Humor Random Comments Thread

[Artlav]

...The game dvd absolutely has to be in even if it's just downloading stuff for hours...

I'm just sitting there wondering how and when did mankind managed to go so wrong that a gaming console requires downloading stuff, never mind updates, never mind a freaking internet connection.

I blame Sega Dreamcast. It had a modem, and the modem wasn't compatible with Russia's dialing system, so i had to dial on a phone, press the connect button and plug the cable over with exact timing to get it to connect.

It was the only way to play a VMU game you wrote without having to burn a CD after each recompilation... Little did i know that this would become the norm.

These days a 32Gb flash drive would be cheaper than a DVD, compact in size, a DRM dream, kills all the downsides of having to download and also would invoke the cartridge days nostalgia. Why won't someone make a console that uses cartridges like that? Bizarre.

regret not getting the 1 To version instead of the 500 Gb

At which point i'm wondering just what's the point of a console now. It sounds like a croappy PC which can only run Steam and is not upgradeable, so why bother?

 

[Majid]

At which point i'm wondering just what's the point of a console now. It sounds like a croappy PC which can only run Steam and is not upgradeable, so why bother?

I'd say a large part is the control interface being controllers which is more conducive of group play. It's just not easy to play as a group on the same computer.

 

[Artlav]

I'd say a large part is the control interface being controllers which is more conducive of group play.

Hm? All the controllers are USB these days, and perfectly compatible with a PC.

I.e i got a PS4 controller for VR use some time ago, never had any problems with it under both Linux and Windows.
It even works over bluetooth.
It even works over bluetooth when connected to a microcontroller on a robotic spider.

I don't see how that's the problem.

 

[Quick_Nick]

These days a 32Gb flash drive would be cheaper than a DVD, compact in size, a DRM dream, kills all the downsides of having to download and also would invoke the cartridge days nostalgia. Why won't someone make a console that uses cartridges like that? Bizarre.

That's a Nintendo Switch. I think it doesn't even force updates on you except to play online/wireless multiplayer. But every game and hardware accessory is priced sky high.

 

[Majid]

What about exclusive titles that are only released for consoles?

 

[MaverickSawyer]

They're starting to understand that they can get more money by including the PC market.

 

[Quick_Nick]

They're starting to understand that they can get more money by including the PC market.

It helps that the current generation of consoles use essentially the same hardware as a mid-level gaming PC. Especially with respect to CPU and GPU architecture, compared to more splintered or specialized architectures of the old generations.

Sent from my SM-G930U using Tapatalk

 

[steph]

It is a bit of a leap from keyboard playing. Slightly easier for racing games since the buttons are gradual and you can adjust the steering and acceleration as you wish, but anything involving shooting needs auto-aim or you're dead meat. Since I'm a gameplay type of guy, a big part of the reason to get a console was being able to play even the latest games without worrying about PC specs and whether it can run or not on my rig. But it appears there are limitations. People are complaining about huge load times on the newer Assassin' Creed titles, for example. There is downgrading, of course. On the 360, Far Cry 4 had an unnaturally low draw distance, though it looked good otherwise by my standards. Not gonna try it on the Xbox one, since I've played it already and I'm not sure if the version for it isn't just ported from the 360 without upgrades .

The thing that still gets me are the updates. I get it, downloading it over the internet is a big thing these days and even in the shops you can buy games which only have the case and a download code, without a dvd. But the whole idea of buying games on dvd is to avoid the hassle of waiting for hours for it to download. Especially for single player games, it's unthinkable. You have the console and its software, which are basically unchanged for years, you have the game, which has been designed for said hardware, what more do you need ? If it downloads patches, then I should be able to choose to play the glitchy vanilla version until it finishes. Having games released on dvd which are simply unplayable without huge additional downloads is....I don't even know how to put it.

 

[Linguofreak]

One problem is that a big part of the reason for the update-happiness of today's software is that anything that talks to the network needs to be updated whenever security issues are discovered. Plus, anything with online multiplayer needs to regularly be patched against cheats, and allowing people to play with older, unpatched game versions would defeat the purpose of patching out a cheat in the old version.

EDIT: Nearly forgot to add: "And while security/anti-cheat updates probably shouldn't be gigabytes in size, differential patches aren't used hardly anywhere as much as they should be, so you may very well end up downloading the whole game again."

 

[jedidia]

"And while security/anti-cheat updates probably shouldn't be gigabytes in size, differential patches aren't used hardly anywhere as much as they should be, so you may very well end up downloading the whole game again.

Yeah, the PS4 is a major offender here. It seems to be common practice to compile assets like textures as resources into the executable to optimize loading times...

It even works over bluetooth when connected to a microcontroller on a robotic spider.

Because of course you tried! :rofl:

 

[Linguofreak]

Yeah, the PS4 is a major offender here. It seems to be common practice to compile assets like textures as resources into the executable to optimize loading times...

That's still no excuse. You can still just send a diff, instead of the whole file.

 

[jangofett287]

Yeah, the PS4 is a major offender here. It seems to be common practice to compile assets like textures as resources into the executable to optimize loading times...

I guarantee you that's not what they're doing. More likely is the update mechanism only allows the replacement of a file as a unit. You are partially correct however in that most games (and indeed all modern engines) bundle assets into one or more pack files. This usually has to be set up early in development however and changing the bundling strategy later can be difficult. Predicting how you're going to want the assets split and which ones you're likely to update ahead of time is very tricky.

 

[Artlav]

Predicting how you're going to want the assets split and which ones you're likely to update ahead of time is very tricky.

Indeed.
Having made a game and an auto-update system, i had to bundle arcane update instructions several times before just settling on game.exe and assets.zip, each being separately updated as a whole.
Even if it's a NUSPI, making differential updates is a whole project on it's own.

Because of course you tried! :rofl:

Well, it was easier than trying to re-invent the joystick. :/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkFG0cKHRav/

 

[jedidia]

Today I learned that the guy in charge of designing the LEM-3 once managed to hit his own fighter jet. With the guns. While flying in it. Life continues to write the weirdest stories.

 

[Notebook]

Maid of the Loch slips back into water
An attempt to take Maid of the Loch out of Loch Lomond has been abandoned for the day after the paddle steamer broke free.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-scotland-46829940/maid-of-the-loch-slips-back-into-water

You can't turn your back for a second. Happily no one hurt.

N.

 

[Urwumpe]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-scotland-46829940/maid-of-the-loch-slips-back-into-water

You can't turn your back for a second. Happily no one hurt.

N.

Luckily nobody got killed - this could have ended very bad, towing is one of the most dangerous operations.

 

[Notebook]

Quite, something went bang there.
This is where its going:

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/marine-accident-investigation-branch

 

[steph]

Had the most retarded car failure ever....fuel cap cover wouldn't open. Had this happen once before and googled the solution - pushing on the cover while opening and closing the car from the keys. Didn't work this time. Onboard computer (you can call it like that for a car, right? :lol: ) was showing 65 km range when this happened and I had around 80 km to go until home.
Hypermiled it like crazy, with pulse&glide wherever possible and driving at 70km/h in sixth with four-way blinkers on if the traffic was too heavy for that
Got home with less than 30 km of range. Well, I don't know how much, since the range just went blank after passing 30 km and kept reminding me to refuel :rofl: . Now, being at home, I'm pretty sure I can fix it by myself from the inside, but I just realized that on my way home, I passed the repair shop where I usually take it whenever stuff happens, but I was too stressed out about getting home tothink of taking it directly there for a quick fix :facepalm:

 

[Marijn]

Recently, I had a broken dynamo, so my battery wouldn't charge. Prices for replacement are easily 50% lower in the less crowded eastern part of the Netherlands, but that would mean a 110 km drive. What distance can you drive in an old gasoline car without charging the battery? Everybody I spoke to said I wouldn't be able to reach the garage.

Since I try to save some money, I decided to take a day off and take my chances.

I do have a road assitance subscription. So I called them and asked to come over to my place to powercharge my battery. They did so, but only for 15 minutes. The battery wasn't full when I departed.

I switched off every electric system I could and even tried to brake as less as possible to save some more electricity. With 40km to go, one system after the other started to fail. All displays were dead. I discovered warning lights in my car I never knew they were there. Also the engine started to run less smoothly. At about 5km out I thought the engine was going to fail.

My car finally came to a dead stop, exactly at the parking of the garage. Without even braking.

 

[Urwumpe]

Just calculated... I managed to drive normal for about 80 km with a failing alternator... it did produce some power, but most of the time the battery lamp was on.