I have a plan: A plan concerning the weekend and games

On Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:00:01 +0000, Toby Newman <google RemoveThis @asktoby.com>
wrote:

>On 2007-10-28, Jaimie Vandenbergh <jaimie RemoveThis @sometimes.sessile.org> wrote:
>> On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 19:11:33 GMT, Jon Ross <askme RemoveThis @forit.co.uk> wrote:
>>
>> [HL2]
>>>When I was finishing this a couple of weeks ago I used Gamefaqs for the
>>>first time right near the end. It was only then I realised that you
>>>could use the GG on people, for some reason I had gone all through the
>>>game without trying it.
>>
>> That only works with the blue turbo-nutter GG, though - which
>> coinkidinkally you only get right at the end!
>
>Although I've noticed that you can use the alt-fire zap of the GG
>on the black headcrabs in Ep2.

*That'll* save a bit of ammo. Ta.

Cheers - Jaimie
--
"Hard as nails, hard as nails - So would you be if you lived one hundred
and eighty years on sunflower seeds and biscuit crumbs." - Polynesia

On Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:00:01 +0000, Toby Newman <google DeleteThis @asktoby.com>
wrote:

>On 2007-10-28, Jaimie Vandenbergh <jaimie DeleteThis @sometimes.sessile.org> wrote:
>> On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 18:00:01 +0000, Toby Newman <google DeleteThis @asktoby.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>>On 2007-10-26, Mal F <spampit DeleteThis @btinternet.com> wrote:
>>>> PC:
>>>> Painkiller - had this in 2004 and came close to completing it on the PC
>>>> i had bought in 2002. May as well start from scratch
>>>
>>>I played this using my 3D shutter glasses and had a blast, which reminds me,
>>>my 3D shutter glasses only worked on selected games because of my ATI
>>>graphics hardware but following an upgrade to NVidia a few weeks ago I
>>>will now be able to play loads more games in 3D! I'll have to see how
>>>it works with Deus Ex 2 and maybe also Half Life 2 Ep 2 since I'm pulling
>>>stupid fast framerates at the moment and could definitely afford to half them.
>>
>> What an interesting idea... Which model glasses do you have?
>
>I have the eDimensional ones. They do work very well when they work (which,
>as I said, is almost never when you have ATI hardware).

I'm on nVidia, so that's good. These ones?
http://edimensional.com/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=28

Wireless at under 50quid - that's not bad at all. I see a new toy
coming!

Cheers - Jaimie
--
"In the beginning, there was nothing, which exploded." Terry Pratchett

On Wed, 31 Oct 2007 7:00:01 +0000, Toby Newman <google.TakeThisOut@asktoby.com>
wrote:
>On 2007-10-30, Jaimie Vandenbergh <jaimie.TakeThisOut@sometimes.sessile.org> wrote:
>>On Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:00:01 +0000, Toby Newman <google.TakeThisOut@asktoby.com>
>>wrote:
>>>On 2007-10-28, Jaimie Vandenbergh <jaimie.TakeThisOut@sometimes.sessile.org> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>I played this using my 3D shutter glasses and had a blast, which reminds me,
>>>>>my 3D shutter glasses only worked on selected games because of my ATI
>>>>>graphics hardware but following an upgrade to NVidia a few weeks ago I
>>>>>will now be able to play loads more games in 3D! I'll have to see how
>>>>>it works with Deus Ex 2 and maybe also Half Life 2 Ep 2 since I'm pulling
>>>>>stupid fast framerates at the moment and could definitely afford to half them.
>>>>
>>>> What an interesting idea... Which model glasses do you have?
>>>
>>>I have the eDimensional ones. They do work very well when they work (which,
>>>as I said, is almost never when you have ATI hardware).
>>
>> I'm on nVidia, so that's good. These ones?
>> http://edimensional.com/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=28
>>
>> Wireless at under 50quid - that's not bad at all. I see a new toy
>> coming!
>
>I actually have the wired ones. I figured that if I was going to wear such
>a ridiculous peripheral I wasn't worried about getting rid of the wires
>for the incremental reduction in ridiculousness. When you've got
>headphones on too it all adds to the picture!

I'll be the same - I've got 5.1 headphones plugged into the computer.

>Mine plug into a dongle which goes between my VGA card and my monitor.
>I should note that I have a CRT monitor so I don't know how well they work
>with flat panel monitors. I imagine the response rate would be an issue,
>and also perhaps the digital connector type.

Fortunately my Mac uses the DVI in on my monitor, while the PC is
relegated to only games and the VGA socket. Their website says TFTs
are fine, so it's worth a try.

How does the driver work? I take it the game doesn't need to know
about the glasses, so does the software hook into DirectX or
something?

Cheers - Jaimie
--
"The problem is not that the world is full of fools, it's that lightning
isn't being distributed correctly." - Mark Twain

Jaimie Vandenbergh wrote:
> On Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:00:01 +0000, Toby Newman <google.RemoveThis@asktoby.com>
> wrote:
>
>> On 2007-10-28, Jaimie Vandenbergh <jaimie.RemoveThis@sometimes.sessile.org> wrote:
>>> On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 19:11:33 GMT, Jon Ross <askme.RemoveThis@forit.co.uk> wrote:
>>>
>>> [HL2]
>>>> When I was finishing this a couple of weeks ago I used Gamefaqs for the
>>>> first time right near the end. It was only then I realised that you
>>>> could use the GG on people, for some reason I had gone all through the
>>>> game without trying it.
>>> That only works with the blue turbo-nutter GG, though - which
>>> coinkidinkally you only get right at the end!
>> Although I've noticed that you can use the alt-fire zap of the GG
>> on the black headcrabs in Ep2.
>
> *That'll* save a bit of ammo. Ta.
>
You can use that throughout the game, but I'm not entirely certain it
does much damage.

On 2007-10-31, Jaimie Vandenbergh <jaimie DeleteThis @sometimes.sessile.org> wrote:
> On Wed, 31 Oct 2007 7:00:01 +0000, Toby Newman <google DeleteThis @asktoby.com>
> wrote:
>>On 2007-10-30, Jaimie Vandenbergh <jaimie DeleteThis @sometimes.sessile.org> wrote:
>>>On Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:00:01 +0000, Toby Newman <google DeleteThis @asktoby.com>
>>>wrote:
>>>>On 2007-10-28, Jaimie Vandenbergh <jaimie DeleteThis @sometimes.sessile.org> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>I played this using my 3D shutter glasses and had a blast, which reminds me,
>>>>>>my 3D shutter glasses only worked on selected games because of my ATI
>>>>>>graphics hardware but following an upgrade to NVidia a few weeks ago I
>>>>>>will now be able to play loads more games in 3D! I'll have to see how
>>>>>>it works with Deus Ex 2 and maybe also Half Life 2 Ep 2 since I'm pulling
>>>>>>stupid fast framerates at the moment and could definitely afford to half them.
>>>>>
>>>>> What an interesting idea... Which model glasses do you have?
>>>>
>>>>I have the eDimensional ones. They do work very well when they work (which,
>>>>as I said, is almost never when you have ATI hardware).
>>>
>>> I'm on nVidia, so that's good. These ones?
>>> http://edimensional.com/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=28
>>>
>>> Wireless at under 50quid - that's not bad at all. I see a new toy
>>> coming!
>>
>>I actually have the wired ones. I figured that if I was going to wear such
>>a ridiculous peripheral I wasn't worried about getting rid of the wires
>>for the incremental reduction in ridiculousness. When you've got
>>headphones on too it all adds to the picture!
>
> I'll be the same - I've got 5.1 headphones plugged into the computer.
>
>>Mine plug into a dongle which goes between my VGA card and my monitor.
>>I should note that I have a CRT monitor so I don't know how well they work
>>with flat panel monitors. I imagine the response rate would be an issue,
>>and also perhaps the digital connector type.
>
> Fortunately my Mac uses the DVI in on my monitor, while the PC is
> relegated to only games and the VGA socket. Their website says TFTs
> are fine, so it's worth a try.
>
> How does the driver work? I take it the game doesn't need to know
> about the glasses, so does the software hook into DirectX or
> something?

It's a little systray app which I assume hooks into DirectX. The game
is blissfully unaware of it, and you get a few simple overlay controls
over your game to tweak the horizon and depth.

--
-Toby
Add the word afiduluminag to the subject to circumvent my email filters.

On Wed, 31 Oct 2007 10:28:25 +0000, DBSnappa
<davidjboughton.TakeThisOut@REMOVEMEhotmail.com> wrote:
>Jaimie Vandenbergh wrote:
>> On Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:00:01 +0000, Toby Newman <google.TakeThisOut@asktoby.com>
>> wrote:
>>> On 2007-10-28, Jaimie Vandenbergh <jaimie.TakeThisOut@sometimes.sessile.org> wrote:
>>>> On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 19:11:33 GMT, Jon Ross <askme.TakeThisOut@forit.co.uk> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> [HL2]
>>>>> When I was finishing this a couple of weeks ago I used Gamefaqs for the
>>>>> first time right near the end. It was only then I realised that you
>>>>> could use the GG on people, for some reason I had gone all through the
>>>>> game without trying it.
>>>> That only works with the blue turbo-nutter GG, though - which
>>>> coinkidinkally you only get right at the end!
>>> Although I've noticed that you can use the alt-fire zap of the GG
>>> on the black headcrabs in Ep2.
>>
>> *That'll* save a bit of ammo. Ta.
>>
>You can use that throughout the game, but I'm not entirely certain it
>does much damage.

Yer right, possibly none at all. Occasionally you can toss them down a
deep hole though.

The Valve team appear to have become a bit tight on throwable items
these days - I keep running out of stuff to use instead of bullets.
Maybe I should be playing on Easy...

Cheers - Jaimie
--
"A committee is a cul-de-sac down which ideas are lured and then
quietly strangled." - Sir Barnett Cocks (1907-1989)

On Wed, 31 Oct 2007 14:00:01 +0000, Toby Newman <google.DeleteThis@asktoby.com>
wrote:

>On 2007-10-31, Jaimie Vandenbergh <jaimie.DeleteThis@sometimes.sessile.org> wrote:
>
>>>>>>>I played this using my 3D shutter glasses
>>
>> How does the driver work? I take it the game doesn't need to know
>> about the glasses, so does the software hook into DirectX or
>> something?
>
>It's a little systray app which I assume hooks into DirectX. The game
>is blissfully unaware of it, and you get a few simple overlay controls
>over your game to tweak the horizon and depth.

I've been rummaging around and apparently out in the Real World they
*don't* work well with TFT screens. But then most people on
t'Interwebs are complainers who can't get stuff to work.

Are you using a flatscreen or CRT?

Cheers - Jaimie
--
"Wow! Virtual memory! Now I can have a REALLY big RAM disk!"

On 2007-11-01, Jaimie Vandenbergh <jaimie DeleteThis @sometimes.sessile.org> wrote:
> On Wed, 31 Oct 2007 14:00:01 +0000, Toby Newman <google DeleteThis @asktoby.com>
> wrote:
>
>>On 2007-10-31, Jaimie Vandenbergh <jaimie DeleteThis @sometimes.sessile.org> wrote:
>>
>>>>>>>>I played this using my 3D shutter glasses
>>>
>>> How does the driver work? I take it the game doesn't need to know
>>> about the glasses, so does the software hook into DirectX or
>>> something?
>>
>>It's a little systray app which I assume hooks into DirectX. The game
>>is blissfully unaware of it, and you get a few simple overlay controls
>>over your game to tweak the horizon and depth.
>
> I've been rummaging around and apparently out in the Real World they
> *don't* work well with TFT screens. But then most people on
> t'Interwebs are complainers who can't get stuff to work.
>
> Are you using a flatscreen or CRT?

I use a CRT because I like to be able to choose my own resolutions.

--
-Toby
Add the word afiduluminag to the subject to circumvent my email filters.

Jaimie Vandenbergh wrote:
> On Wed, 31 Oct 2007 10:28:25 +0000, DBSnappa
> <davidjboughton.RemoveThis@REMOVEMEhotmail.com> wrote:
>> Jaimie Vandenbergh wrote:
>>> On Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:00:01 +0000, Toby Newman <google.RemoveThis@asktoby.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>> On 2007-10-28, Jaimie Vandenbergh <jaimie.RemoveThis@sometimes.sessile.org> wrote:
>>>>> On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 19:11:33 GMT, Jon Ross <askme.RemoveThis@forit.co.uk> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> [HL2]
>>>>>> When I was finishing this a couple of weeks ago I used Gamefaqs for the
>>>>>> first time right near the end. It was only then I realised that you
>>>>>> could use the GG on people, for some reason I had gone all through the
>>>>>> game without trying it.
>>>>> That only works with the blue turbo-nutter GG, though - which
>>>>> coinkidinkally you only get right at the end!
>>>> Although I've noticed that you can use the alt-fire zap of the GG
>>>> on the black headcrabs in Ep2.
>>> *That'll* save a bit of ammo. Ta.
>>>
>> You can use that throughout the game, but I'm not entirely certain it
>> does much damage.
>
> Yer right, possibly none at all. Occasionally you can toss them down a
> deep hole though.
>
> The Valve team appear to have become a bit tight on throwable items
> these days - I keep running out of stuff to use instead of bullets.
> Maybe I should be playing on Easy...
>
>
I'm finding it much easier than I remember (I originally played it on
the Xbox) and it's rare that I run out of ammo. It's still a bit of a
challenge, just not as bad as the xbox version. I don't recall being
asked to set the difficulty when I started so I assume it's on Normal or
equivalent.

Got to Dark Energy now, so should be on Ep1 by the weekend.

On Thu, 01 Nov 2007 16:53:43 +0000, DBSnappa
<davidjboughton DeleteThis @REMOVEMEhotmail.com> wrote:

>Jaimie Vandenbergh wrote:
>>
>> The Valve team appear to have become a bit tight on throwable items
>> these days - I keep running out of stuff to use instead of bullets.
>> Maybe I should be playing on Easy...
>>
>>
>I'm finding it much easier than I remember (I originally played it on
>the Xbox) and it's rare that I run out of ammo. It's still a bit of a
>challenge, just not as bad as the xbox version. I don't recall being
>asked to set the difficulty when I started so I assume it's on Normal or
> equivalent.
>
>Got to Dark Energy now, so should be on Ep1 by the weekend.

Indeed you should! I'm in Ep2 at the moment, and apart from the
set-piece events with infinite ammo boxes there's bugger all.

Cheers - Jaimie
--
aibohphobia, n., The fear of palindromes

Jaimie Vandenbergh wrote:
> On Thu, 01 Nov 2007 16:53:43 +0000, DBSnappa
> <davidjboughton.TakeThisOut@REMOVEMEhotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Jaimie Vandenbergh wrote:
>>> The Valve team appear to have become a bit tight on throwable items
>>> these days - I keep running out of stuff to use instead of bullets.
>>> Maybe I should be playing on Easy...
>>>
>>>
>> I'm finding it much easier than I remember (I originally played it on
>> the Xbox) and it's rare that I run out of ammo. It's still a bit of a
>> challenge, just not as bad as the xbox version. I don't recall being
>> asked to set the difficulty when I started so I assume it's on Normal or
>> equivalent.
>>
>> Got to Dark Energy now, so should be on Ep1 by the weekend.
>
> Indeed you should! I'm in Ep2 at the moment, and apart from the
> set-piece events with infinite ammo boxes there's bugger all.
>
I did about half an hour of Ep1 last night. I think having played HL2
before on the Xbox has made it easier because this time I knew there was
little point in exploring a lot of places, especially Water Hazard and
Highway 17, two enormous areas that I spent a considerable amount of
time dying in due to playing quite cautiously and exploring. I reckon
the first time through took me easily twice as long as this run through
did, which was still about 14 hours excluding restarts and some crashes
(well, not exactly crashes, just a couple of areas where the loading
triggers didn't work and you couldn't get to the next area - I just
saved and reloaded and the loading screen came up next time).

I like the fact that it isn't handholdy too much.

On 2007-10-31, Jaimie Vandenbergh <jaimie.DeleteThis@sometimes.sessile.org> wrote:
> How does the driver work? I take it the game doesn't need to know
> about the glasses, so does the software hook into DirectX or
> something?

re: 3D shutter glasses, this pdf wraps it up nicely:

http://www.nvidia.com/object/LO_20010605_6971.html
from
http://www.nvidia.com/object/3d_stereo.html

--
-Toby
Add the word afiduluminag to the subject to circumvent my email filters.

On Sat, 03 Nov 2007 18:00:01 +0000, Toby Newman <google.TakeThisOut@asktoby.com>
wrote:

>On 2007-10-31, Jaimie Vandenbergh <jaimie.TakeThisOut@sometimes.sessile.org> wrote:
>> How does the driver work? I take it the game doesn't need to know
>> about the glasses, so does the software hook into DirectX or
>> something?
>
>re: 3D shutter glasses, this pdf wraps it up nicely:
>
>http://www.nvidia.com/object/LO_20010605_6971.html
>from
>http://www.nvidia.com/object/3d_stereo.html


Looks cool. Where can you get them?