General Discussion [ Page 32 ]

8-bit Video Takes Us Back To The Happy World of District 9

CineFix has created some amazing 8-bit videos of popular films imaged in the graphic styling of NES and Super NES era games. The latest installment recreates Wikus van de Merwe's journey from District 9 to full prawn. If you have no idea what that means then quickly watch District 9 then come back and watch this 8-bit recreation.

Goodbye Ubuntu - My New Gaming Linux Distro Is Fedora 22

I've been using Ubuntu Linux as my primary Linux Desktop since it's first version, Warty Warthog. Fun fact, Travis and I first met as moderators for the Ubuntu Forums website and have been friends since. In my opinion, Ubuntu has been the best Desktop Linux for years and recently have I felt that position change. I don't want to get into a Linux distro war debate but needless to say, over time, the changes Ubuntu has been making to it's system have annoyed me. I don't particularly enjoy the Desktop they are creating or the direction they are headed. That said, I applaud them for all the hard work and as a many years loyal Ubuntu fan, leave with a lot of respect for... Read All I've been using Ubuntu Linux as my primary Linux Desktop since it's first version, Warty Warthog. Fun fact, Travis and I first met as moderators for the Ubuntu Forums website and have been friends since. In my opinion, Ubuntu has been the best Desktop Linux for years and recently have I felt that position change. I don't want to get into a Linux distro war debate but needless to say, over time, the changes Ubuntu has been making to it's system have annoyed me. I don't particularly enjoy the Desktop they are creating or the direction they are headed. That said, I applaud them for all the hard work and as a many years loyal Ubuntu fan, leave with a lot of respect for the project.

I've been looking around for a new Linux to fill my needs as there are so many to choose from. Mint Linux aims to fix much of the strange direction Ubuntu is going, Arch seems to be a very modern take on a DIY distro for power users and Fedora Linux has always been something i've wanted to try more of. After acquiring a Fedora 22 USB install drive from OSCon this year, I decided to give it a spin in a Virtual Machine and was very happy with the results. So much so that over the next week I re-imaged my PC with a dual boot of Fedora 22 and Windows 7.

One common complaint I hear from folks is that Fedora and other Red Hat RPM based distros suffer due to package management. This was very true a few years ago, but in my experience this has all but evaporated. Want to install Handbrake, Steam or Banshee? Install the RPM Fusion repository and use the graphical program to do it. I did have to drop to the console to do a few things, but I find that to be par for the course on any Linux distro I install. I cataloged all my steps in a Github gist you can read below.

https://gist.github.com/jdodson/d2caa9de20ebfdb59ce6

Those steps will get you all you need to get Nvidia drivers & Steam running as well as tweak your fonts to look a bit nicer than the default settings. I really enjoy the Gnome 3 Desktop and I have also included steps in that gist to make it work more like a traditional Mac-like Desktop with dock and menu bar. Gnome 3 is a great Desktop it just has a few odd defaults and after you turn them off I works better(I think).

Video game performance on Fedora 22 is about what I've come to expect from Linux, which is to say very good but not quite as great as Windows for some games. Fedora 22 packages a good version of Wine so I got Battle.net to run alongside Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm. Occasionally Hearthstone lags a bit but it doesn't make matches unplayable. Over the years Wine has gotten great at emulating Windows software and seeing how well it works now, gives me hope for future non native Linux gaming.

If you are looking for a nice way to start out on Desktop Linux Fedora 22 ain't a bad way to go. You could always try it out in a Virtual Machine and if things go well install it on a spare PC. That said, some of what you love in Fedora comes with SteamOS and over time I imagine that may become my primary Linux Desktop. Until then, Red Hat's bleeding edge community distro is a strong option and I have really enjoyed using it.

http://i.imgur.com/fRNMVSO.jpg

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 08/10/2015 at 02:37am

What distro did I start out w/? I think Red Hat, that was back in the late 90's. I've tried a few others in that time, but Ubuntu was one of my recent favorites (circa 2005). However, I later didn't like how the UI changed.

Fedora was the distro used in a class I took at my local community college. The class was working towards Linux+ certification, which I didn't attempt, but aced the class.

It's been a long time since I've dual-booted Linux. I do it sometimes, but don't end up playing around with it very long.

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 08/10/2015 at 05:13pm

Not SteamOS?

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 08/10/2015 at 05:29pm

@Will I think that I might try it a bit later. For now, Fedora is full featured and has a path for it being a very good Desktop OS. SteamOS isn't officially released yet, but when it is I will check it out for sure.

Travis Admin wrote on 08/10/2015 at 10:08pm

SteamOS is still really rough around the edges, and I don't think will ever be the best idea for a desktop. If you get SteamOS and install all the stuff in it to make it a desktop, then a quicker way would be to just install Debian and then put Steam on it. The big customizations coming from SteamOS are just simplifying ways to get your drivers up-to-date, providing a way to immediately boot into Big Picture mode, and a few hooks from Steam into the OS so you can customize things straight from Steam. All of these, aside from customizing the OS from Steam, are done easily in a desktop Linux distro. And Valve has said that, while you can install anything you want, the bare-bare-barebones desktop environment is there basically so you can more easily tweak things.

In fact, even Valve thinks using it as a desktop OS is a bad idea: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWaG9hOvNn0&feature=youtu.be&t=7m23s

scrypt Supporter wrote on 08/12/2015 at 12:40am

Thanks for the info, Jon. I'm Linux illiterate, so it's always nice to read trusted recommendations. Will definitely read up on Fedora.

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All The Changes To Star Wars Comparison Series

Star Wars happened so long ago and so far away that it's strange we can't stop talking about it. Star Wars Episode VII is coming out this December and I have been seeing more Star Wars buzz and fan videos than I have in quite some time. It's as if the Internet exploded in fan glee and ... wasn't silenced. When George Lucas mentioned that he was going to re-release the special editions of Star Wars in the 90's I was excited. I watched each new version in theaters and really enjoyed the new cuts of the films. The extra stuff was great and, at the time, I really enjoyed the higher detailed effects and new scenes. That said, what I didn't know was that the original... Read All

Nasty Steam Exploit Causes Some to Lose Their Accounts

I've been following this waiting for some news source I could properly cite before posting it, but there was a Steam exploit that messed with a lot of people, slowly trickling the last week, but coming to a head yesterday. Using a fake password recovery page, nefarious folks could get into your account and change your password, without ever sending you an email. If you had Steam Guard or Steam Mobile Authentication enabled, it would send you the email like it should, and the malicious users wouldn't get access to your account, but they WOULD lock you out of trading on your account for five days. In fact, I have no indication in my email about anyone trying to sign... Read All

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/26/2015 at 05:43pm

So they fished people with a fake password page OR there was the fake password recovery page injected into Steam itself?

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 07/26/2015 at 05:59pm

Neither. All they needed was the account's username and they could do everything on their end. No user intervention required. Like knowing your steam username, I could generate the fake page on my own computer and get into your account.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 07/26/2015 at 06:04pm

That's the scary thing about it. No clicking on the wrong link, no injections, just someone using code on valve's servers to get into (or trade lock if you had steam guard) your account without you having to fall prey to any typical kind of attack.

But yeah Valve has removed that code.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 07/26/2015 at 06:07pm

I said "fake page" but that really isn't accurate. It was a real page on Valve's servers doing it. Just not one that can generally be publicly accessed.

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/26/2015 at 07:53pm

Wow. That's a really unfortunate error. Hope your account isn't permanently harmed!

Kind of scary as we all have quite a bit of money invested in all our Steam accounts.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 07/26/2015 at 08:21pm

Nah it won't be, but I didn't do any trading anyway so the 5-day ban won't really matter to me. If it was permanently blocked I'd have issues, for sure.

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Sad day in gaming: Satoru Iwata has passed away

http://i2.cdnds.net/13/06/618x325/gaming-satoru-iwata-1.jpg

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has sadly passed away today at age 55 due to bile duct complications. He's had heath issues over the past few years, but his death was still a surprise, as it didn't seem this bad to anyone.

Iwata gave Nintendo some of its best years, with the Wii and DS lines, and also some rocky ones with the Game Cube and Wii U, but his dedication to the company and his contribution to the industry is obvious.

Iwata started at Nintendo in the 80s, developing games like Earthbound, before becoming the fourth president of Nintendo in 2002.

A sad day indeed.

Nintendo press release: http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2015/150713e.pdf

Will A PC Live In Your Living Room? The Corsair Bulldog May.

Valve's SteamOS and Steam Machine Train is heading out of the station this November alongside their Steam Controller and lots of PC manufacturers are jumping on board. Corsair, makers of memory and other hardware has a new living room PC chassis called Bulldog that might be something worth checking out. It's a DIY kit that comes with a case, 600 watt power supply, hydro series liquid cooler & next gen motherboard featuring an Intel chipset starting at $399. This is aimed at people that want Steam in the living room but want the ability to upgrade the system over time. You'd need to add the RAM, hard drive and video card but after that you'd have a pretty slick... Read All

This Is No Trap - The Force Awakens Comic-Con Panel

Star Wars VII is coming this December and it may be one of the most anticipated films in recent memory. Many fans are wondering if JJ Abrams magic will infuse the films with life again. I remain fairly hopeful as I try and consume every bit of non-spoiler information I can get my hands on. JJ and crew were at San Diego Comic-Con a few days ago talking about the new film and there were more than a few surprises to learn. Watch the entire presentation above and then check out the Force Awakens behind the scenes clip they release right afterward.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTNJ51ghzdY

It was amazing seeing the new principle cast along with the dark side additions.... Read All

The Maingear Shift Could Make Greg Jealous

Marques Brownlee is one of the YouTube personalities I subscribe to because he creates superb tech review videos. He usually reviews smartphones, watches and laptops but did something a bit different in that he reviewed a PC I hadn't heard of called the Maingear Shift.

"Featuring MAINGEAR VRTX (Vertical Exhaust) Cooling Technology, the SHIFT was the first system to employ a vertical, heat stack design to dissipate heat out the top of the chassis, not the back, harnessing the natural behavior of hot air to rise, and drawing in cool air from the bottom. This promotes cooler running temperatures under load, less work for the system fans which leads to quieter operation,... Read All

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 07/02/2015 at 06:34am

Looks pretty cool! I'm obviously not in the market since I bought mine within the last 2 years. While I do have a sweet GTX 690, GTAV made me think that maybe a Titan or two would be sweeter. For now, I'm sticking with my beast.

I've noticed that much of the top panel of my PC seems to be a bit of an air vent. That makes sense.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 07/02/2015 at 06:46am

On second look, that Corsair and those two GTX GPUs look sweet!

hardeyez wrote on 07/02/2015 at 10:52pm

There are also cheap rosewill cases that vent up... I have three in my house now (one for me and for each of the kids).
http://www.rosewill.com/products/1533/productDetail.htm

hardeyez wrote on 07/02/2015 at 10:55pm

argh, accidentally posted before I was done :) That rosewill case vents up, however the pci cards still lay horizontal in the case with the connectors in the back... But in the winter it's nice to set my feet on the top for extra warmth :)

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 07/04/2015 at 04:25pm

That Rosewill case isn't bad. With that, The Maingear Shift isn't like anything i've seen you can buy.

Oh hey, hardeyez, about how much did you spend putting those PCs together and what were the specs? Looking at replacing mine in the next couple and curious what people have put together and how well it turned out.

hardeyez wrote on 07/12/2015 at 07:24am

I built the "budget gaming pc build" that was here http://www.build-gaming-computers.com/gaming-desktop-computer.html I built one for myself but put more RAM in it, and a couple months later built ones for my kids using the updated version (basically much better graphics card for cheaper). They update those builds regularly and have worked well for me... and you can easily tweak to taste but I like having some of the research worked out for me... Just one heads up, I used that gigabyte mobo and had to tweak setting to get it to play nice with linux... Worked flawlessly with windows. So I was surprised that linux ended up being more work (usually it's the other way around, linux recognizes everything). I can't quite remember the issue, but it was just tweaking some bios settings, so I can always dump them out here to see what it was :)

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 07/12/2015 at 08:34pm

That's a nice build. I think when I get a new PC that i'll build it myself. It's a ton cheaper and anymore, i'd rather something a bit faster for my buck.

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Tales Of A Steam Machine Volume 1 - Failure Is An Option

The dream is to get a Steam Machine in the living room so I can play my Steam library on the couch. I can plug in my laptop but it requires more setup than i'd like, i'd prefer to just turn something on, pick up a controller and play.

Since Valve announced SteamOS and Steam Machines i've been looking at what to get. I don't mind spending about as much as a console costs but I don't want to buy something terrible and that starts with not buying stuff that hasn't been reviewed. I've heard great things about the work Intel has been doing with it's Atom CPUs and it recently released a pretty beefy system on a board that is pretty impressive. A few manufacturers have... Read All The dream is to get a Steam Machine in the living room so I can play my Steam library on the couch. I can plug in my laptop but it requires more setup than i'd like, i'd prefer to just turn something on, pick up a controller and play.

Since Valve announced SteamOS and Steam Machines i've been looking at what to get. I don't mind spending about as much as a console costs but I don't want to buy something terrible and that starts with not buying stuff that hasn't been reviewed. I've heard great things about the work Intel has been doing with it's Atom CPUs and it recently released a pretty beefy system on a board that is pretty impressive. A few manufacturers have shipped PC's with a very low form factor and the other day I pulled the trigger and bought one to use as a Steam Machine.

http://www.quantumsuppliers.com/shop/products/quantumbyteminipc/

It's a mini PC running Windows 8.1 and has an Intel Atom (Quad-core) processor Z3735F, 2GB of DDR3L RAM, and 32GB of flash disk. It also supports bluetooth, wifi and has a full SD card slot to increase storage beyond the 32GB. It also sports a very competent integrated Intel card. The thought with buying the Quantum Byte is that it's a low cost, low power option where I can install nearly any Indie game and stream beefier games from my PC.

That said, my first experience in a DIY Steam Machine was horrible but it gave me hope that Steam in the Living Room is going to be great. Just maybe not using Windows.

First off the Quantum Byte is a fantastic little PC when it isn't bugging out on me. I am returning it because it couldn't keep connected to wireless which I believe is a problem with the unit I bought. The reviews on Amazon for the device are nearly all great but occasionally someone gets a bad run and I think I got one. That said, when the wifi is working the unit is responsive and installed Steam games and streamed Steam games run fantastically.

Beyond the infuriating wifi issues, I also had some huge problems getting Windows 8.1 to work the way I wanted. This is what I wanted to do.

Have the machine auto login.

Start up steam in big picture mode.

Run everything from the Windows guest account.

The first problem came with setting Windows 8.1 to auto authenticate. Somehow I flipped some bit wrong and lost administrator access. Totally screwed as I couldn't change or install anything. That said, I wiped it and was able to set up auto login correctly. Having Steam start in big picture mode isn't hard but the time from me pressing the power button to big picture mode popping it took almost two full minutes. Not a huge deal but not impressive.

Running things in the guest account is a good idea if you want to keep thing secure but is a pain in the ass when each Steam Windows game port needs to install it's own version of Direct X and .Net. I also found out that most games require you to have a keyboard and mouse plugged in to the computer. If you don't some games don't start, bug out or randomly crash. I also had issues with some games starting in over 1080p mode and having my TV freak out requiring me to have to physically reboot the Quantum Byte.

After everything was working I had to return the Quantum Byte due to wireless issues I stated earlier, that said when everything was running well(which wasn't much) it wasn't a bad experience. That said, Windows in the living room doesn't "just work" and is a pain in the ass. I totally understand why Valve is building it's own controlled SteamOS system as using Windows would be a bucket of pain. Sure, you have a ton of ported games but the experience isn't great and there are so many things you have to do to get it to "just work."

In the end I might replace my Quantum Byte with a newer one but after going through so much already I am not sure. I do want to have something in the living room that can play PC games but so far it's a DIY adventure and i'll keep you updated on how it goes.

Honest Game Trailer: Half-Life 3

There seems to be a little trickle of "Half-Life 3 confirmed!!" and non-release date news floating about today. Thought the fire needed more fueling with the best Honest Trailer yet. Half-Life 4, confirmed!!