Gaming: Warhammer Online Lvl 11 - 15 Impressions

I recently caught up with Balisk; a highly irritable, threatening member of the Destruction Army in Ostermark, for a quick interview. It was a struggle to just to meet with the rank 15 marauder, whose unwritten motto was, "rip, kill, destroy, yeah, yeah, oh, yeah."

Me: Thank you for taking the time to talk to me, Balisk.

Balisk: Wot?

Me: Um.. Since rank 11 what would you say is the best part of Warhammer Online?

Balisk: Killing people . . killing them on their heads. . .

Me: Great, and what about the public quests and general PvE?

Balisk: Wot?

Me: Um, you like to do anything other than killing people?

Balisk: Kill people . . . what Balisk do . . . monster bashing okay sometimes--pays bills.

Me: So you'd say that killing people is the best part of Warhammer at this point?

Balisk: Warband is ass kick--kill lots of good good white shoes. . .

Fast Cards . . .

A new baby has been born! No, not the bad kind that constantly asks for a dog and pukes on your sofa, no--the video card kind! That's right, my new baby is born and I've named it AssKicker. It's an Evga Geforce GTX 295, and wow it sure is cute! Too bad I've got to wait for this baby to be delivered in the mail some time next week, but it sure is exciting!

This bad boy is supposedly something between two Geforce 280's and 260's sandwiched together for massive SLI performance in single box.

I had previously looked at the ATI Radeon 4870 X2 cards that were available because they were really fast and a bit cheaper.

But then I remembered just how much ATI fucking blows.

The 3 ATI video cards I have owned, 2 Radeon 9700 Pros and 1 9800 Pro, would all run super HOT, and despite my best efforts, overheat the machine and reset at the best possible moments during gameplay. At one point, I had a window A/C unit blowing refrigerated air into my computer case to try and cool it down during my Battlefield 1942 days in hopes that I could play without the computer resetting. OH, the Radeon would have none of it and loved to flip that invisible power switch, if only because it felt like it.

One day, I got tired of dealing with the bullshit and bought an Nvidia 6800 Ultra. Oh, the devil wasn't happy with this at all! But he couldn't do SHIT because the 6800 Ultra was the baddest card in the land and had NO problems running! . . . and then it kicked him in the balls!

Ever since then I've been running with Nvidia, not with the devil (bad joke?)... This new baby will replace the last flawless asskicker I bought from Nvidia, the venerable 8800 GTX. I look forward to the arrival of my new baby, and have broken out the "Nvidia green" receiving blankets. :)

. . . and Faster Work

It's that time of the year! CRUNCH TIME! This is the time that every game programmer knows is an inevitable part of game development and is always just waiting around the corner. We always have suspicions when it will begin, but never really know.

For those of you not in the know, crunch time is when your producer decides it's time for you to quit slacking, get your ass in gear, and finally do the all of the extra work they will give you tomorrow. If that means you're going to spend all night, every night, up at work getting it done . . . well, that's just a price we're willing to pay--all the microwave burritos you can eat.

All kidding aside, crunch time is really no problem for me anymore since I've been moved over to help out with The Conduit. You really can't believe the difference it makes to be working on a title you actually might play. I mean, as a professional you're always going to put forth your best effort, but when it's a project you really enjoy it makes the tasks so much easier to do. After crunching for development on the Dora and Diego kids games (made simultaneously) I wanted to beat children.

Now I find myself spending too much time at work because making shit work feels like a real contribution--I like the game, I know the engine, and even though I've been on the project for only a couple of weeks I can fix (or at least complain about) obvious design problems.

Today I didn't have to work, but I did--and it was good. I got a lot of shit knocked out and didn't have to worry about some idiot, for the umpteenth fucking time, asking me how to set up his NDEV kit because he's too stupid to read/figure out the entire wiki page on it. I didn't stay up there too long, though--as soon as I got hungry, and the microwave burritos came to mind, I knew it was time to leave...

Current Books: With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa - Sledge (FIVE STARS)
Current Games: Warhammer Online, Rock Band 2

Personal: I've lost a good friend

There's nothing quite like finding out a good friend of yours has been killed in car crash. When I got the email that my friend, Bruce Six, was dead at 34, my jaw literally dropped. I simply stared at the screen, not able to grasp what I was reading. The idea that the guy who I just spoken with on the phone two weeks before was no longer in existence, really blew my mind. I kept thinking all day afterwards that I needed to give him call, then realizing that he's not going to answer. I had to resist a strange temptation to call anyway, in some kind of hopes that he would pick up.

When my grandmother passed away a few years ago, it was easier to accept--she had lived a full life and was, let's face it, elderly. It was still very sad and I have fond memories of my grandmother, but this was different. Bruce still had kids--his son, the same age as my daughter, used to drive her around a field out back on a go-kart while they cheered loudly.

Bruce, being an incredible mechanic, would often help me, my brother, and friends keep our POS cars running. Several years ago he broke down my entire transmission to check the synchronizers and put it back together in less than 3 hours--I still drive on that transmission in this Mustang today. Bruce's real auto love was his 1970 Chevy Nova that ran 10s at the local track.

Bruce was one of the "original" crowd of LAN-party gamers in San Angelo, Texas. We started out playing Unreal Tournament and its early successors, but I turned him on to Battlefield 1942, and our bud, Jimmy, showed us the Desert Combat mod for it. When Battlefield 2 came out, we all frothed at the mouth. We spent numerous late nights driving tanks, firing rockets, and manning 50 cal machine guns all while yelling loudly, sometimes waking up the kids. Bruce was the best helicopter pilot there was in the game on any server. Those were some of the best nights of my life.

I recorded a lot of BF2 helicopter fights we used to have, complete with Bruce yelling wildly in microphone, but I don't think I can go back and listen to any of them--too painful. Bruce was a great guy and will be sorely missed. Rest in peace, my friend.

Ramble: Video Games made me shoot Jack Thompson...

... oh that's not very Christian. Oh, who's to say? Apparently our favorite anti-game, (now disbarred) attorney Jack Thompson now speaks for God himself. .. and God punishes those that like video games.

What *REALLY* pisses me off about this guy is not his stance on video games (which is moronic), but that he's just another self-righteous prick that makes anyone else who shares the Christian faith look like an out of touch buffoon--we're ready to condemn your soul to HELL! I mean, does this guy really think that he's going to convince anyone that they need to be a Christian after this? "OH, come and join us . . . um, 'cause we're Christians and we're RIGHT."

I bet that dip-shit could write a best-seller on indirect Satanism without even knowing it.

If you have a strong stance on video games, so be it; but please don't think you speak for all Christians and wipe your ass with a hand on loan from God.

Mr. Thompson, how this works out for you is not for me to decide . . . but as a man who believes in Christ, stop including me in your descent into the bowels of hatred and vitriol . . .

. . . and eat shit!