[BE88] The Strategist

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I'm moving there. I feel that Blogger is not keeping up with the times, and that its functionality is very limited.

Updates stopped for this blog. Last post 20 August 2013.

Monday, August 04, 2008

Recently I've managed to get hold of the beta key for Battlefield Heroes, thanks to someone in a forum I'm moderating (rawr, I'm a moderator). I think I said something like that in the previous post. Anyway, the blue screen of death showed a file which goes something like this "ati___". That prompted me to update of graphic card drivers.

There's a deep history behind updating my graphic card drivers. In most cases, its just like installing any old thing, what's the big deal? The problem is, I'm using a laptop, and hence I'm using an ATI Mobility card. Apparently, ATI doesn't support cards that are used in Acer systems.

So, I had to find means and ways to try to install the driver (the setup does a check). I managed to bypass the check one day, and I installed it. It worked fine for about 4 months or so, with the exception that I had to "function + F5" sometimes when I started a game, as it may launch with a black screen only. After that, the moment I click the thingy to log in to the system, the screen goes black, and I discover that the resolution changes. Thanks to Launchy, I manage to log out, after which I can then do the "function F5" thing (for some reason it doesn't work at the desktop). All because of that, I decided to downgrade to my previous stable drivers.

So just last week, I updated my drivers again. Fortunately, the problem of the screen turning black on logging in has disappeared. Maybe its because of the Service Pack 3 update. The screen still remains black when launching a game though.

Right. After that stupid story, I can finally share about the recent games I've been playing, Battlefield Heroes and Portal.

Well yeah, Battlefield Heroes is a pain in the ass to get started. Anyway, the level of customization you can do for your character is great. There's hats, necklaces, earrings, tops, a top under the top, gloves, bottoms, shoes. Can't remember if there's more. And there's at least 3 each for each of these categories. Then there's at least 5 different types of guns, depending on which class you've picked. Soldier, the all-rounded class, gunner, the heavy weapons guy, and commando, the stealthy sniper.

This FPS game gives all FPSes out there a nice twist to the game. Your character can level up, and it can use abilities. You can heal yourself with these abilities, increase your defense, absorb explosions and so on. As its only in the closed beta phase, there's only 2 maps. And as seen in the similarity of the title, the game has very similar game mechanics with Battlefield 2.

Portal was a game I've always been dying to play, simply because of the phrase "the cake is a lie". I've always wanted to know the story behind it, and what it means. For the Half-Life 2 games, I can only play them after my drivers are updated. Portal is a pretty interesting game. It starts out as a simple, happy game, with cake promised as the prize at the end. It slowly turns into some horror/thriller game with warning signs, and the word "help" is often seen lying around, written in blood. At the end, when you advance to get your cake, you slowly move into a pit of fire. Then you got to escape, and things like that. Gets pretty freaky at this part. There are no horror scenes, its just the whole feel that makes it freaky.

Supposed to go for the 3D animation lesson today, but when I went to check out the computer lab, the teacher was alone in the room... How sad. Anyway, I'm starting to find the lessons a little boring. Besides, we're guided step by step, with no real idea what we're doing. The knowledge will be lost in less than a week (if you're good, a month). Later I saw someone I know, who attends the lesson , head towards the lab. Unfortunately he always leaves halfway, so good luck to the teacher inside.

posted @ 7:15 pm
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