Off Topic - Main

[Omega]

And behold our stricter crack down on trolls:

Cougar#1's stats: 5 total posts, all off topic, warned previously, not one post related to Glest, a few of those violate board rules, and ooh, temp ban. Yeah, that was harsh. We don't need his kind here. Reasoning: Troll-like behavior.

Don't hurry back.

[wyvern]

Thank you Omega

[Darth_Sidion]

Okay so latley was playing MegaGlest, cause it seems other versions (types) of Glest refuse to be stable on my laptop. Glest, GAE, they no longer work. MG does, but I have this one lil issue. When it loads, everything works, but the resolution isn't too clear. Words are slightly blurred, and the font sizes are a bit smaller than normal. I can't figure out how to fix it, and my current screen resolution supports the game. I don't trust myself to fiddle with any settings, but still, it's a small issue that's become annoying (to the point I stopped playing MG). Any advice guys? Also, I did uninstall the whole thing, I'll need to download a fresh copy, some new add ons, try to start over, but I just don't trust MG (or the others) right now. I've already had some game crashes (they just shut down and go to my desktop) which is making me rather weary of the games. I do not want to kill my laptop (or screen) but Glest in its entirety is the single best (free) Real-Time Strategy game I've ever had the pleasure of playing. I don't want this experience to end. Can you guys help me, please?

Two things: firstly, you actually went off topic in the offtopic board, if you wish to continue after this post, do so on either the MG or GAE boards. Secondly, update your drivers, most crashes are the fault of that. If that still doesn't work, you likely have rather bad hardware, and should put some serious thought into buying a new computer.

I have updated all my drivers, I dunno if it'll fix the issue cause I haven't gotten around to re-downloading everything. Also, sorry if I went off-topic in an off-topic section (didn't know that was even possible). Also, this laptop isn't even mine to being with (belongs to me mum) and she hardly uses it, ergo I'm it's primary user. It has some kind of chipset, in lieu of a video card. I looked that up online, turns out it's welded to the motherboard, so it can't be replaced. All I can do, like you mentioned previously, is update drivers. Hopefully MG will run smoother now, cause I even updated my adobe flash. I'll try it out and let you know the results.

[Omega]

Firstly, adobe flash won't at all affect your performance in Glest, it's not even remotely related to Glest and isn't even a driver. Use a program like driver doctor for that. Secondly, you'll never get very good performance from an integrated graphics card (as yours is). For optimal graphics quality, you'll need a dedicated graphics card, which means sooner or later, it's time to give mom back her computer and buy yourself a nice one. It can still be a laptop, of course, just be sure to check its specs carefully.

[John.d.h]

There is a way to set up an external graphics card, but it's... shall we say advanced.

[will]

In keeping with the concept of "off-topic", I'd just like to say that modern integrated graphics are actually very good.

Glest* doesn't play so well on integrated cards, but that's overwhelmingly because of the glest codebase and not because of the cards.  The MG team have moved a little way towards addressing this, but not as far as they might.  I know too that GAE has always had graphics performance improvements in mind, and I hope they too run better than vanilla glest on the low end.

John Carmack said recently that he expected the next generation of integrated cards to overtake discrete cards. 

[John.d.h]

Well I don't know about anybody else, but hardly any games run well on my card.  Those that aren't just slow, usually have major graphics bugs and shader problems, some to the point of looking like a rainbow through a kaleidoscope (Trine) or being rendered entirely in pink and black (Overgrowth).  Then again, 2007 is a little outdated.  I don't even know what it's like to have a computer with a decent graphics card.

[Omega]

John Carmack said recently that he expected the next generation of integrated cards to overtake discrete cards. 

I doubt they'll become more powerful, though likely are more common (or will become so) since the vast majority of people don't need to run the game at maxed graphics at 1080p. I bet less than 10% of computers are even used for gaming. Pretty much nothing else needs a discrete graphics card. Admitingly, a good integrated graphics card could probably outdo a low-end discrete graphics card, especially at the rate technology processes.

However, for the high end gamers (if I recall, the unreal engine 3 demo at E3 was run on a triple GPU behemoth)

In all honesty, having up to date drivers and a newer card can apparently matter more than how much it costs or even the whole integrated vs discrete part.

[Gabbe]

Dedicated GPUs are always ahead of their integrated counterparts. Always.

[will]

Dedicated GPUs are always ahead of their integrated counterparts. Always.

Gabbe 0 Carmack 1

[Gabbe]

Dedicated GPUs are always ahead of their integrated counterparts. Always.

Gabbe 0 Carmack 1

im sorry?

[Gabbe]

Steve Jobs is dead. The Computer technology world lost an important man 

[hailstone]

Steve Jobs is dead. The Computer technology world lost an important man 

The creator of the C programming language and co-developer of the Unix operating system also died recently. (according to games.on.net)

[Omega]

Steve Jobs is dead. The Computer technology world lost an important man 

The creator of the C programming language and co-developer of the Unix operating system also died recently. (according to games.on.net)

It's actually kind of disappointing how death of the creator C, one of the most important programming languages of all time, can't rack up the kind of headlines an MP3 player can. Goes to show the impact that good advertising can do. While not an Apple fan, personally, Apple definitely was top of its game for generating hype.

[Ishmaru]

True jobs was good at generating hype for his products but
Jobs is also credited for inventing the mouse and gui for operating systems, thus makeing home computers more desireable / assessible to the general public.

[CruzR]

True jobs was good at generating hype for his products but
Jobs is also credited for inventing the mouse and gui for operating systems, thus makeing home computers more desireable / assessible to the general public.

AFAIK the mouse and the gui were developed by Xerox. Jobs visited Xerox and stole the idea.

[wyvern]

I feel bad for Steve Jobs, but not for Apple, to be honest, their products rely on good looks and hype rather then serious quality

[Omega]

I feel bad for Steve Jobs, but not for Apple, to be honest, their products rely on good looks and hype rather then serious quality

I'm inclined to agree. People tend to believe that macs are incredibly faster than windows, but if you build a custom windows computer, for the same price you paid for that mac, you could get something quite a bit more powerful. And between the operating systems themselves, Linux is faster than both (though I personally prefer windows if only for the familiarity and compatibility).

Apple sure knows how to advertise, though. Coca Cola is the only company that has more memorable ads.

[will]

Jobs and dmr both without parallel in their facets of the field

Apple products very much embody the personal clarity and vision of Jobs.  Most programmers i know use macs at home - a fairly new trend.

[Gabbe]

Apple products very much embody the personal clarity and vision and completely locked down OS of Jobs.  Most programmers i know use macs , popular term is "Locked machines", with no ability to change hardware OR software, did i forget they lack support on nearly all software? at home - a fairly new trend.

[wyvern]

I don't think so, mac us mostly popular with people who don't really understand computers but like feeling good about showing of their expensive mac, linux powers most supercomputers, I think, and windows is definitely most used, I personally have a windows desktop and Linux laptop and am happy with both. I also wasn't enchanted with the I-pad 1 or 2 since the first didn't even have USB ports, it doesn't have great graphics, convenient size, or even a good processor while the base product is something like 600$, money for which I can get a decent-good laptop. At least the German produced product that looked similar and came out a week or so later was roughly equal in price but had linux, USB ports, and was slightly faster

[Gabbe]

A freind of mine have made a few songs, they are in Norwegian but what do you think about them:

Code: [Select]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWMUjRZe8qI&feature=player_profilepage[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCk9_cHUkVY[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U570mAjlAA0[/youtube]

[Omega]

Well, back from a trip to the states. I must say, I do not like whatever law in California lets restaurants force the gratuity on parties of "x" or more... Still, a good vacation.

[Omega]

Happy tongue awareness month!

[Mr War]

Well, back from a trip to the states. I must say, I do not like whatever law in California lets restaurants force the gratuity on parties of "x" or more... Still, a good vacation.

Tipping is part of the culture and economy there. It was alien to me also, but you get used to it. Wages for restaurant staff are low, so they rely on tips. What pees me off is when the waiting staff chase customers who don't tip them, that's just rude.