Journals
Topical treatment with fluoroquinolone drops (eg, ofloxacin, ciprofloxacin) has been found to be as effective as systemic therapy for perforated otitis media.
Just found a comp in the trash, turns out to be a L500cx
It's got about 500 mhz processer, 320 mbs of ram, a onboard video card that seems to be pretty powerful, and a 10 gig hd.
Oh and it also has windoze xp on it (kinda chokes with only 320 mbs ram :S)
I don't plan on doing it for "serious gaming", just a comp to play counter-strike in my room at night, and it seems to be doing a pretty good job of it.
It also came with a microsoft mouse identical to the one i am using right now, and 2 speakers.
Who would throw out something like that, it works perfectly, and it also has a cd burner\writer in it.
It's got about 500 mhz processer, 320 mbs of ram, a onboard video card that seems to be pretty powerful, and a 10 gig hd.
Oh and it also has windoze xp on it (kinda chokes with only 320 mbs ram :S)
I don't plan on doing it for "serious gaming", just a comp to play counter-strike in my room at night, and it seems to be doing a pretty good job of it.
It also came with a microsoft mouse identical to the one i am using right now, and 2 speakers.
Who would throw out something like that, it works perfectly, and it also has a cd burner\writer in it.
I just played a mod called doomed-life. And no wonder this is a doomed mod.
You start out in a ruined futuristic city of some sort. You have no clue what your supposed to do other than to not fall off the buildings. But the rocks randomly crumble so ya dun know what to tread on. You supposed to get jump around to a little balcony with a door that opens. There your HEV suit is waiting for you and there appears to be a time machine that you need to get into. This time machine is so cool that upon entering you are instantly transported to the specified point in time. No env_sprites were used.
In your case, the destination is 1998 Chile for some reason. You wander around a canyon sort of area and eventually find a cool-looking remodeled MP5SD in the back of a jeep. Up to this point your only weapons are crowbar and a 25-bullets of mp5. And up ahead are two grunts.
Just kidding they weren't much of a problem because they were looking the other way from where I arrived. But the next part is ugly.
You make it into an installation filled inexplicably with scientists and security guards. ALL OF THESE PEOPLE ARE FACING THE EXACT SAME WAY. This suggests to me that they were all put into the map with the default facing "0" angle. Also there are no such thing as scripted sequences.
SOME QUIRKS ABOUT THIS SCIENCE FACILITY
Pressing the button in the corner causes some action, where the cage breaks and a random spot on the floor also gives way. It may not be intuitive but you need to take a dive into the hole on the floor.
Most of the gameplay after this point involves finding buttons to open doors. These puzzle elements progressively get more "challenging" as the mappers still have doors that close 4 seconds after they are opened. But that's only the first slice of this fun little mod.
There is one point where a tank is activated by you to kill 5-7 grunts and make a big hole on the ground (sounds familiar). You jump into the hole, but comeout on the otherside into a rural farm area, with a little wheat field, a barn, and a cool looking medieval-like house. The front door is locked.
This may seem non-intuitive, but you need to break the second window to the right of the front door (the first window is unbreakable) and break enter into the house. Then the text message "It's freeman, call the police!" or something comes up. You are then taken to prison.
In prison, the map changes and you are taken to a different prison. The wall behind you crumbles to give you a crowbar. You try to break out of jail, but near the exit the words "freeman's escaping, get him!" or something comes up and you are taken to another prison. (Whoa, the prison motif seems a bit overdone at this point.)
This prison, has a grunt guarding it. But this prison also has func_illusionary floor. SO you fall thru into a water pit, where there are spikes at the bottom. Where do you go? The spikes, smart. You swim towards the spikes, whereas a mapchange takes you to some weirdo hallucination chamber with checkered walls. You are given a .357 and one little box of extra ammo.
In hallucinoworld, you meet bullsquids, houndeyes, and alien grunts. (The grunt randomly falls in front of you thru the ceiling). Then, the hallway ends and you are stuck figuring out what to do. You are supposed to "use" the wall to the right which will cause the end wall to crumble for no adequately explored reason. But behind the wall are three alien slaves, and they are very happy to see you (and give you a shocking experience).
After the slaves got some potshots at me I kill them off with my .357 easily. But then the floor crumbles again and I fall and end up in some weird tomb looking area. This is very coherent storyline, by the way.
I wander ahead thru the tomb and three headcrabs fall from the ceiling. Haven't we seen this tactic used before. I just run pass them because there not worth .357 ammo.
I ran ahead and the floor gave way to a spike trap, but I luckily didn't fall into it. I figured that this may be another mapchange (like the other one from prison) but I tested it first. I had lured a headcrab to jump into the spike pit to see what happens. It was gibbed bad. I then decided not to jump into the pit of pointy world brushes.
up ahead is a dead end with two random rooms each to the left and to the right. Both auxillary rooms have buttons that must be pressed, which each breaks off a bit of the end wall to reveal another passageway (creative or noobish, you tell me.)
I went ahead and got pressed flat by something that jetted out of the ceiling. Dead.
...and then I found out that there were zero autosaves in the entire game up to this point...
I could tell you what happened next, but what's the point? Get this mod now!! You have to experience this for yourself to know how great an experience this is.
You start out in a ruined futuristic city of some sort. You have no clue what your supposed to do other than to not fall off the buildings. But the rocks randomly crumble so ya dun know what to tread on. You supposed to get jump around to a little balcony with a door that opens. There your HEV suit is waiting for you and there appears to be a time machine that you need to get into. This time machine is so cool that upon entering you are instantly transported to the specified point in time. No env_sprites were used.
In your case, the destination is 1998 Chile for some reason. You wander around a canyon sort of area and eventually find a cool-looking remodeled MP5SD in the back of a jeep. Up to this point your only weapons are crowbar and a 25-bullets of mp5. And up ahead are two grunts.
Just kidding they weren't much of a problem because they were looking the other way from where I arrived. But the next part is ugly.
You make it into an installation filled inexplicably with scientists and security guards. ALL OF THESE PEOPLE ARE FACING THE EXACT SAME WAY. This suggests to me that they were all put into the map with the default facing "0" angle. Also there are no such thing as scripted sequences.
SOME QUIRKS ABOUT THIS SCIENCE FACILITY
- there is a headcrap in a glass tank jumping around and tried to claw me to death. But there is a barney right next to him.
- there is a button you needs to press to open a certain door, but the "delay before close" on that door is 4, so you have to press the button and madly dash to the door before it closes.
Pressing the button in the corner causes some action, where the cage breaks and a random spot on the floor also gives way. It may not be intuitive but you need to take a dive into the hole on the floor.
Most of the gameplay after this point involves finding buttons to open doors. These puzzle elements progressively get more "challenging" as the mappers still have doors that close 4 seconds after they are opened. But that's only the first slice of this fun little mod.
There is one point where a tank is activated by you to kill 5-7 grunts and make a big hole on the ground (sounds familiar). You jump into the hole, but comeout on the otherside into a rural farm area, with a little wheat field, a barn, and a cool looking medieval-like house. The front door is locked.
This may seem non-intuitive, but you need to break the second window to the right of the front door (the first window is unbreakable) and break enter into the house. Then the text message "It's freeman, call the police!" or something comes up. You are then taken to prison.
In prison, the map changes and you are taken to a different prison. The wall behind you crumbles to give you a crowbar. You try to break out of jail, but near the exit the words "freeman's escaping, get him!" or something comes up and you are taken to another prison. (Whoa, the prison motif seems a bit overdone at this point.)
This prison, has a grunt guarding it. But this prison also has func_illusionary floor. SO you fall thru into a water pit, where there are spikes at the bottom. Where do you go? The spikes, smart. You swim towards the spikes, whereas a mapchange takes you to some weirdo hallucination chamber with checkered walls. You are given a .357 and one little box of extra ammo.
In hallucinoworld, you meet bullsquids, houndeyes, and alien grunts. (The grunt randomly falls in front of you thru the ceiling). Then, the hallway ends and you are stuck figuring out what to do. You are supposed to "use" the wall to the right which will cause the end wall to crumble for no adequately explored reason. But behind the wall are three alien slaves, and they are very happy to see you (and give you a shocking experience).
After the slaves got some potshots at me I kill them off with my .357 easily. But then the floor crumbles again and I fall and end up in some weird tomb looking area. This is very coherent storyline, by the way.
I wander ahead thru the tomb and three headcrabs fall from the ceiling. Haven't we seen this tactic used before. I just run pass them because there not worth .357 ammo.
I ran ahead and the floor gave way to a spike trap, but I luckily didn't fall into it. I figured that this may be another mapchange (like the other one from prison) but I tested it first. I had lured a headcrab to jump into the spike pit to see what happens. It was gibbed bad. I then decided not to jump into the pit of pointy world brushes.
up ahead is a dead end with two random rooms each to the left and to the right. Both auxillary rooms have buttons that must be pressed, which each breaks off a bit of the end wall to reveal another passageway (creative or noobish, you tell me.)
I went ahead and got pressed flat by something that jetted out of the ceiling. Dead.
...and then I found out that there were zero autosaves in the entire game up to this point...
I could tell you what happened next, but what's the point? Get this mod now!! You have to experience this for yourself to know how great an experience this is.
I failed, I was 4 marks off passing... Today is a bad day.
Turns out you have to atleast get 44/50... and I got 40.
FUCK MY LIFE.
Turns out you have to atleast get 44/50... and I got 40.
FUCK MY LIFE.
Because in about 2 hours (as of this writing), space shuttle Atlantis (Mission STS-125) will launch to be the last servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. Space shuttle Endeavour will be ready to launch in case a rescue mission is needed, as Hubble is at a higher orbit than the ISS, so Atlantis won't be able to dock to it.
Atlantis will carry two new instruments to the HST, a replacement Fine Guidance Sensor, and six new gyroscopes and batteries to allow the telescope to continue to function at least through 2014. The crew will also install a new thermal blanket layer to provide improved insulation, and a "soft-capture mechanism" to aid in the safe de-orbiting of the telescope by an unmanned spacecraft at the end of its operational lifespan.
Check out photo's of the launch:
http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/search.cfm?cat=180
And a HD video of the launch:
(Direct Link, QuickTime movie, 1080i 185 MB)
Go Atlantis!
MEET MIZZI
He's adjusted very quickly to the smells and sounds of the English countryside and is proving to be quite the comedian. Overall, its nice to know that I'll have some company whenever I'm off work and the fiancee is out. :3
Generally, since settling in, Mizzi has done what cats do best:
He's adjusted very quickly to the smells and sounds of the English countryside and is proving to be quite the comedian. Overall, its nice to know that I'll have some company whenever I'm off work and the fiancee is out. :3
Progress?!?!
Oh shit, I don't know. I've been messing around with this guitar for a week and a bit now, and I have no idea how quickly I should be progressing. Still, I suppose it doesn't really matter, there's plenty of time.
While I'm at it, I might as well say what I've gotten decent at. I can sorta play:
Blink 182 - Dammit (only the intro part that's played a fair bit in the song)
Blink 182 - Adam's Song (again, only the intro part)
Metallica - One (I know a part in the middle of that one though)
Iron Maiden - Fear Of The Dark (the intro)
Linkin Park - No More Sorrow (intro again. I should sometime learn a song completely)
I also can decently play Bloody Tears (that music in a few of the Castlevania games) and the main theme of Morrowind (except it has a few notes on frets higher than my guitar even has)...
EDIT: Found better tabs for that Morrowind one, no note troubles now.
Oh shit, I don't know. I've been messing around with this guitar for a week and a bit now, and I have no idea how quickly I should be progressing. Still, I suppose it doesn't really matter, there's plenty of time.
While I'm at it, I might as well say what I've gotten decent at. I can sorta play:
Blink 182 - Dammit (only the intro part that's played a fair bit in the song)
Blink 182 - Adam's Song (again, only the intro part)
Metallica - One (I know a part in the middle of that one though)
Iron Maiden - Fear Of The Dark (the intro)
Linkin Park - No More Sorrow (intro again. I should sometime learn a song completely)
I also can decently play Bloody Tears (that music in a few of the Castlevania games) and the main theme of Morrowind (except it has a few notes on frets higher than my guitar even has)...
EDIT: Found better tabs for that Morrowind one, no note troubles now.
TWHL LOGO
Well, I was somewhat bored so I decided to make a twhl logo, my tribute for twhl. I used Rimrook's map "cs_twhl" for a part of the video.
The "TWHL" metal plate is done in blender. The rest of the video in afx and sony vegas.
Because youtube sucks, they had to detect that I'm using the rockefeller song( how the hell they are doing this ? ... fuck technology, it's too advanced).
So I uploaded it in the map vault.
But sure, you can watch the video on youtube ... audioswapped X( :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_7mA05hI4g
[EDIT] Here's a vimeo link for it, in original state.
http://www.vimeo.com/4563697
Also, check the map vault for download.
Well, I was somewhat bored so I decided to make a twhl logo, my tribute for twhl. I used Rimrook's map "cs_twhl" for a part of the video.
The "TWHL" metal plate is done in blender. The rest of the video in afx and sony vegas.
Because youtube sucks, they had to detect that I'm using the rockefeller song( how the hell they are doing this ? ... fuck technology, it's too advanced).
So I uploaded it in the map vault.
But sure, you can watch the video on youtube ... audioswapped X( :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_7mA05hI4g
[EDIT] Here's a vimeo link for it, in original state.
http://www.vimeo.com/4563697
Also, check the map vault for download.
Good evening TWHL.
So, today is my Caturday. Got me a new cat today
His name is Mizzi (short for 'Mischief') and he's 1 year old. My plan was to take a few photo's of him today and upload them in this journal post but there have been a few complications.
Mizzi is a house cat and is used to living on a quiet street in the middle of town. However his owner is moving into a new apartment where pets aren't allowed. He is now living with me and my fiance out in the country on a main road so everything from the sounds to the smells is totally new to him. As such he has spent most of his day hiding under our sofa.
I'll upload photo's as soon as Mizzi is feeling a little more settled and looking more photogenic.
In other news I popped into work today to find out what hours I'm working when my holiday finishes. Unfortunatly it I go back a day earlier than I realised. I start at 7am tomorrow morning.
Looks like my next MOTM review and starting work on my Left4Dead map will have to wait.
So, today is my Caturday. Got me a new cat today
His name is Mizzi (short for 'Mischief') and he's 1 year old. My plan was to take a few photo's of him today and upload them in this journal post but there have been a few complications.
Mizzi is a house cat and is used to living on a quiet street in the middle of town. However his owner is moving into a new apartment where pets aren't allowed. He is now living with me and my fiance out in the country on a main road so everything from the sounds to the smells is totally new to him. As such he has spent most of his day hiding under our sofa.
I'll upload photo's as soon as Mizzi is feeling a little more settled and looking more photogenic.
In other news I popped into work today to find out what hours I'm working when my holiday finishes. Unfortunatly it I go back a day earlier than I realised. I start at 7am tomorrow morning.
Looks like my next MOTM review and starting work on my Left4Dead map will have to wait.
I'm taking my theory test this coming Monday, I've been reading the books and stuff but who knows wether I'll pass, probably not.
Apart from that I haven't been doing an aweful lot else, progress has slowed down on Wetwork because it's come to the point where I need large things done, such as models and various effects, so I'm waiting on a few people for those, but it IS starting to come to an end finally.
Next Wednesday my college course is going to a theater and setting up all the live equipment and micing up a drumkit, and since I'm the only drummer on the course I'll be playing it, so hearing it coming out of a PA system is a new thing to me, and should be pretty cool!
I also need a haircut, all I need to do is turn my head and it could be classed as "moshing"
That's all for now.
Oh, and I recently started playing L4D versus again... And it reminded me why I stopped in the first place, people are just plain shit at that game and make me rage.
Apart from that I haven't been doing an aweful lot else, progress has slowed down on Wetwork because it's come to the point where I need large things done, such as models and various effects, so I'm waiting on a few people for those, but it IS starting to come to an end finally.
Next Wednesday my college course is going to a theater and setting up all the live equipment and micing up a drumkit, and since I'm the only drummer on the course I'll be playing it, so hearing it coming out of a PA system is a new thing to me, and should be pretty cool!
I also need a haircut, all I need to do is turn my head and it could be classed as "moshing"
That's all for now.
Oh, and I recently started playing L4D versus again... And it reminded me why I stopped in the first place, people are just plain shit at that game and make me rage.
I just played that one HL1 mod called Reissues.
Low quality reviews for each separate piece
ECHO TRANSIT
This is the first one I played. It feels alot like Blue shift maybee because of the familiar looking teleport machine. The problem is software mode. That outdoor cargo bay has so much crap that nothing renders and I had to use openGL. That's bad because frame rates drop considerable in openGL. I see this is a great one with lots of script and action, but with the crummy frame rates I died a disproportionate amount of times. Sorry. My fault.
ENCAMPED
Crashed on startup. There was an error message but I don't think I'll bother.
ITS SAFER HERE
No, its not. The sky is all black, you'd think the sky was set to black. But I know it isn't. Because I did the quicksave-quickload thing, and the sky appears as normal. But then all the world brushes disappear, and that's even worse. So I played through without messing with the sky, but that came back to bite me and always crashed HL at a specific point in the second map. From what I played it seems to borrow heavily from Half Life 2, which is very nice. Very nice.
LABCOATS REQUIRED
A very basic map. Most rudimentary of all in the mod package. But I admit it's better than what I can come up with.
SECOND WIND
This is the one with the cliff, right? Oh, yes. Another reason why jaw dropping scenery is not good for Mr. plays-HL-in-software-mode. At one point with the gargantua, I searched and noclipped for how to advance, but couldn't find it. Eventually, I saw a ladder that was very subtly hidden, and I find I couldn't even see it from where I came from. But I refuse to switch to openGL.
COIL
I got hopelessly lost. But I admit the architecture is superb. But that doesn't change the fact that I got hopelessly lost.
SCEPTER OF RA
I like custom content. But it sucks with the locust storm outside the tomb. Why? Because the locust storm drives the framerates down, just like if you fall off the cliff in SECOND WIND. By now you're wondering if I'm using a windows 98. I am not going to answer that.
STARLABS
Good mapping. At one point the rocks fall and crumble the area but the rocks didn't fall and nothing crumbled the area. Therefore I was hopelessly stuck.
TRAINING MAP
The bane of all maps. Everything went well until up to the top floor. I went out side, and soon as I hit the "storm" button, everything freezes. And that's worse than crashing because I couldn't even see the task manager when I try to force close the program.
Main idea: The maps all are top notch, but my comp couldn't keep up with them. I blame my comp for this mess.
Low quality reviews for each separate piece
ECHO TRANSIT
This is the first one I played. It feels alot like Blue shift maybee because of the familiar looking teleport machine. The problem is software mode. That outdoor cargo bay has so much crap that nothing renders and I had to use openGL. That's bad because frame rates drop considerable in openGL. I see this is a great one with lots of script and action, but with the crummy frame rates I died a disproportionate amount of times. Sorry. My fault.
ENCAMPED
Crashed on startup. There was an error message but I don't think I'll bother.
ITS SAFER HERE
No, its not. The sky is all black, you'd think the sky was set to black. But I know it isn't. Because I did the quicksave-quickload thing, and the sky appears as normal. But then all the world brushes disappear, and that's even worse. So I played through without messing with the sky, but that came back to bite me and always crashed HL at a specific point in the second map. From what I played it seems to borrow heavily from Half Life 2, which is very nice. Very nice.
LABCOATS REQUIRED
A very basic map. Most rudimentary of all in the mod package. But I admit it's better than what I can come up with.
SECOND WIND
This is the one with the cliff, right? Oh, yes. Another reason why jaw dropping scenery is not good for Mr. plays-HL-in-software-mode. At one point with the gargantua, I searched and noclipped for how to advance, but couldn't find it. Eventually, I saw a ladder that was very subtly hidden, and I find I couldn't even see it from where I came from. But I refuse to switch to openGL.
COIL
I got hopelessly lost. But I admit the architecture is superb. But that doesn't change the fact that I got hopelessly lost.
SCEPTER OF RA
I like custom content. But it sucks with the locust storm outside the tomb. Why? Because the locust storm drives the framerates down, just like if you fall off the cliff in SECOND WIND. By now you're wondering if I'm using a windows 98. I am not going to answer that.
STARLABS
Good mapping. At one point the rocks fall and crumble the area but the rocks didn't fall and nothing crumbled the area. Therefore I was hopelessly stuck.
TRAINING MAP
The bane of all maps. Everything went well until up to the top floor. I went out side, and soon as I hit the "storm" button, everything freezes. And that's worse than crashing because I couldn't even see the task manager when I try to force close the program.
Main idea: The maps all are top notch, but my comp couldn't keep up with them. I blame my comp for this mess.
My son already recognizes all the main characters in Half-Life 2.
He was playing with my game boxes the other day, and when he found the Half-Life 2 one, he pointed to it and said "Alyx".
He was playing with my game boxes the other day, and when he found the Half-Life 2 one, he pointed to it and said "Alyx".
As I was playing The Specialists, I thought to myself "I should make a TS map after Colony 42, go back to my roots, back when I did'nt have a SP FGD..." Then I realized that I suck at MP mapping. D:
I'd post my TS maps, but they were all crappy, not worth the compiles, and I deleted them out of shame...
If I was only better at MP... Oh well...
I'd post my TS maps, but they were all crappy, not worth the compiles, and I deleted them out of shame...
If I was only better at MP... Oh well...
So, with Left4Dead's Survival mode now up and running I've suddenly gained a lot of interest in mapping for it. Arena's are a lot easier to make in terms of reference and time but at the same time can still look good.
I intend to recreate one of the main streets of my home town, with the Buttercross (the town's main landmark and market area) as the central staging area.
In this satalite pic you can see all the alleys and side roads leading into the street so the area should be perfect for the infected to swarm over.
Zones:
RED: Buttercross staging area: Ammo and Health here.
GREEN: Play Zone: Players and Infected can maneuver in these areas
YELLOW: Infected Zones: Infected spawn in these areas. Players cannot enter.
I hope to start working on this map this week while I'm on holiday. More info soon. I will be asking for help and testing soon as well so stay frosty. <3
I intend to recreate one of the main streets of my home town, with the Buttercross (the town's main landmark and market area) as the central staging area.
RED: Buttercross staging area: Ammo and Health here.
GREEN: Play Zone: Players and Infected can maneuver in these areas
YELLOW: Infected Zones: Infected spawn in these areas. Players cannot enter.
I hope to start working on this map this week while I'm on holiday. More info soon. I will be asking for help and testing soon as well so stay frosty. <3
Well, I've decided to start my mod "interest" again, only this time I'm going to keep the source safe with somebody, incase if i have to reformat, so i won't lose all my work (i don't have any blank cds or anything like that to save to)
And this time, I'm going to release a alpha, and maybe, just maybe I'll make the mod open source, but i fail to see what ppl would really use my mod for.
Admittedly, i am baffled as how I'm going to fix a small missing animation bug for the metro-police, where if they are using my special stunstick weapon, and you shoot them, they can't use the stunstick, and they have no animation.
And this time, I'm going to release a alpha, and maybe, just maybe I'll make the mod open source, but i fail to see what ppl would really use my mod for.
Admittedly, i am baffled as how I'm going to fix a small missing animation bug for the metro-police, where if they are using my special stunstick weapon, and you shoot them, they can't use the stunstick, and they have no animation.