Cheerful Ghost: Discussion Forums

Steam Users, Categorize Your Games Into Lists!

I recently discovered this article on GameSpot, “Four Ways You Can Make Steam Better Right Now,” and I strongly believe it’s worth reading. https://www.gamespot.com/articles/four-ways-you-can-make-steam-better-right-now/1100-6507521/

Steam is my dominant platform choice at the moment. I’m struggling to remember the last time I played a console game. It’s been long time! I have plenty of them lying around, but I’ve been exclusively focused on PC gaming for quite a while now. I’ve come to the conclusion that my console gaming ended with the Wii U.

I know little of current consoles, but I believe they are powerful and expensive. Well, that is except for the Switch, which... Read All

Hydro Dams Mining Cryptocurrency

A quick post from one of my coworkers retrofitting a hydro dam with crypto mining equipment. Super random, I know, but I think it's neat!

https://meadhunt.com/mining-cryptocurrency/

If you are looking for the best shooting online PC game , you can choose Destiny 2

If you are looking for the best shooting online PC game , you can choose Destiny 2. The graphics quality is good, the story is also interesting to follow.
Destiny 2 itself has actually been released since 2017. Interestingly, now this PC online game can be played for free.
There are two modes that you can try. The two modes are Player versus Environment (PvE) and Player versus Player (PvP).
In PvP mode, you and your friends can fight against other teams. It can be two against two, three against three, up to six against six.
In PvE mode, you will complete the available stories and quests . You will meet other players and be allowed to work together in completing the game.
... Read All

Ready Player One Recommendation

Seriously, watch the trailer, I bet you'll love it.

Many years ago, in high school as a huge fan of Star Trek: The Next Generation I was quite enthralled by the Holodeck. If you’re unfamiliar, the Holodeck is a room people could go into, but it wasn’t just any room. The Holodeck was pretty much a 100% realistic virtual reality where many characters spent some of their leisure time. It was an awesome place, everything was real, even the possibility of death, if safety protocols were disabled.

Since I’ve considered myself a writer pretty much my whole life, I was inspired by this and thought of writing a story about something similar. My thoughts were that if that... Read All

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 04/05/2021 at 05:29am

Here's a write up I did of the book, and them when the movie came out, a discussion about that happened in the comments :)

https://cheerfulghost.com/AdamPFarnsworth/posts/1908/book-review-ready-player-one

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 04/05/2021 at 06:50am

Thanks for sharing! I was told to read the book, but didn't and forgot about it until I saw a video talking about Godzilla and after having watched all of Godzilla's movies, I couldn't figure out where their video of MechaGodzilla came from. It turns out it was from Ready Player One. I watched it and enjoyed it so I read the book. I was concerned, though, about how the book was going to be able to tie in all that nostalgia and I wasn't disappointed. Yes, after reading the book, I like the movie less than I did. I'm not at all a horror fan and I've never watched The Shining, which wasn't in the book. Yeah, I wasn't a fan of that part in the movie. I hate how they changed things, although I did enjoy the race, because we got to see King Kong and the Rex from Jurassic Park. I still wonder why book adaptations usually get grossly mutated. I think it's just because a movie is about 2 hours long. Although, since I watched the Snyder Cut Justice League, I'm starting to feel like, if I can sit in my room and watch a movie, it's ok if it's say 4 hours long. Anyway, when I first saw RP1, I swore I saw a Chocobo (from Final Fantasy), but after reading the book and checking out a video on New Rockstars, I learned that it was an ostrich from Joust, which makes sense (especially after having read the book). As I stated in another post, I'm currently reading Ready Player Two and I believe that movie is in production. I don't want to spoil it, but the antagonist really surprised me.

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FYI: Free Video Streaming Services

These days, if you're looking for a movie (including documentaries) or a TV show to watch, you can bypass your local cable or sat. dish services by checking out one of many video streaming services. Most likely, you're already familiar with Amazon Prime, Disney+, Hulu, Netflix, and more. However, there are actually video streaming services that you can watch for free. I found a great article from where I get my daily dose of gaming (and pop media) news from that I thought I'd share w/ you. It seems, many of these services contain ads, but there is at least one of which you can pay for to remove the ads. Some don't even require you to sign up for an account. Many of... Read All

PSA: Steam Gifts!

The Steam Winter Sale is going on, which also means it's time to vote for your favorite games in different categories. While doing so, I noticed I had two gifts in my inventory, so I suggest you take a look at yours. In the main Steam window, you can go to your user name (mine is GregoPeck for instance) and click on "inventory." If "gifts" isn't listed, click the drop down menu button and check for that section. Keep the gifts or send them to your friends. Happy gifting (or collecting)!!

*Edit* I just tried to look for this using the instructions I gave you and now I find it difficult to find the gifts section, whereas before it was quite easy for some reason (maybe... Read All

Recommended Software: MSI Afterburner

If you're a PC enthusiast like me and you play some video games that are quite demanding of your hardware, then chances are you're probably interested in keeping an eye on the temperatures inside your PC, particularly for your CPU and GPU. This is important, because these components can get very hot and without proper cooling, they will not last very long. Monitoring temperatures is actually easy with MSI Afterburner, but the software is capable of so much more!

This recommendation is based upon a comparison between MSI Afterburner and EVGA Precision X1. Amazingly, you MSI Afterburner doesn't care what GPU you're using, it will work with it. It doesn't matter if you... Read All If you're a PC enthusiast like me and you play some video games that are quite demanding of your hardware, then chances are you're probably interested in keeping an eye on the temperatures inside your PC, particularly for your CPU and GPU. This is important, because these components can get very hot and without proper cooling, they will not last very long. Monitoring temperatures is actually easy with MSI Afterburner, but the software is capable of so much more!

This recommendation is based upon a comparison between MSI Afterburner and EVGA Precision X1. Amazingly, you MSI Afterburner doesn't care what GPU you're using, it will work with it. It doesn't matter if you have Nvidia or AMD. However, if you want to use Precision X1, you're going to need an Nvidia GPU.

Both pieces of software not only help you monitor GPU temperatures, but they also help you with controlling fan speeds and overclocking. Overclocking isn't something I'm into, though I've dabbled with it a bit. It does seem, to me, that MSI Afterburner is actually better at this than Precision X1. With the latter, you pretty much just have to stick some what random values in and try to see if you can find the correct values that work before a game or software crashes. It's pretty much guess work. However, MSI Afterburner has an icon in the top left-hand corner marked with "OC" and a magnifying glass. Clicking on this icon will let you scan and test values. So, it can help you automatically overclock your GPU, where as Precision X1 requires much more manual work.

MSI Afterburner also has a lot more features and settings than Precision X1. Even if you're not overclocking your GPU, MSI Afterburner is still the better piece of software to use, in part because it not only helps you monitor your GPU temperature, but also your CPU temperature and your FPS. If you go into the software's settings, you can set up a hot key to enable or disable the OSD (On-Screen Display). You can also configure it with a variety of options. Unfortunately, even though Precision X1 has a similar OSD, it does not work in every game. In fact, I can't even recall which games it actually works with. However, I've never had a problem with MSI Afterburner's OSD not working.

It's ok to have both programs installed, but not recommended to run both at the same time, so be careful with that. MSI Afterburner has a lot more features and configuration settings than Precision X1. It may be a bit more confusing, but there is box that will pop up when hovering over each setting that will help you understand it better. Both pieces are software are free, but it is MSI Afterburner that seems to deserve a very strong recommendation.

I've embedded a video from JayzTwoCents which is a guide to overclocking your GPU. He uses MSI Afterburner and Heaven Benchmark. If you're interested in getting more performance out of your GPU, you may also want to check out another one of his videos here: https://youtu.be/cqshaJTI8FQ I think he has even more videos on these subjects, so you may want to check out his YouTube channel, I strongly recommend it, it's my favorite for PC enthusiasts.

Do you have thoughts on this recommendation that you'd like to share? Do you overclock your hardware? Do you monitor temperatures and FPS? Feel free to reply in the comments section!

Recommended Software: GeForce Experience

I've been playing Red Dead Redemption 2 a lot since I bought it during the Steam Summer Sale and I absolutely love it. However, it's not a perfect game. Though, what is? I've spotted some bugs and I thought I'd report them, so that they'd hopefully get fixed. This isn't the first time I've stumbled into bugs in a game. My experience, however, has changed a bit though.

One of the best ways to report a bug in a game is to capture video of it. Then, you can upload it to YouTube and send the video's URL along w/ the bug report. This I think kind of helps eliminate confusion during the bug report process and it also proves that you are experiencing the issue. You can... Read All I've been playing Red Dead Redemption 2 a lot since I bought it during the Steam Summer Sale and I absolutely love it. However, it's not a perfect game. Though, what is? I've spotted some bugs and I thought I'd report them, so that they'd hopefully get fixed. This isn't the first time I've stumbled into bugs in a game. My experience, however, has changed a bit though.

One of the best ways to report a bug in a game is to capture video of it. Then, you can upload it to YouTube and send the video's URL along w/ the bug report. This I think kind of helps eliminate confusion during the bug report process and it also proves that you are experiencing the issue. You can create the video on YouTube as an "unlisted" video, meaning that only the people that know the video's URL can access it.

Windows 10 has the XBox Game Bar that you can enable for your games. You can use it by hitting the Windows key along with G. With it, you can see FPS, how your hardware is being utilized, take screenshots, or capture video. However, I've recently come to the conclusion that for capturing video (at least for RDR2) this software is inferior to GeForce Experience. While GeForce Experience seems to be primarily used to "optimize" your game's settings based upon your hardware, the software also comes with features quite similar to the XBox Game Bar, which you can access via Alt-Z.

I noticed that while trying to capture video with the XBox Game Bar, it would tell me something like it could not work with the game and to try setting the game to borderless window mode. I'm sure I managed to use it though, I play all of my games on full screen. Capturing a screenshot with it wasn't working out well, either, it didn't take a screenshot of the game. Yes, you can use Steam to take a screenshot, but the Steam overlay web browser is very problematic with RDR2, so I've disabled it. GeForce Experience did not have the same issue as the XBox Game Bar. It gave me no such error.

I like that both pieces of software exist and that we can capture video and screenshots of the game's we're playing. I'm sure it really helps developers see issues in action. It seems as though one of the bugs I reported for RDR2 has been resolved.

Anyway, I just thought I'd put this recommendation out there. If you're using an Nvidia GPU, then GeForce Experience is, in my opinion, the best software to use when capturing video. I think it's quite user friendly.

As a side note, if you want to edit your video, you can actually open it with the Photos app in Windows 10. It will play the video, but there is also an edit button near the top right-hand side. I was able to use it to trim my video captures. So, if you're looking for a free (if you own Windows 10) way to do some basic video editing, check out the Photos app.

Do you have any suggestions you'd like to share that are similar to the ones in this post? Feel free to reply in the comments!

"Every Star Wars Film Has The Wrong Title, Here's What They Should Be Named"

You've got to see this, it's brilliant! Every Star Wars movie has the wrong title, here's how each movie should really be titled (making the titles actually obviously relevant to the plot). This will only take one minute of your time, it's a MUST see! Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments. I think this makes a whole lot of sense!

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/every-star-wars-film-has-the-wrong-title-heres-wha/1100-6480401/?utm_source=gamefaqs&utm_medium=partner&utm_content=news_module&utm_campaign=homepage

Linux with Windows 10? May 2020 Update

https://www.pcworld.com/article/3545909/microsoft-releases-the-windows-10-may-2020-update.html

Above is the headline that it was released but even after checking for updates, I still have build 1909, so maybe it hasn't been completely distributed yet.

However, I read the article below and it sounds very interesting. It sounds like Microsoft is now accepting Linux into Windows. I think this is unexpected. This could mean one may not have to have separate computers for Windows and Linux. It also seems like they work together. I thought this was interesting enough to share.

The article has details about other pieces of the May 2020 Update, too, so go check it out. As for... Read All

jdodson Admin wrote on 06/02/2020 at 03:03am

You've been able to run Linux fairly well in Windows doing some somewhat documented steps that are supported by Microsoft in the store for quite some time. Cool they are looking to release the second version of it because the first one was very good but for some reason the last time I installed it it didn't work for some odd permission issues.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 06/02/2020 at 03:59am

Wow, I had no idea. The only way I could think of was by using a virtual machine or dual booting, but the latter can get messy. It just feels kind of odd and unexpected, but cool. I haven't looked in the Microsoft Store very much. I may try to dive deeper into this. Thanks for the comment! I hoped you and Travis would see this.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 06/02/2020 at 06:24am

Well that was incredibly easy to find. I believe I've found the exact information you mentioned. My PC said there were no updates, but it was version 1909. Luckily, (w/ a link in the following link), I was able to get the update installed manually with the Update Assistant. This is the first thing I found w/ my search, which was incredibly easy to find with "linux on windows 10": https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/

Now I'm only left with the question of, "why?" I can see it being beneficial on a network that has Linux servers. So in an enterprise/corporate or educational environment. For the home user, it just seems like a surprising, but cool feature.

What do you think about WSL?

Travis Admin wrote on 06/02/2020 at 01:59pm

The "why" is mostly development. For example, development of Cheerful Ghost and Tale of the White Wyvern would be a nightmare on Windows. With WSL it's a little better. Still not as good as native Mac or Linux but better.

Microsoft has been losing out to Mac and Linux for dev for years and they're trying to catch up.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 06/02/2020 at 08:02pm

Yeah, I think I read something about development. I don't know much about that, so I don't know why it'd be a nightmare on Windows. I remember at college we used Unix machines for our programming classes. I didn't make it very far into that. I had a community college class that was programming w/ C and I believe that was in Windows.

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