Cheerful Ghost: An Awesome Community For Gamers

Patch 1.0.7 Preview: Dueling & Updates

On dueling:

"Here's a quick rundown of how dueling will work in Diablo III as well as some insight into our design philosophy for the system.

How it Works:

To duel another player, you’ll need to speak with Nek the Brawler at the inn in New Tristram.

Speaking with Nek will take you and your party to the Scorched Chapel, a new zone designed specifically for player combat

This zone has custom geometry and features four different areas: the church, the graveyard, the river, and the lake

Dueling currently supports up to four players in a Free-For-All format, which means you can battle your friends either one-on-one, three-player FFA, or a full four-player FFA

If you die in... Read All

A piece of history resurfaces. Half-Life ALPHA!

Reddit user jackaljayzer recently posted a pic of his alpha disc from 97, which of course led to many requests for info, and eventually a request for a disc image. Since then he's ponied up the goods, and has put the disc on eBay. Currently the auction is up to $610!

Please note that the legality of this is a bit gray, and the morality is entirely up to you to decide.

Original post: http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/15qgwr/national_treasures_hipster_grandpa_you_probably/
Follow-up: http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/1665n3/update_finally_got_a_copy_of_that_half_life_alpha
eBay auction: ... Read All

Will_Owens wrote on 01/12/2013 at 02:07am

I forgot that this is pretty much what the game looked like when I first played it. I got a Voodoo2 graphics card just for Half Life!

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/12/2013 at 02:42am

Its a piece of gaming history and unless he signed something giving away ownership rights to the disc or something, its his property. Unless I don't understand something about ownership in this particular case.

As I watch this video I realize how artifacty games were then and how much it doesn't bother me at all in this case. The game is immersive at this point and you can even see some Portalish level designs or flavor in places.

Glad the game evolved to what it is, but this is awesome and seeing this kind of history is really quite interesting.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 01/12/2013 at 03:51am

Jon, in terms of ownership, the disc itself I'd totally agree with you, but the download link is different. A 1997 press-eyes-only disc for an alpha of a game that's long been released that almost everyone owns is still intellectual property, but I doubt there's much of an impetus from Valve to want this stopped. It's not like trade secrets are going to escape or anything.

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/12/2013 at 05:16pm

Good point. I still think this should be out there for people to experience. Sold? Less interested that, more interested in people getting the history of it :D

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 01/13/2013 at 05:05am

My thoughts as well! I haven't fired it up yet, but I hope to soon.

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The Scorchers: My Playthrough pt. 1

During the Steam holiday sale I picked up Rage: The Scorchers. I liked Rage quite a bit and I am pretty excited to check out the new stuff. I am not finished with it and will periodically post about how my experiences are going with it.

When I played Rage the first time I noticed some areas that seemed like they should have allowed you some access. Like an area at the far end of Haggar Territory where there was a settlement of people, if you go a bit further there is a huge installation you couldn't go in. I figured it would open up at some quest point, but it didn't. There was also a Casino in Wellspring that was closed that you couldn't get in. Always wondered about... Read All During the Steam holiday sale I picked up Rage: The Scorchers. I liked Rage quite a bit and I am pretty excited to check out the new stuff. I am not finished with it and will periodically post about how my experiences are going with it.

When I played Rage the first time I noticed some areas that seemed like they should have allowed you some access. Like an area at the far end of Haggar Territory where there was a settlement of people, if you go a bit further there is a huge installation you couldn't go in. I figured it would open up at some quest point, but it didn't. There was also a Casino in Wellspring that was closed that you couldn't get in. Always wondered about these locations. In The Scorchers both of these places are available to you in the quest line. Was this content that they took out because they had to make a deadline? Its a shame it didn't make the final game because Rage would have been more epic if it shipped with this content.

So far The Scorchers levels have been really inventive and beautiful. The extra Mutant Bash TV you have to beat to travel the new Scorcher quest line is a totally awesome addition. The only downside to the new Mutant Bash level is you can't replay it in game like the main one. They did add a new mode where you can replay any mission from the game, this is a nice addition but you can't play the new Mutant Bash level over again in your single player game.

Overall the content is fantastic and the extra chance to inhabit the world of Rage is great. Oh right and the new Nailgun is lots of fun. The animations when you switch between the ammo types is interesting as it swaps the entire look of the gun. My gun of choice in Rage is the combat shotgun, sniper rifle and wingstick. Even if harder enemies take a few shotgun hits thats not a problem as I love ducking in and out of cover.

If you dug Rage and wanted a bit more, you should get The Scorchers. I recommend getting it if you are starting out as the missions are available very early on in Haggar Territory and the addition of the Nailgun in your early arsenal would be epic.

http://i.imgur.com/9Rulw.jpg: The new Mutant Bash TV level, at the end you shoot Mutants flung at you with a big ass cannon deck! When you hit one a mess of blood flies everywhere.

http://i.imgur.com/vCNDL.jpg: A new Scorchers mission level.

SignalWarden wrote on 01/11/2013 at 02:50am

Nice review! I haven't gotten around to playing this yet. I got it during the steam sale as well, and it's been on my todo list. Sounds awesome!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 01/11/2013 at 02:52am

It really is. Ill keep posting as I am playing. One of the things I wanted the site to do was be a place I could talk about my experience with a game piecemeal. :D

So I will do that. As I blast off mutant faces.

Gary_Butterfield wrote on 01/11/2013 at 07:45pm

I'm waiting for it to be 5bux, I think. But Rage was a pleasant surprise.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 01/11/2013 at 07:50pm

Your in luck Gary, it's $4.99!

Gary_Butterfield wrote on 01/11/2013 at 08:55pm

Is it? For some reason I thought it was 10. I'll pick that up. I hope I kept my Rage save game... (fretful emoticon)

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Dat Firehose: Valve Bits & BL2 Golden Keys

Valve posted that Linux client usage is already at 0.8% where Mac client usage rose to 3.7%. Wonder how these numbers will change as more games are ported to Mac and Linux?

http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey

To celebrate the awards Borderlands 2 won in 2012 2k is handing out 5 golden keys to everyone. Remember to use your keys as you seem to max out at 10!

http://www.gearboxsoftware.com/community/articles/983/awards-and-celebrations

According to a recent interview with Gabe Newell, some developers are earning as much as 500k per year adding content to the Steam Workshop. This just in, I am considering switching my career to "digital hatter."

... Read All

OC Remix: Double the Trouble!

Back in 2004 I heard about a remix album for the SNES classic Donkey Kong Country called "Kong in Concert." I had never considered that people would remix video game tunes and decided to download it because it was free and I loved Donkey Kong Country. I wore out the digital files of that album, if such a thing is possible because it is so awesome. Over the last few years I have stocked my Video Game Music collection with Humble Bundle Game Soundtracks, Collectors Edition Soundtracks and free downloads from OC Remix.

To date I have collected 77 albums and most of them are really great. Recently I trolled the OC Remix site and noticed a few new albums dropped one being... Read All

The Verge interview with Gabe Newell

Gabe did an interview with The Verge recently about the Steam console, Steambox, Piston, Bigfoot, whatever you want to call it. Read it here:

http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/8/3852144/gabe-newell-interview-steam-box-future-of-gaming

It's an interesting read, and the fact that they're building this platform, this paradigm, that anyone can pull from makes me very happy. Hopefully the fact that anyone can make a Steam "console" doesn't muddy the waters. It's one thing that has held Linux back, the confusing variety, but if Valve can pull this off it may change the way we game in some significant ways.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 01/09/2013 at 01:53pm

Tungsten, looks like quickmeme blocks sharing like that with a transparent gif overlay.

SignalWarden wrote on 01/09/2013 at 08:35pm

I think as long as the variety exists in the hardware and not the software/UI it shouldn't be an issue. It would basically be following the Android model, which works quite well. In my opinion market competition can only be good in cases like this.

Tungsten wrote on 01/10/2013 at 01:43am

http://imgur.com/UU2dM

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 01/10/2013 at 01:58am

Much better! And I agree! :)

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/10/2013 at 01:58am

This is a great interview, thanks for posting. I have been reading a lot of "ho hum" and opinions that seem to think this is a mistake Valve is making. I will put some of my chips firmly in the "this will be a game changer" bucket. I know, I should be cynical but I am not, this is what I want, so like Tungsten I am excited.

SignalWarden wrote on 01/10/2013 at 05:27pm

I'm not going to lie. I hate corporations and consider them my enemy. Google won't charm me and I'll never have both a Coke AND a smile. But I'll say this... Valve totally won me over. I want to have Valve over for dinner and I'd totally watch Valve's dog while their away. I can't envision Valve making a move that is not a sound one. I'm stoked for this and if it were a single company trying to make a Steam box, I'd think, "This won't work" but if you fill the market with options, people will take notice and it will become successful. I'm very excited to see how this all pans out.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 01/10/2013 at 06:41pm

"I want to have Valve over for dinner and I'd totally watch Valve's dog while their away."

This was almost poetic. I love it. I'm right there with you, they won me over. I know many felt about Steam in the beginning the way a lot of people feel about Origin now, but they've come around in a major way.

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/11/2013 at 01:28am

I didn't do much with Steam earlier, not because I thought Valve was evil, but because buying the physical pressed game disc was often cheaper. Now thats really not the case and I jumped pretty far into Valve's ecosystem since.

Tungsten wrote on 01/11/2013 at 02:01am

I like the interview because it wasn't "Hey, look how great our new technology is! You are going to love it!" (I'm looking at you WiiU)

Instead it was: "We are going to give you what you want. If it sucks, we're not making it"

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/11/2013 at 02:48am

They are a pretty cool company that way. Thinking of customers above anything else is a great way to approach stuff. One could say much about Valve but they really give a shit about doing the right thing by people.

Tungsten wrote on 01/11/2013 at 10:49pm

I got a lot of great feedback about Valve in my interview with Zach Barth... now if I can just get around to transcribing it.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 01/12/2013 at 01:26am

You interviewed Zach Barth? You gotta transcribe! That sounds interesting.

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/12/2013 at 02:10am

beansmyname Supporter wrote on 01/12/2013 at 04:40am

Is anyone else running the Steam beta in Linux yet? Steam is the only reason I still have Windows on my laptop and it's a touch disheartening to see some games performing better in Windows 8 than they do in Linux. However, Valve has helped advance the driver support for video cards by working directly with the vendors, so I am confident the kinks will get worked out by the time they release the actual Steambox.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 01/12/2013 at 04:50am

To Microsoft's credit, games perform better for me in Windows 8 than in Windows 7.

But you're right, games don't run as smoothly yet. I haven't tried TF2, and there aren't any other Valve games available yet, but from what they say Left 4 Dead 2 runs better in Linux than in Windows. There are a few things at play here. You have the Linux desktop model which is a bit flawed, drivers that aren't optimal, and developers who are less invested in getting the Linux version up to snuff. It's going to be a bit of a process but having been in the beta for a while I can tell things are getting better, slowly.

But bean, I have one suggestion for you, or rather, one set of suggestions. First, what video card and desktop environment are you using in Linux? There are a few optimizations that can make worlds of difference.

beansmyname Supporter wrote on 01/12/2013 at 05:17am

E17 on ArchLinux, Intel HD 3000 (the bare minimum for the beta spec), Core i3, 4GB of RAM I know! It's hardly worth calling it a gaming rig. My desktop, which had MUCH better specs, died and I needed a replacement computer...not just for gaming.

L4D2 isn't yet available in the Linux beta. Sad, because that one runs real well on this hardware in Windows, which is one of the reasons I signed up for the beta. I had an empirical baseline for performance.

I haven't tried TF2 in a couple of weeks and I was running XFCE before switching to the lighter Enlightenment 17. In Windows, framerate is low, but playable. In Linux, not close.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 01/12/2013 at 06:29am

OK well, that negates my advice. Unless there's a way in E17 to turn off desktop compositing when full screen apps are in use. I can't remember if it uses compiz or something else for its compositing. And my other suggestion was a setting in nvidia-settings, so that's worthless as well. I tried! :)

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/12/2013 at 05:19pm

I am running Steam on Linux and opened Tf2 and it seemed fine to me. I have a reasonably powerful Desktop with an Nvidia card. So far, I think the biggest detractor is the lack of available games but over the next bit that should change.

Since I do CG development on Linux I had to run Steam using Wine to chat with people while I was developing. So for my primary use on Linux, which is to talk to other people, it works great :D

SignalWarden wrote on 01/12/2013 at 07:59pm

I am running it on Linux just for chatting as well. I haven't even bothered with any games because I know it's not going to be ready for some time. I feel like it would be a waste of time to adopt it as a serious platform just yet. For me personally anyhow.

beansmyname Supporter wrote on 01/13/2013 at 01:20am

E17 has an option to disable compositing on fullscreen windows. Already taken care of. :) I know that part of it is also my very low-end integrated graphics card. When L4D2 becomes available, I'll give that a shot. Until then, I'm hoping more of the Humble Bundle titles get added. Bastion and Binding of Isaac, to name a couple.

I have yet to actually try the voice chat in Steam but I'm glad to hear that works well!

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/13/2013 at 07:22pm

Hoping for all the Bundle Linux ports to come to Steam for sure! L4D would be awesome and if companies like iD that have Linux ports would submit them would be awesome too. Lots of Linux ports just need to be added to Steam of existing titles.

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The Gourmet Gamer: Earthbound's Peanut Cheese Bar

In one of those totally odd and awesome moments I present to you a video I found from The Gourmet Gamer. In this Episode the Gourmet Gamer makes the peanut cheese bars from the game. He also shares the recipe for all of you that will be making some this weekend.

Your welcome.

Valve's console, codename Piston.

http://cdn0.sbnation.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/6224955/xi3-piston-03.0_cinema_960.0.jpg

Look at that thing. Just look at it.

Not many details as of yet, but I had to share it, because look at it! But some hardware specs for the demo unit are here: http://www.polygon.com/2013/1/7/3849284/piston-valve-steam-box-xi3

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/09/2013 at 01:12am

Its beautiful. Plus has some really awesome hardware that comes with it. Looks to be on the expensive side now but ... that could come down as the mass produce them?

Regardless, this is awesome news!

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 01/09/2013 at 02:13am

There's no way this goes to market at 1k. It would just get laughed at.

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/09/2013 at 02:19am

I agree. Ill pick one up as soon as I can for anything around $300.

SignalWarden wrote on 01/09/2013 at 08:39pm

They are saying you can upgrade it easily which is good because when they pulled it apart the video card didn't look all that powerful. I can't see how you can install a card with more juice that isn't made specifically for it though because the form factor is pretty tight. Wait and see I suppose.

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/09/2013 at 08:48pm

I think we are entering a zone where the current tech we have now is ridiculously powerful. I don't mean the PS3 or XBox, you can cram much more power in a smaller device.

But even if it were just a PS3 or perhaps 2X a PS3 it would be beefy enough to play all the games out now plus the games going forward. I think Carmack said in a recent Quakecon that they would make games for the current consoles for another generation or so. I think the current PS3 power scale has some legs on it yet even if it is pretty underpowered by the standard the PC I am using sets. Or my Macbook for that matter.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 01/09/2013 at 09:25pm

Sig-- maybe they'll give us one of these.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/3117g8sD8hL._SL500_SS500_.jpg

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/10/2013 at 02:00am

Hahahaha, double the RAM with all the style of fire engine red!

SignalWarden wrote on 01/10/2013 at 05:23pm

Hahaha. You better believe I had one of those. Donkey Kong Country wouldn't run without it!

Teodor_Spiridon wrote on 01/15/2013 at 06:22am

So, I checked out their website and what they currently sell is not that impressive. They're using older AMD Processors and pretty low end RAM and HDD parts. It is a neat looking product, but like others have said, it is just a really small form factor. I think something like the Intel NUC might be a better starting point for a game content consumption device.

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/15/2013 at 04:21pm

Ah, well then its good others are building versions of this. I imagine the first generation might not be as powerful as it could be. Then again, it doesn't take much to get to the point of the current gen consoles. That said, I would like to see a Steam Box that would do 1080p and do it well for most games.

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Got my beta invite today...

So the premise of this idea is Domination style play (my favorite Unreal Tournament game type http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unreal_Tournament under 'Game Types'). That is, two teams compete trying to control points on the map. The big kicker here is the map is the real world.

I've played through the tutorial now and have gone for a walk to collect XM (the energy currency in the game), and I enjoy it. I just wish there was more to do (or that I could walk to some control points).

Thoughts so far:

* the tutorial gets you to walk outside which is nice, but makes it very hard to hear what you are supposed to do (bring headphones, or stare close at the screen to read the tiny... Read All So the premise of this idea is Domination style play (my favorite Unreal Tournament game type http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unreal_Tournament under 'Game Types'). That is, two teams compete trying to control points on the map. The big kicker here is the map is the real world.

I've played through the tutorial now and have gone for a walk to collect XM (the energy currency in the game), and I enjoy it. I just wish there was more to do (or that I could walk to some control points).

Thoughts so far:

* the tutorial gets you to walk outside which is nice, but makes it very hard to hear what you are supposed to do (bring headphones, or stare close at the screen to read the tiny text).
* the text is small on the game, and the controls for the interface are rough (I had a problem getting through one of the tutorial missions just because I couldn't select two different control points correctly -- I'm sure there must be better ways to do it, but it wasn't obvious).
* the game also just dumps you in after the tutorial missions w/o much guidance. You just need to go find some control points in a blank map (I had to get on my computer to realize there weren't any within a couple miles of my house... ugh).
* want moar control points!!! Supposedly you can take pictures of other pieces of art (geo-tagged) and ask for them to be added to the game. I haven't figured out how to yet. Once I do, I'll try to get some closer ones in a couple parks that are nearby.
* needs more direction... most games have this down. They need to direct you in what you can do next... always.
* also, they asked you to pick a side without much introduction to either (and you can only ask to switch once after that first pick)... Not sure it really matters. But I was glad I went to my computer before picking. Thus I picked the currently loosing side in my area (much more fun to attack the enemy and rally from behind).

Guess I need to go read the more of the backstory at http://www.nianticproject.com/

I really want to like this game. So I'll try more... :)

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/10/2013 at 05:06pm

Looking forward to when it comes to iPhone. Or I switch to Android, whenever that will be.

Can you play it on an Android tablet... Well I guess GPS and 3G is kind of a requirement...

beansmyname Supporter wrote on 01/12/2013 at 04:43am

I got into the beta about a month ago and, sadly, have not had much of an opportunity to jump in (weather, work, time constraints).

Are you finding it difficult to participate as a late-comer? I'm curious because I'm still level 1 after a month and have been dreading having to grind for a week or two.

hardeyez Post Author wrote on 01/22/2013 at 05:13pm

I'm finding it more difficult to participate because the control points are so far away :( I really need to figure out how to snap pics of some close statues/art and get them added to the game. I'd play more if I could just walk over to some of them instead of having to drive somewhere (which I don't want to burn gas on a game...)

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/22/2013 at 05:14pm

I guess Ingress would make more sense if you lived or worked in a city.

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StarCrafts Episode: 18 Marine Training

Somehow I skipped posting Episode 18, so here it is in all its Cartoon glory.

There are on Ep. 20 so here is the link to that as well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4-ttvM7bAc

FOR AIUR!