here.

I might update the css color scheme now. It’s starting to bother me.

Posted in Programming, Website | Leave a comment

Still at work.

Posted on June 23, 2005 by Snake

Apparently, Summer is always the time when I get new content on the site. I’m back at working on the How to Deus Column. It’s nearly doubled in size. There are tons of new images and exploration and general tips. I may not get all the way through the game on the Column this time around, but maybe the 10th time I play Deus Ex I will. 😉

I also updated the Columns list. You know, the one you get to by clicking “Columns Index” in the “Columns” section of the flash navigation. I added the aforementioned Deus Column and the (I have yet to come up with a simple name for this) Desktop/Laptop sharing guide.

You may also notice the slightly new background. I did a remix of the last wallpaper. At first, it turned out like some funky crap, but I took out some of the gayer image elements and made it deceptively simple. I also managed to slip in an int picture of myself.

I also went through the links section to update URLs and delete old links (i.e. AudioGalaxy 😀 ). The link checker portion of Links2 decided to start working, which is about par for that script. You may recall the admin part of it miraculously working several months ago. While I was at it, I filtered out some of the lame/related-to-illegal-substances quotes. There haven’t been any new quotes in a while. I’m contemplating putting quotes from my AIM info in there nowadays.

So, yeh…that’s it.

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Snake doing shit again

Posted on June 7, 2005 by Snake

Said Column about networking and sharing on a laptop and desktop is nearly done. It’s not so short, though. More like 3200 words. You can find it here.

I’m also working on the next (final?) version of the RoN Script Maker. I’ve got some small fixes and features added already, but have yet to code the primary feature: code parsing of scrippets.

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This is what god looks like.

Posted on June 1, 2005 by Snake

Memorabiiiliaaaaaaaaaaa…

I’ve been having some issues with the laptop since I’ve gotten it. I attribute most of the problems to my lack of networking and laptop knowledge, and the rest to XP being a prick. Today, I fixed three issues that were plaguing the laptop.

First, I tackled the issue of constant CPU speed limitations. Being that the laptop has an Athlon 64 Mobile, it uses the “PowerNow” feature to change the multiplier and necessary voltage of the proc in order to save power. It’s supposed to go from 800Mhz (400×2) to 2200Mhz (400×5.5). However, it would stay locked at 800Mhz, plugged in or not. I had installed the PowerNow drivers twice before without it affecting anything really (once from the included driver CD and once from AMD). Then, I’m looking back today and see there’s a new version on AMD’s site here, 1.2.2.2. I uninstalled the last PowerNow driver (at the prompting of the new driver), restarted, installed the new driver, restarted. Then I open this neat “dashboard” utility (also available from previous link) to check the CPU speed and to my surprise, it reacts dynamically like it should have all along. Then, I start checking out the “Power Schemes”, the most incomprehensible settings in all of Windows XP. Apparently, the power schemes actually affect more then just when to enter power saving modes as set below. They also affect how the CPU speed is set for PowerNow (and probably Intel’s equivalent). See the table at Tom’s Hardware Guide. The only problem now is that when on battery, the CPU always stays at 800Mhz. This is an ongoing issue, though.

Problem two involved the fact that ABS bundled a version of the ATI Catalyst Mobility drivers that is almost a year old now. They provide no newer drivers on their site for the Radeon Mobility 9700 than the bundled one, which was something like 4.6. I go looking for an answer/solution again. This led me to a solution rather quickly. I found this page. It is a tool to modify the driver inf files of the new Catalysts so that their mobile brethren can use them. It worked flawless. I was surprised to see that the Mobility-only “PowerPlay” feature was still available in the ATI control panel, too. The new drivers didn’t necessarily fix anything, since I haven’t run any games newer than JK2 on the laptop yet. I can foresee installing CS: Source and UT2004 sometime soon, though.

The final problem has been fucking with me for at least a couple weeks. My post at EE explains it best, but basically I wanted to be able to have all my drives mapped between the two computers (Laptop and Desktop; SerpentMobile and Serpent) with password protection. But I still wanted to have my shared files available for when other computers are hooked up to my network. The first problem was getting the drives mapped on both. I actually want to outline the whole process in a short column because I’m sure others out there would want to do this. I can’t be the only person with a fully/highly functional laptop and desktop and a need to connect them seemlessly. With the mapped drives, they are almost one big computer. I can sit on the bed with a patch of Cat5 running to the switch and watch Family Guy and chat. Serpent acts as the file server and router. Anyways, the answer was found searching Usenet groups on Google (it searches all those wonderful Microsoft forums, sometimes more useful than searching the web because everyone posting has a problem) which led to this. Two installs of XP Pro only a month apart, how could one have Guests denied in an obscure Group Policy setting? Crazy shit.

I actually stood up and did a dance when I saw the second image on my screen. The cat enjoyed that.

Posted in Troubleshooting | Tagged , | Leave a comment