another.intheuniverse

So, now I hate Trillian. They have a new business model and I hate it. I spent some bucks on them, but won’t spend another cent on Cerulean Studios.

Back to a portable IM search, I noticed Pidgin again. I always hated Gaim. And I loved MirandaIM, but it’s too complex now. I wanted simplicity. So I tried Pidgin, and liked it. So far, so good, all the features I needed are there, and plugin support is big. Themes is a hit and miss, but I like the native theme.

But then I noticed that the PortableApps version had two .exe, and that was it. Googled around, found some instructions, and then I kinda entered in a very creative phase and made a completely new script, that fixed some errors (like the REM command, that does not work too good), and added functionality. I made a page dedicated to this script.

Not much more from the moment, having lots of fun with music-related stuff, and playing some old games.

See you in some months, maybe!

Not too much to tell, updated WordPress to latest version, all plugins, also and added some nice CSS3 text shadow to the site’s titles. Also some minor fixes here and there, like in the footer.

Enjoy the new site version.

I’m starting my first failware review, since I first mentioned it like two or three years ago, lol.

I’ll try to keep these reviews as short as possible, since mostly I want to cover how bad an app can be without dissecting it. Just a few screens will do the trick very nicely.

Disclaimer: By no means this is an attack to the developers, which I’m extremely thankful that they made a free application for me to use, but sometimes a good reminder called keep it simple it’s my best way to pay for it.

Information about the app

PCGen is a very ugly and slow Java based software that helps an user to make a tabletop RPG character, upgrading it, etc.; and for Game Masters, it allows them to make the whole experience a lot easier.
Theoretically.

First Experience

Starting with the dreaded first user experience! Or the loss of virginity, how I’d like to call it.

So, I start the program.

MSRD! Yeah, that’s so… acronymous! Pathfinder for Players? Oh, but it’s a WIP version, I want the completed version, that why I downloaded PCGen stable. There’s no other choice, though.

So, the first horror. I have a "Load” button, and an “Add” button. What’s the difference? What does this mean? Should I load? Should I add? Should I call 911 to help me resolve this endearing situation?

We, people, have 8 (eight) buttons on the very first screen of the program, 9 if we count the Windows 7 “X” button. That just sucks.

And let’s not forget that I have a Source selected, and:

• I can’t delete or modify it. That fails.
• The unhide button is not greyed out. That über fails.

See, I’m not asking much. Just keep it simple:
A question… “Are you a player or a game master?”.
A system… “Select from one of this Systems” (System seems like a better word than Source).

And that’s it. You don’t even need a button! (in the sense that every selection is a button, or maybe a “Back” button). Limit user choices. Make everyone happy. Please.

The Main Screen

So, I think I clicked on load and somewhat the program loaded the Pathfinder stuff. I clicked on “Unload All”, first, so I can customize what to load. So, my first true action, I double click on Paizo Publishing.

…

Where are the Core Rulebooks? I know that Pathfinder is made by Paizo Publishing. So why it isn’t there? I also know that in the changelog of this 5.16.4 version of the program, the Advanced Rulebook was added. Where? WHERE!?

Oh. They were on Alpha Datasets. Alpha Datasets. Alpha Datasets. Yes, that’s very helpful, I just start a program and I have to look for the Alpha Datasets, that seems logical.

Man. This is not a suggestion. This is practically an order. Everything Pathfinder is made by Paizo Publishing. Not by “Alpha Datasets”. So, please encapsulate them in a logical place! Thanks again.

What I like is that the Core rules are in black, and correctly tagged “Core Rules”, so I have to load them first, and the “Supplements” later. That’s really great, a very good move from the devs. So let’s add the Core and the Advanced.

So here is my other critique of this software. When I double click on them, the program expects me to “Load” the Sources.
Why? I already double clicked on the sources. It’s obvious that I want to load and use them. And why, having LOTS of space left, it says “N”?. Why “No”? Was there a problem? Maybe the developer has a phobia with syllables or hates “yes” or “no” confirmations?
A check box should have been used instead, to simplify all the process, delete some buttons and streamline the process.

From there, luckily, I was able to use normally the program. There were some quirks, but nothing too complicated or that required a major redesign.

Conclusion

This software fails. Not in a sense that it’s unusable, because it can be normally used after you learn the UI. But really, a user should never have to actually learn and study a program to use it. I hope that future iterations of this software can change a hassle to use, to a pleasure to use. And we know it’s a hassle, and we use it, because we don’t have any other free choice.

So I just finished playing Call of Duty: Black Ops (CODBLOPS…) yesterday. I decided not to do a review, but a general complain…

And boy, I was disappointed. I mean, it’s a good game. It’s the best iteration that Treyarch made, rivaling with Infinity Ward’s Modern Warfare 2 scripting quality. But the game itself… No. Just no.

Let’s review the major issue that this game, and also most “new” FPS are suffering: Linearity. CODBLOPS plays and feels like a damn movie. OK, very nice, but I’d rather see a movie.

I’ll recall another game that, while it restricted my movements with its linearity, it was a really, really fun game to play: Max Payne. Max Payne, über scripted everywhere, had a very strong history (stolen from Marvel’s The Punisher, anyways) and the game was really fun to play, as I said before. Exploded the bullet time resource to the maximum.

But here, on CODBLOPS, an AAA title… While we did have a strong story with this one (amazing ending), the game feels like a movie. It just carries you until the end of the story, executing very complex actions with just the press of a button, something that we probably had seen on Medal of Honor franchise relaunch (didn’t played that one, yet).

I think, that, some 10 years ago, a title with this history could have been massive, and definitive. But today… It’s just a pretty game. And it’s sad, because CODBLOPS had so much potential.

Let’s hope that in the future, the industry will realize its mistakes.

But, the fact that this game even surpassed Modern Warfare 2’s launch in grossing sales… meh.

I’m currently playing a re-run of KOTOR II with the most updated restoration project so far (in case you didn’t knew, Obsidian didn’t quite finished the game), so I will list all the steps I made to have a pretty good setup. I’ll list the steps in the least time-consuming way.

• Install KOTOR II. While you are installing the game, download “HD” official patches to Movies and Audio. Save them for later
• After installing KOTOR II, download and install official patch 1.0b.
• Team Gizka had a project ongoing for years but they went missing (worth reading article). So I Googled a bit and found this “The Sith Lords Restored Content Mod”. Currently they are on version 1.6a, most updated version so far. Download and install it.
• Then, install the HD patches.

Now, you can start playing if you have a 4:3 monitor, but if you have a 16:9 or 16:10 monitor, keep reading.

• Note: The patch author decided to use a no-CD patch, it’s up to you to find it.
• Note 2: This widescreen patch does not work with low resolutions as 1280X720, dialogue text will be cut off.
• You will need these: UniWS, and the Minimap patch.
• Execute UniWS, set it to modify KOTOR II and input your desired resolution. After that, go to KOTOR II installation folder, and locate swkotor2.ini and edit the width and height parameters in the [Display Options] and [Graphics Options] sections.
• Now, move the mipc28x6_p.gui file to the /Override/ folder in KOTOR II install path.
• And, last step, config your KOTOR II in-game resolution to 1280X960 (this is needed for the widescreen patch to work).

So, that’s it. If you want, I recommend some skin and retexture mods that I’ve installed. KOTOR II is old, textures are really blurry for some characters:

• Mega Reskin Pack
• Ebon Hawk HD Retextures
• HK-50 & HK-51 Reskin
• Played and Party Underwear Mod

Enjoy this wonderful game again, in all-new FullHD resolution!

This is just a link to a blog In-depth analysis made at GamaSutra, called “In-Depth: No Female Heroes At Activision?”.

My two cents here, is what’s mentioned by the comment of Rayna Anderson, following the post:

I’m sad to say that I’ve encountered this before, activision isn’t the only company. When I was lead designer/writer on a murder mystery game, I was forced to rewrite everything because the higher-ups didn’t want a female to be the murderer. They said that people wouldn’t believe that a female could overpower her male victim. Every game I’ve worked on, I’ve tried to include more female characters, but the higher-ups just keep cutting them. It’s pretty discouraging to keep pitching those kinds of characters when you know they have no chance of surviving through the production phase.

I wonder… female leads are often encountered on Japanese game, because of the different cultures and all. Here in occident, we are kinda Hollywood-driven, so a strong male lead is often characteristic of a script. Maybe, just maybe, sometimes we can have a God of War protagonized by a female. It just CAN be done. It’s not just a term of culture. You just need a good writer.

This is so on-topic these days.

No, I’m not dying or anything. Just… too much of life, too little of time.