Sandbox, a concept that video gamers either love or hate; the idea of being able to roam freely around an open world. To most people the freedom of an open world sounds like a great idea - but there's a problem.
That problem is when those endless worlds become just that, endless - and that can be boring. You end up with a sandbox like Cyrodiil in Oblivion - trees, trees, hedge, trees, hill, trees, random bandit, trees, trees etc. Trust me, it gets very boring, especially when you have no clear objective.
So what are the advantages and disadvantages of sandboxes in gaming?
Advantages
1) Free reign/choice - the player can do what he wants - he/she has actual control over his/her character
2) More immersive - because the player is able to explore more, he/she can get more involved in the world and it can seem more real, they can become effectively more immersed
Disadvantages
1) Repetitiveness - The sandbox can become extremely boring when the developer doesn't put enough work in to fill the world with different, interesting things to keep the player hooked.
2) Workload - For a developer, making a sandbox game can be a heck of a lot of work leading to a game being released half done.
Take that as you will, I probably missed half the stuff there. Post in the comments if you have any suggestions.
Communism in Minecraft
The main problem with Minecraft SMP servers is their lack of organized teamwork. An ideal solution to this problem would be a communist system on a server. I'm going to lay down a few steps to introducing communism on your server.
- Revolution! Destroy the current governing system, kill the admins, dodge the ban-hammer and burn the community treasury.
- Found Communism! Set up a new system where everyone is equal and everyone gives resources to the community treasury where it is distributed (by the communist state) to those who need those resources most.
- Expand and Defend Communism! With your new (and equal) comrades, expand communist territory and kill the creeper menace!
Alternatively, replace step 1 with negotiation with the admins/ops of your server rather than getting banned for griefing. Or create a new server with people who agree with this idea and you trust to not grief and to work with the system.
Try it out, put your suggestions and criticisms in the comments (preferably specific criticisms)
Try it out, put your suggestions and criticisms in the comments (preferably specific criticisms)
It's the Xbox 360's 5th Birthday!
Now, I'm not that much of a fan of the Xbox 360, or the Xbox in general for that matter (although I do like the look of the new Xbox 360 S), but as I was reading some other people's blogs I realised that the Xbox 360 is five years old today (with the help of CNET, but that's beside the point). True to my blog's new format (see whether you can spot the key ideas) I thought it would be a good idea to post eight facts about the Xbox 360, as a sort of birthday celebration, so here they are, fresh from Wikipedia, I hope you find them interesting...
- During development, the Xbox 360 was called a variety of different names, such as "Xenon" and the "NextBox",
- The processor used by the Xbox 360 is a slightly modified version of the PS3's cell processor, made by the same company that made the PS3 processor,
- In it's first year on the market, the Xbox 360 launched in more countries than any other console had ever launched (a total of 36),
- One of the original versions of the Xbox 360, the Xbox 360 Core, had no hardrive or onboard storage, no HDMI socket, a wired controller and is no longer in production (probably because it was rubbish),
- Apparently from "ashens" (using his Youtube username) an Xbox Live subscription is the equivalent of "cramming into a phone box with eight angry, homophobic teenagers and shouting noob! noob! at each other until 5am",
- 10% of the Xbox 360 units made by it's launch were on eBay by the end of the first week of its launch,
- A "general hardware failure" on an Xbox 360 (nicknamed the red ring of death) is actually only three quarters of the Xbox 360 "ring" lit up red.
- 18% of games on the Xbox 360 are exclusive, compared to 25% on the PS3 and 20% for the Wii
So there you go, I expect you didn't know all of them - but did you spot the pattern?
How to use third party themes on Windows 7
Firstly, for those of you who like a video tutorial - the title of this blog post should link to one on Youtube.
Now, for those of you who don't know, a third party theme is one which is made by somebody other than the makers of the OS (operating system) so for Windows 7, it's a theme made by somebody other than Microsoft.
To use these themes, you have to do some relatively easy (and legal) things.
Now, for those of you who don't know, a third party theme is one which is made by somebody other than the makers of the OS (operating system) so for Windows 7, it's a theme made by somebody other than Microsoft.
To use these themes, you have to do some relatively easy (and legal) things.
- Download the Universal Theme Patcher: http://www.freewaregeeks.com/?page=detail&get_id=1898&category=11
- Then pick the version of the theme patcher that is correct for your system version. There are two versions; x64 and x86, if you have a 32 bit OS then pick x86, if you have a 64 bit OS then pick x64. Run the selected program.
- It should come up with a box telling you your system information and how many files you need to patch to use third party themes. Click yes to patch the files.
- A box will then pop up showing this:
5. Click patch on each one, it should show a message saying "Patch Success" or something similar.
6. Restart your computer.
7. Once your computer has restarted find a theme you want to use.
8. If it's a zip file, unzip it and find these things: "en-US" folder, "shell" folder, a "Wallpaper" folder (if there is one) and the Windows Visual Style File. Put the folders in another folder with the theme's name as its name, and put the Windows Visual Style File and that folder in here Computer/C:/Windows/Resources/Themes
9. Now if it's not a zip file, then things get more tricky - the only other format I've encountered for themes is a .RAR file (If it's not a .rar file then search how to extract that file format). In basic, you need to extract the files and then once you've extracted them, find these files and put them in a folder with the theme's name: Windows Visual Style File, any .mui files, any .dll files. Then find the Windows theme file and put it, along with the folder you just made in Computer/C:/Windows/Resources/Themes.
10. Then just double click on the theme file and there you go, your theme is installed.
Finally, if you're unsure where to find a third party theme then have a look at places like Deviantart and other similar websites.
NANOWRIMO Ideas
I've came up with the theme and genre for my novel for NANOWRIMO which will be (drumroll please):
A Steampunk horror set in the Italian Renasissance.
The reasoning for my choice?
I like history, I like technology, when do these things meet best? In the renaissance. Where did the Renasissance start? In Italy.
As for the steampunk horror aspect - I always liked steampunk and the horror genre goes hand in hand with it so why not?
Here's a taster of some of what's to come (this isn't going in the novel, it's just practice and getting some ideas written down)
A Steampunk horror set in the Italian Renasissance.
The reasoning for my choice?
I like history, I like technology, when do these things meet best? In the renaissance. Where did the Renasissance start? In Italy.
As for the steampunk horror aspect - I always liked steampunk and the horror genre goes hand in hand with it so why not?
Here's a taster of some of what's to come (this isn't going in the novel, it's just practice and getting some ideas written down)
He took the host, gave thanks, broke it, and said, “This is my body, broken for you. Take it and eat it, and when you do, do it in memory of me.” Then he took the wine, gave thanks, and said “This is my blood, poured out for you, take it and drink it, and when you do, do it in memory of me.”
As it is written, so shall it be.
Darkness fell on Italy. It was late into the evening, and the candles in the crypts of the church flickered, making the shadows dance across the walls. Sounds of a struggle and raised voices approached from above. The sounds of footsteps on the steps leading down into the crypt became louder and louder, and the source of the noise emerged; a man, in ragged clothes, chained at the wrists was led down the steps by two muscled men in uniform, wearing plate armour and carrying halberds. Their halberds had various machines wired to them, and their plate armour was covered with all manner of devices and machinations. Behind them, a man in long, black, flowing robes carried a staff with a cross at its head; wires and archaic machinery wrapped round it. The chained man struggled, but his captors did not let go. They took him down the last few steps, into the crypt and tied him to a surgeon’s slab in the centre of the crypt. The robed figure followed, chanting in a language that sounded vaguely like Latin. The surgeon’s slab was made of metal; it was fixed to the floor by metal supports and wiring. The two guards stripped the chained man of his clothes and the robed man stepped forward. He made the sign of the cross with his staff over the tied down man and drew out a device from a pocket in his robes. The device was made of metal and had a glass panel, as well as various runes, carved into the front. The robed figure touched one of the runes on the device and began to speak again, saying, “My lord god, we have sinned, may you forgive us for what we have done, and bring new, perfect life into this, this most wretched of your subjects, let him be reborn to serve you anew, in your name!” “His body shall be broken, his blood poured out and he shall be cleansed, in memory of you.” At that point he pressed another rune on the device, and various machines folded out from underneath the surgical slab, covered in a myriad of devices, saws, drills, injectors, and, most importantly, a gun-like device, engraved in runes and shaped like the head of a dragon. The man tied to the slab struggled and screamed as he saw the device with the dragon’s head. As he screamed, the dragon’s head spewed forth a cloud of steam, engulfing him in the scalding vapours from head to foot. The cloud engulfed the man entirely, and he stopped screaming.
Well, there you go, comments in the comments section please (if you have any).
Thanks, Simon
NANOWRIMO
NANOWRIMO stands for National Novel Writing Month ( I think). I will be taking part this year - writing a 50,000 word (175 page) novel between the 1st of November and Midnight on the 30th of November. At the moment I can't write anything for the novel, but I can come up with ideas, and that's where my small fan base comes in.
If you're reading this, do you have any ideas for a novel? Post in the comments section if you do.
Thanks, Simon
If you're reading this, do you have any ideas for a novel? Post in the comments section if you do.
Thanks, Simon
Sanctuary
A new gaming group I've just joined called Sanctuary has a Facebook page - have a look!
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=116997085020930&v=wall
Here's the description for those of you who are more careful about which groups they join:
A society for gaming of all kinds - a haven for all gamers...
Sanctuary is an attempt to bring together all the people we know who enjoy playing games of all varieties, and allow them to contact and organise events/tournaments/games with each other without intermediaries.
Also, I will hopefully be running some group events depending on demand and the reception this group gets.
Invite anyone you know who you think will enjoy the activities and games this group commonly participates in! Remember, the more people we network with, the bigger/more games we can run.
When you join the group, if you could post on the "Introduction" wall an introduction for yourself and a list of the games you play (so that others can find like-minded players and organize their own events).
If you want to play a game with another person, find them and drop them a message.
If you want to run an event (like a tournament) drop me a message.
We currently have members who play everything from:
Tabletop Wargaming -
Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40,000, Lord of the Rings and we may be expanding into Flames of War at some point;
Tabletop R.P.G.'s -
Pathfinder, D&D 3.5, Dark Heresy, Deathwatch, Call of Cthulhu d20, W.F.R.P.G.;
Collectible/Trading Card Games -
Yu-Gi-Oh!, Warcry, Top Trumps (:P);
PC Wargaming -
Age of Empires (I, II, III), Rome: Total War (with Barbarian Invasion), Medieval: Total War (I, II), Cossacks II, Company of Heroes (with expansions), Dawn of War I (with expansions), Starcraft I (with expansions);
PC R.P.G.'s -
Neverwinter Nights I (with expansions), Neverwinter Nights II (with expansions).
Join if you want to, but more importantly - invite others to join! Lots of them!
Thanks, Simon
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=116997085020930&v=wall
Here's the description for those of you who are more careful about which groups they join:
A society for gaming of all kinds - a haven for all gamers...
Sanctuary is an attempt to bring together all the people we know who enjoy playing games of all varieties, and allow them to contact and organise events/tournaments/games with each other without intermediaries.
Also, I will hopefully be running some group events depending on demand and the reception this group gets.
Invite anyone you know who you think will enjoy the activities and games this group commonly participates in! Remember, the more people we network with, the bigger/more games we can run.
When you join the group, if you could post on the "Introduction" wall an introduction for yourself and a list of the games you play (so that others can find like-minded players and organize their own events).
If you want to play a game with another person, find them and drop them a message.
If you want to run an event (like a tournament) drop me a message.
We currently have members who play everything from:
Tabletop Wargaming -
Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40,000, Lord of the Rings and we may be expanding into Flames of War at some point;
Tabletop R.P.G.'s -
Pathfinder, D&D 3.5, Dark Heresy, Deathwatch, Call of Cthulhu d20, W.F.R.P.G.;
Collectible/Trading Card Games -
Yu-Gi-Oh!, Warcry, Top Trumps (:P);
PC Wargaming -
Age of Empires (I, II, III), Rome: Total War (with Barbarian Invasion), Medieval: Total War (I, II), Cossacks II, Company of Heroes (with expansions), Dawn of War I (with expansions), Starcraft I (with expansions);
PC R.P.G.'s -
Neverwinter Nights I (with expansions), Neverwinter Nights II (with expansions).
Join if you want to, but more importantly - invite others to join! Lots of them!
Thanks, Simon
PictoChat - Conversation for people with no vocal chords...
Woo! I finally came up with something to rant about! (Although I wouldn't have thought about it at all if the patch download for my game wasn't running so slowly - 2% in 4 minutes!) Nevertheless, onto the serious matter of blogging.
If you've ever owned or used a Nintendo DS, DS Lite or DSi (I believe the DSi XL has it preloaded as well) then you most probably will have experienced PictoChat, if you haven't owned or used a Nintendo DS, DS Lite or DSi (or DSi XL) then you're a very lucky person and should never consider buying one! (Well in my opinion anyway but you know, you don't actually have to listen to my advice and take it seriously...) Back on topic anyway, every DS and variant thereupon has PictoChat loaded as standard software. On the outset it's a fun thing, be able to chat with your friends by either typing or drawing pictures with the stylus. Although it's not exactly brightly coloured (grey, black and white don't count as bright colours) it still is decently enjoyable, and it breaks the mould set by your average Instant Messaging service like MSN for example.
However, there is one very large problem with it. HOW you communicate. Now usually with an Instant Messaging service, you communicate using the internet via the company's server (or series of servers), but Nintendo, always the ones to be different, decided to make an instant messaging service that communicated through a system to system function. (This is one of the things I dislike about the DS and the DS Lite, because they had no wireless internet capability they used a system to system function to download demos - DS to Wii, and used the same system for PictoChat; why didn't they just change it to a wireless internet system? More about that in another blog post) Great, no internet connection needed! What is not so great is the fact that it only has a very short connection radius (ie the person has to be within earshot to talk via PictoChat) so if the connection radius is so short why not just talk to the person? Do you have vocal chords? Are you capable of communication without the use of an electronic device? If you aren't then either you can do nothing about it (ie you can't speak or move or have another disability affecting this) or you can and are being too lazy (as in most cases). So, basically PictoChat is useless unless it's not.
If you've ever owned or used a Nintendo DS, DS Lite or DSi (I believe the DSi XL has it preloaded as well) then you most probably will have experienced PictoChat, if you haven't owned or used a Nintendo DS, DS Lite or DSi (or DSi XL) then you're a very lucky person and should never consider buying one! (Well in my opinion anyway but you know, you don't actually have to listen to my advice and take it seriously...) Back on topic anyway, every DS and variant thereupon has PictoChat loaded as standard software. On the outset it's a fun thing, be able to chat with your friends by either typing or drawing pictures with the stylus. Although it's not exactly brightly coloured (grey, black and white don't count as bright colours) it still is decently enjoyable, and it breaks the mould set by your average Instant Messaging service like MSN for example.
However, there is one very large problem with it. HOW you communicate. Now usually with an Instant Messaging service, you communicate using the internet via the company's server (or series of servers), but Nintendo, always the ones to be different, decided to make an instant messaging service that communicated through a system to system function. (This is one of the things I dislike about the DS and the DS Lite, because they had no wireless internet capability they used a system to system function to download demos - DS to Wii, and used the same system for PictoChat; why didn't they just change it to a wireless internet system? More about that in another blog post) Great, no internet connection needed! What is not so great is the fact that it only has a very short connection radius (ie the person has to be within earshot to talk via PictoChat) so if the connection radius is so short why not just talk to the person? Do you have vocal chords? Are you capable of communication without the use of an electronic device? If you aren't then either you can do nothing about it (ie you can't speak or move or have another disability affecting this) or you can and are being too lazy (as in most cases). So, basically PictoChat is useless unless it's not.
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