Xbox - Moto GP review

| GAME FEATURES |	Developer : Climax
A.) 10 exciting, twisted, professional league tracks.	Publisher : THQ
B.) Nice looking graphics that take advantage of xbox hardware	Released on May 22, 2002
C.) Tight control seen only in NASCAR and grand prix games.
D.) The entire soundtrack is techno. Lame music. It is in high quality, but it's not the music I would look for in a grand prix game like this one. Not really good techno, but atleast it lets me listen to songs of the harddrive.	Type : Motorcycle Racing

I never owned a motorcycle racing game before. I've seen professional racing of this type on television. I figured that this game had to be a cross between Formula 1 World Racing and European stock car racing or "the Le Mans series" In MotoGP you get all the racers in the grand prix in 2001. The game features multible texture layers and looks more like the real thing. It hasn't become the ultimate racer for Xbox. But since xbox is low on high-quality racing titles, this game makes it seem all good.

Sometimes the Grand Motocycle Championship can alter games to what it feels is morally right. For example, if you drive a motorcycle on slippery conditions and you lean to far to the right on a sharp right corner, it'll throw you off your bike 10 feet infront of it wasting valuable seconds and since your in last place in the championship, you only have 10 seconds to cross start after the leader.(unless your in time trials, then your time getting to start is infinate) gives you even less time when you cross the start lap 2. What I do in this game is on curves coast until I'm 90% finishing with my turn before pressing A to accelerate. Sometimes brakes near the inner corner can save you speed and time just like the real championship races. But never brake too late or you'll overseer your bike which could mean fatal.

The training mode and the Grand Prix mode are the hardest modes in MotoGP. In training mode your bike has to swerve to the left (or right) to pass the cone and do a 180 around the last cone in 20 seconds or you repeat the process. This is not easy. In fact I never got pass it yet. It's best to do time trials until you can successfully stay on the pavement for 1 or 2 laps. The tracks, especially the replica of Le Mans, are full of sharp, dangerous, corners. In time trials, the game automatically loads your ghost (ghostly image that repeats the best lap time while you continue to race.) Racing yourself can be fun. When you leave your ghost by quitting, the ghost is saved on xbox's massive 8 GigaByte harddrive automatically.

Summing up Moto GP
Graphics	9.9	MotoGP has the best graphics I've seen in a racing title for Xbox. I seen Halo so I had to leave a point off ;) This game carries far in this area. It has cloudy days that look very detailed. The bikes themselves have several layers of detail on them. The game doesn't have any odd placed pixel or low resolution or deformed color. None at all! The rain can be really realistic while you race the game's 8 tournament tracks. It's incredible what the xbox can do. The sequel is also out.
Control	8.5	The control is loose. You must slow down before each curve to prevent oversteering. But this can easily be avoided in 3 to 4 hour practice in time trials.
Orginalism	10.0	This is the only professional motocycle racing game I tried. It comes with a load of options. The dynamic intro is cool. And the menu with the film capture of the real motogp in the background is a nice addition. The grand prix mode is well layed out (other then that it's medium hard) It is possible to tweak your bike to make it faster / slower, turner sharper or brake sooner. It's not as hardcore as BMX, but it is still hardcore racing, European style.
Sound Effects	8.0	The game features great engine sounds
Replayibly	10.0	I could come back to this game all the time. The time trials are really exciting. It could also be that I own 3 xbox titles and got sick of my dreamcast titles. Being my choice on any xbox game I give this game a perfect 10.

Nintendo has come to my attention that the company is going to release "The Ulitmate Collection" sometime later this year. This is extremely interesting to me since N64 games including Star Fox, Goldeneye, Super Mario 64, Mario Kart, Orcania of Time, and Banjo Kazooie. No these games won't feature great graphics, but they'll feature other enhancements that were bugs in the orginal N64 games. No such news. We know that Orcania of Time was released earlier this year. Now that game is becoming appart of the Ultimate Editition Collection. All these games will start at 25 dollars. It might me a long run, but Orcania of time could sell 500,000 copies added the 2 million it sold in 1998. Is this worth the dollar when you have the Nintendo 64 game already at home? I'll let you decide.

Guess what everyone. I got an Xbox today. I was excited for a little while. I got one with a modem in it. I was looking for a web browser but their isn't any for Xbox yet. So I also got 2 new games, used copies of Sega GT 2002 / Jet Grid Radio and Project Gundam. I am going to get Halo soon. I've heard it's an amazing game. Read my Xbox Review page. I've also updated my Dreamcast review page. I added Nintendo to the Greatest Developers of all time.

What do I really want to spend my money on? I am having money come in from offerings my parents give me on Lunch money for school. I do usually spend that cash on games. My latest xbox game Moto GP, I got for 14 dollars at the used videogame store. I am looking for more xbox games. Or do I want to reinsert a soundcard into my other pc. It got zapped with static electricity. That would only cost me 20 dollars to replace it. Or do I wait a little longer and get a Action Replay for Xbox. With that I can download saved videogames off the Internet and put it on xbox with use of network cable linking the xbox with my hub to my pc.

This week is my last week of high school. What do I do then? To answer that question, I don't know. Well I'm planning to go to a technical college in New Richmond, Wisconsin to see if I can find a CISCO class to continue being educated toward Unix Software Technican. CISCO is a company, I knew it was a network service that most Unix technicians have to learn before they enter a work placement. So CISCO and SUN Microsystems go head to head with each other to provide the best product. I think SUN is winning. Because they have copyrighted their own javascript called "Sun Java" and then SUN has the Solaris Operating System. So maybe when I get a job there. The world is full of opportunity. then When you loose your job from inflation, your life is then suppose to suck, because those companies are looking for inexperienced unix technicians with good GPA scores. These young adults pick up on more and do more for less money then most of the high positions. But a lot of times the lowest positions is the backbone of the company. The companies running software, like Redhat, look for new talent, which not everybody has. I'm not going to be those people with no talent.

Xbox - Project Gotham review

| GAME FEATURES |	Developer : Bizzare Creations
A.) 4 tracks already unlocked. 4 cars to drive and a 6 paint options. See more in the review ....	Publisher : Microsoft
B.) The 4th best looking racing game on Xbox as of today.	Released on Sept 15, 2001
C.) About the same exact gameplay in SEGA GT
D.) Poor selection of songs.	Type : Racing

The good old Dreamcast had some amazing titles on the racing realm. For example, I have Test Drive Le Mans and Test Drive V Rally. V Rally is the best racer I ever played. That's because I liked Mario Kart 64, then I got into Sega Rally 2. For a very short time I was into Tokyo Extreme Racer and now I got into Sega GT 2002. I disagree with the Project Gundam case when the game isn't my favorite. The case says "The best racing game for Xbox" Midnight Club II is around the corner and is looking good. But I like Sega GT 2002 better for Xbox. So what does Sega GT 2002 have that Project Gundam doesn't. More tracks. Better music. A lot of little things such as the lighting effects are exactly the same. SEGA GT 2002 came out 6 months after Project Gundam. I don't find the driving point system annoying. I just have a problem with it. I can average 430 points on this game. The game has obsyicles such as cones that you must avoid. If you don't you use points. If you ram the wall you loose more point. It adds up. I suppose you can ignore it and put in cheat codes. But that is missing the point. I just don't like it as much. It could be that the game is so well designed that I'm missing the whole prospective. I have been in console racing since 1998. Since then I went though 4 more consoles.

Summing up Project Gotham
Graphics	9.5	Excellent graphics. I've seen the sequel on the Internet so I have to say that these graphics are sub-standard in 2003. Like Sega GT 2002. Fortunely, there hasn't been any slow downs. This game features cone motion. The game is full of them. This is where the cones, when knocked by the race car, spin and turn. It's noticably good when the camera zooms in, it spins, then zooms out. The sun flare is also a enhanced feature that looks very good on the Xbox. This has been done for many years on simulation games. But this game makes it look really good. The Xbox is running at a higher resolution. Which means more animation on screen. In english. Microsoft didn't hold back much when they've created the xbox. Because Microsoft is a monopoly and has a net value of a couple billion. They have the money to spend on big projects like this one which costs 100 million to make. So 50 times 1 million is 1 dollar. So out of 5 the 5 dollars it cost to develop and package the game. Microsoft is getting 15 dollars or more dollars back. So Microsoft puts that into other expensive projects like Project Gundam 2.
Control	8.5	The control is loose like Sega GT 2002.
Orginalism	7.0	This is the aging concept of street racing. Driving for points gets annoying, but I can ignore it. Its not too annoying. It just tells you how good of driver you really are. The high scores are left blank. So I compete against myself. An advanced gamer could probably be able to play this game without hesitation.
Sound Effects	10.0	The engine sounds are great. The sound of the engine skips like a real engine would when you down shift. Plus the Dolby Digital enhancement makes the sound effects live and crystal clear.
Replayibly	9.0	Dispite the fact that I don't care much about the point system. The game delievers a awesome slow down and speed up drill that you repeat a lot in the game. It doesn't get boring. Using the hand brake to add points is very cool if it is done correctly. The game has a stuning replay mode which does all kinds of camera angles. Closeups are also equally eye popping.

'm working on a flash animations through Swish! again. Finding templates off the web that you can edit has become rare. I am without any good animations. Except for the one that I already have. I was looking for a high tech banner. However I found a program called MixFX and this program unlike counterparts makes decent images with the speical effects it has with it. Two days ago I've downloading both Jasc Paint Shop Pro 8 and Selteco BannerShop Animator 3.0. Both are state-of-the-art image editors. PSP8 has add-on packages that are big in size. I don't know when I'm going to download them, but I will eventually. I've updated the cracks.zip too. I added my class pic to the gallery. Sorry about the low resolution. I had to make it small enough so people could download it within 2 minutes.

Xbox - NASCAR Thunder 2003

| GAME FEATURES |	Developer : EA Sports
A.) enhanced gameplay over last years version	Publisher : EA Sports
B.) Better soundtrack then last year .	Released on October 10, 2002
C.) Play (and Unlock) all Winston Cup drivers. Plus play my favorite driver Dale Earnhart, that's right it's like he never died in this game.
D.)	Type : Racing

Nascar Thunder 2003 feels different then Nascar Thunder 2002. When your on the track and in your turn, you'll realise that the game is looser then before. I've own Nascar Thunder 2002 for only a short while before I gave it to a videogame dealer for cash. So this is the 2nd Nascar game I've own. The other is Nascar '99 for the N64. And you don't get as much comment and music in Nascar '99 then on laserdisc with Nascar Thunder. However the N64 counterpart was so solid. Both games covered the same features. They both had a involving single player mode. The N64 game was realistic for a N64 title, but cars don't crash then take flight for 3 seconds from a head on collision of another car. Inside you get the more realistic bump and loose control scene in the game. Personally I did not really like Nascar Thunder 2002. It had country music in the title. Although it didn't make me croak, I did seem to like the modified standards EA Sports put in the car before I took it for a test drive at Daytona or Darwin International Speedway. The game gives you the best medications for your Nascar. Like in 2002 it took me 2 tries to go in first place in Rookie mode in Single Player Mode. Everything was set up exactly how it would be if you had a chance to win. Rockie Modes easy. So I tried changing the settings, and since I don't know jack about Nascar medications, I did worst on my runs most of the time. It's a fun game, obviously visually things got better from the N64 game to the Xbox. More effects on screen. It is just to bad that EA Sports had the Nascar Thunder 2003 Edition at it's lowest common denominator. Thus it looks a lot like the PS2 version of the game. Do buy it though, it's the top rated Nascar game ever on a console. Just because it's newer and has flashier graphics by no means mean it's the best in the racing genre. Though Nascar Thunder 2003 runs up there in the one of the best. If I had a choice between F1 2003 and Nascar Thunder 2003, I would pick Nascar Thunder 2003 merely because it is an American Motor Sport and I've been paying attention to Nascar more then World Grand Prix. But then again there is "football" errr Soccer that I really enjoy playing game wise.

Summing up Nascar Thunder 2003
Graphics	8.5	Nascar Thunder 2003 looks as if EA Sports took a backstep towards the game that came out in 2001. In the game, you get pixels in the animation which shouldn't of really been their. But it looks like they've added pixels and for scenery onto their game. Example would be the people. they look like small puppets in this game and the other game, but somehow the crowd looks more lively and more realistic. So now your asking me does the game look better or worst then Nascar Thunder 2002. I would have to say worst. When we say that EA Sports taking a back step, I saying it still looks above average still after 2 year gap between the first and second Nascar game for XBOX. I doesn't look as good as Madden football or some exclusive racers for Xbox.
Control	9.0	It is easy to control the vehicle. But it's hard to master it. Aka. skidding all over the place is bad. This game features what is called the draft effect. When your directly behind a car you get less resistance between the two, so you become closer.
Orginalism	9.5	I haven't seen Nascar games in my home since 1999 so I would like to say that this is ingeniously created franchise is number one in my book. Even more then Project Gotham or Sega GT 2002.
Sound Effects	10.0	The engine sounds sound more realistic then any Nascar game I've encounter. In my option the sound effects are perfect.
Replayibly	8.0	I'm don't follow Nascar as much, so I become disinterested in this game. The game is cool! But I like the street racing that comes with Sega GT 2002. Seeing cars that go around on a track isn't as interesting as curving, real replicas of Touring car tracks else where.

I applied my website at Golden Web Awards and I got in the top 100 of the month of May! I haven't looked on my Email and that's what it said. Thanks Golden Web Awards! This is what the message said :

:

As a previous Winner of the prestigious Golden Web Award, we wanted to make you aware of this special offer to get your personalized Golden Web Award Certificate. If you purchase a personalized Golden Web Award Certificate between now and May 10th, you will pay only $19.95 and you will automatically receive a second Personalized Award Certificate (a perfect gift to give to your partners, favorite webmaster or staff) Absolutely Free!!!

Your Golden Web Award Certificate will arrive via First Class mail and is presented ready to frame, complete with Gold Foil Seals and original Signatures of both our President and Chairman congratulating you on your success!

Congratulations Once again,
Darin L. Carter
I.A.W.M.D. Chairman
Now Serving 325,000 Online Business Professionals
in more than 145 Countries around the World!

Wow, I really got in. Amazing. My website must mean something to someone. I would of got the certificate if my dad would of gave his credit card out. Because of credit card fraw on the Internet he wouldn't of done it. But that is amazing. Look at the Golden Web Awards of the month of May to see my webpage listed.

I found this awesome Anime page by "Wings of Trinity" Something about the html that has been bothering me. It looks nice, but all the photoshop animation is much more superior then mine. What's up with the audio soundtrack? How did she get it so compressed? I haven't search for fan art for a long while. I forgot how good it's gotten. I've also been at IcyBrians.com. All the good artists in the world have drawn spectacular cartoons on the Internet. His collection is pretty good.

Xbox - Sega GT 2002

| GAME FEATURES |	Developer : A2
A.) Enhanced graphics over Dreamcast's Sega GT Special Edition. The xbox version is a sequel to that game.	Publisher : Sega
B.) Ability to listen to songs off harddrive is cool.	Released on March 20, 2002
C.) 12 tracks to play around with. Tracks can be mirrored to add to the gameplay experience.
D.) Sega's only *car* racing game of 2002. Crazy Taxi 3 isn't a racing game.	Type : Racing

Sega makes one hell of a racing title. So this game is above average. Every game I buy is above average. I don't know Xbox too well so it was a catch 22 to pick the right game. I'm not rich, I can't sample all the Xbox titles at once. This game was made exclusive to Xbox. If you know of Project Gotham and McCollens Rally 3 for Xbox. This is the other high profile racing title. It's been developed by a developer;s house at SEGA. It has Japan written all over it. Although Xbox is made in America. The once popular videogame maker. Eh, getting popular videogame maker. Sega is not out of the race, they are here to stay. They have the money to deliver state-of-the-art videogames.

The cars are still very polished. It's hard to deBate which game gets a perfect score of 10 in the graphics department. It'll probably be the upcoming Midnight Club sequel for Xbox. You can tell that the game was developed near the end of 1st generation xbox games. So in English, the game looks better then the latest demos for the Gamecube. The first generation is graphics that the Xbox had when it first came out on September 15, 2001. Microsoft didn't see a direct effect on microsoft sales due to 9.11. It was way better then the PS2 in terms of graphics from the very beginning. Both consoles render differently and Xbox has 4 times the Bus speed in it's cache. Sega created a game that was well compared to Project Gotham, the other game that I have. The background is really cool. It has sun spots that are more realistic then PS2s. However since the Xbox does have extra graphical power (every gamer should know this) and the Xbox does a cleaner job with the sky. As you can see I got the second version. The game disc I own had some bug fixes. So far the control is loose. You have to apply the brakes in all tracks. I like loose control. How fast does your car turn at 200 MPH? Same deal in this game. You can't turn very far at full throddle. Sega GT has all the tracks at the start. Some of these type of racers have locked tracks / cars. This only has unlocked cars. In arcade mode the simulation. There are a lot of cars. Who cares where they come from, I can drive it. If I can drive it, I'll have fun! Somehow, Sega managed to out all of those cars on screen without slowing down. This is stellar as it is right here. The game runs at a blazing 60 frames per second all the time.

The soundtracks are purely European. Professional dance remixes. Not exactly trance, but it doesn't sound like rock neither. Not the kind of music that belongs to our pop culture. Some of these songs are even good in a scary way. I am sure that Sega got these songs from somewhere. They be genius' if they would of mixed it themselves. They've must of taken it from the top charts in the UK / Europe and put it all into their game. In English though, it's gran tranismo music. Most songs have a good beat to them. I give the music a 10/10 since you can also put your favorite music and have it play during the game. The game even shuffles the music for you. The music can be in MP3 or WAV format. (article posted on May 25, 2003)

Summing up Sega GT 2002
Graphics	9.3	Excellent graphics. I am a new xbox gamer so I'll probably think that all those graphics are really cool regardless. But yes, the difference between xbox and Gamecube is noticeable. This game has a lot of high resolution art on xbox. It hasn't quit reached the 2nd generation type xbox games. (The ones with more effects on screen while still supporting more pixels in the animation) So in English, it looks the same as Gran Tranismo 3 A Spec for the PS2. Ok, so that's great!
Control	8.5	It is easy to control the vehicle. But it's hard to master it. Aka. skidding all over the place is bad. This game features what is called the draft effect. When your directly behind a car you get less resistance between the two, so you become closer.
Orginalism	7.0	This game is definably a genuine rip of the PS2 game "Gran Tranismo 3 : A Spec". But Sega does an excellent job at it.
Sound Effects	8.0	Nice engine sounds. The sounds of the engine are excellent Soundtracks are ok.
Replayibly	9.0	Good section of maps and cars. With 25 soundtracks that come with the game alone! It's a good game. Not the best. The best so far is the Dreamcast title Test Drive V Rally. I love that game. But defiantly look at it. The game has been out for a year. The price of this game can always go down.

Xbox - Unreal Champtionship review

GAME FEATURES |	Developer : Epic Games
A.) good graphics, the return of Unreal Tournament	Publisher : Atari
B.) 14 levels to play with in Deathmatch, however this is small comparison with UT2003's 30 levels with a growing amount of new maps on the Internet.	Released on June 22, 2002
C.) Smoothed out gameplay. This is a fun game for lan parties. It is one of the first XBOX games that will be broadband able.
D.) questionable gameplay ????	Type : First Person Shooter

I played Unreal Tournament ever since the demo came out in 1999. If you haven't already played this game and seen Unreal Tournament 2003 for the PC, you know that this Xbox game is the exact same thing. Unreal Tournament is the only game that I thought would go through with my buddies and have a blast playing. Besides some old favorites such as Diablo II, or Goldeneye 007 (N64) and Starfox (N64) This holds true with this game, but just enough, because control in this game takes some getting use too. I am really use to be able to have a mouse / keyboard when I play Unreal Tournament. The Dreamcast was set up with one when the prequel came out for it. This didn't stop me from getting the sequel. In the sequel, the graphics have improved. It was in those years that games ran in low and high resolution. In 2003 everything is in high resolution. The game plays average to above average. I have experienced the same problem with the gamecube when you don't have lock-on battle systems, it makes it harder to stay on the other teams position for that Killer shot with the use of the most important crossfire on the screen.

One thing that I dislike about the Xbox is that it has 2 buttons, black and white, and in this game they allow you to jump and crotch. Your life depends on jumping. And the annoying enemy can get an extra annoying shot off you if you don't know how to jump !!!! The railgun isn't the most powerful weapon to use. In my opinion the weapon that inflicts the most damage is the machine gun and the flak gun. Both guns shoot random bullets which helps me corner a bot and kill him (her). I can close in for the kill but a lot of the time I will be counter attacked by his friends, and that isn't good.

The level design is really good. Some of the same levels are used in UT 2003. They all have good spaces where you do sniping. The guns stay in their spots throughout the game. So everytime you have to go back to get the weapon, hence the word, camping near the best weapon. But there are exclusive Xbox deathmatch levels, and capture the flag levels. The xbox also has this exclusive mode were you go through hoops with the ball. Through it I mean. Haven't tried it out yet. It sounds that it's not that great.

While Half-life invented Capture the Flag, Unreal Tournament took it to the next level. The polygons are far superior to the PS2's Unreal Tournament. But with the blazing new faster PCs coming out every month, the UT for PC looks better on those higher priced PCs. The capture the flag is really the most popular team based operation. I personally will play the game in Deathmatch, and such is because the action is there and the solution is simple, shoot down anything in site. If your use to the Playstation controller (those of you who played Unreal Tournament for PS2) know that the xbox controller is big and bulky. It feels like a cheap Gamecube controller. Which makes me wonder if Microsoft just copied the Gamecube controller so it could bring many Nintendo developers to it. While that can't be true, I think the part where the Gamecube controller is probably the worst controller for First Person Shooters simpually because you have to aim one thumbstick to adjust while the other most right thumbstick is to aim. What the console counterpart should be used for is to play with Friends. People are starting to own their second computer. In my house, we have 4 computers ranging from 1 to 3 years old. Only 2 can run UT2003 decently.

Team Deathmatch

Team deathmatch is my favorite kind of mode (with no mods). In Unreal Tournament this is the absolute way to start your game. You can get skills in this mode to play in story mode (which you defeat bosses along the way with a gun) But Team Deathmatch you can also play with your friends, which is cool. Unreal Championship does not come with as many deathmatch maps as Unreal Tournament 2003. The reason, every map had to be good enough to be put on the Xbox. The maps are dynamic and very colorful. The game runs at 60 FPS so there are not too many slow downs. There are a lot of passageways in these Deathmatches, so you can not easily find the enemy because they do travel as a team. Once you track them down, then all hell breaks loose. The ememy can loop around the back and shoot you in the back as you advance forward and break their line, it's a squad that is lethal and you need to seek and destroy, much like Bombing Run.

Bombing Run

A new mode found only in Unreal Tournament 2003 and Unreal Championship. Some gamers will argue that this is the best mode of the whole game. On novice setting all your squad does is seek and destroy, much is very straight forward! If you team has a ball, their be this indicator which shows who has the ball. The objective is to get the ball to the other teams place. AI is pretty good. Your the squad leader so it's your choice to either stay back and perfect your zone or go out and attack. I say definably go on Defense. The chances are that the other team is doing the same thing. It's not stealth like in Tom Clancy's Splitter Cell, but is actually the opposite.

Summing up Unreal Championship
Graphics	10.0	Excellent graphics. This game excels in the graphics department. No game looks better on the Xbox then the Halo franchise, but this game comes in a close second. It has vast environments. The character models are pretty good. However the bitmap textures has been smoothed out a little on the character models. Epic games did an exceptional job on this game in this area. No game besides Halo and a few others are able to stand up to it.
Control	8.5	The Xbox has 2 joysticks. One is to turn the character at a 360° angle, the other joystick is suppose to turn the weapon at a 360° angle. Together Epic Games created a decent gameplay experience. I don't like reaching down for the tiny black and white buttons below the diamond shaped button pattern on the xbox controller. It sucks.
Orginalism	9.0	Quake, Unreal Tournament and Half-Life are all the same when it comes to multiplayer. They all have Team Deathmatch, Deathmatch, and Capture the Flag, the 3 main essentials in a first person shooter. UT Championship is no different from these. The gamer can get health packs, weapon powerups, adrenaline for his fighting fury as he progresses through the levels. First Person Shooters are such a solid concept and aren't dying out, in fact their getting more popular then ever before!
Sound Effects	9.0	The mature gamer might not be bothered by the gore in the game, or the extreme Ahhs and getting hammered with a machine gun. But the game does have bad language in it. IF you have this game at a higher volume, which I know most of you probably will, you just don't want teammates or the enemy crying out endless amounts of profanity at you. You can always turn the option "Mature Taunts"
Replayibly	8.0	The game in the end is questionable. No doubt that Unreal Tournament is a good franchise to own. But Unreal Tournament came short in maps and playable characters. What you have is well developed. You have plenty of wide open spaces to have 1:1 duels. 2:1 duels, 3:1 duels or purely mass suicide for yourself. And the enemy will outsmart you by running away. Of course a lone player controlled by the computer not wounded enough is going to find their teammates and then I say "Ouch!" Some AI controlled players in this game will stand it out and bring death to himself.

(article posted June 06, 2003 4:50 PM)

My second project absolutely done at the University Check it out here. I'm done cramming all work I had yet to do before the Linux program was done for the year. It was cut. People must hate programmers at that school. Everyone must think we're not doing anything. Eating donuts, not caring much about worksheets in class. WE'RE PROGRAMMERS, WE DON'T CARE, WE DON'T DO ANYTHING UNLESS WE'RE TOLD TO DO IT! We learned mostly about how to come up with good shell script on how to ping each other. When that failed to work, we just used the GUI. When your in a large classroom, nothing is going to work. Jerry didn't count that against the class. Jerry is our Unix guy. He has over 25 years of experience in shell scripting. I paid attention in class. I'm not like the others. I had my graduation ceremony. I going to graduate from high school at least.

New vistors must of seen the enhancements I've done. Like the green and blue marble backgrounds. I came across these while surfing the Internet for backgrounds and they were perfect for my webpage then having a white background. Transparent Flash has came out this year. I knew it exsists but I couldn't find a sample until today. I'll never put my background in Selteco Flash Designer again. Flash animation + background image = compressed animation (25 KB) instead of 103 KB I would have had if I included the background with the swf. Isn't new technolegy great!

I found a way to connect to the Internet through SuSe Linux. I bought a somewhat expensive external modem, Modem Blaster from Creative, it worked. It hooked up to my serial port. I recently had a US Robotics 56K PCI FAx Modem. The USR never showed up until I attached the external modem to the computer. Then it showed up. I used YaST to connect to my ISP. Then the USR modem does work in SuSe and I've spent a lot of extra money for nothing.

I found a game that copies the card dealing games in Final Fantasy 8 called Questra RPG Legends. I don't know why they called it that? Anyway it's the same game in FF8. I've been playing it. It's not good enough to put on my game list though. I get beaten most of the time merely because I loose a Diablo right way. Diablo is a good card in this game.

Xbox - Halo review

GAME FEATURES | Developer : Bungie A.) great co-operation play Publisher : Microsoft B.) A very long game. Your advantage, having a squad of your own. However these guys are only moral and if not careful, they'll die in front of you in the beginning. Released on November 15, 2001 C.) many cut scenes describing the story in a lot of detail D.) Four species of the Coveniant. The small guys are easy, but there are species that carry shields who are twice as big as you are. Type : First Person Shooter This game will be coming out for the PC in two months and will be Microsoft's giant Multiplayer, amazingly 3D, first person shooter. Only because it is Microsoft's only online first person shooter. Halo is already has some amazing co-operation both by squad members and extra players. This is what the developer, Bungie, hasn't forgot. When you die, the game is never over, you just sent back to the last checkpoint in the game. I find having the television volume up is the best way to stay alive. For example, you can hear your teammates saying commands or taunts over the radio. It's really helpful to hear what they have to say. In a lot of ways this game is a above average military (co-op action genre) game which so happens to be a first person shooter. STORY You and some remaining colonist have just survived the illnilation of a small planet and your ship called "The Pillar of Autumn" want some pay back. Halo isn't any name of a planet or commander of the alien army. Halo is ground zero for your launch of super explosive hardware on a small deserted asteroid belt. The Covenant are keeping you successfully planting a bomb in their mothership on Halo. Anyway these aliens already know where Earth is and want to destroy it so humans don't exist and wind out like many other alien species, extinct like the dinosaurs. And this spawned a trilogy of games, Halo (2001), Halo 2 (2003) and Halo 3 (2005.) The year is 2525 and we've only colonized space for a 100 years. 2001 Game of the Year In the game you pass some awesome scenery. Getting "The Game of the Year" in 2001 would have been already awarded when Halo came out. E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo in LA) holds "The Game of the Year" awards in October. Bungie would of easily stole that award for best action game of 2002 if Nintendo haven't released Metroid Prime. Both games are really good. Ahead of it's time in 2001. Probably the only honor achievement Microsoft had with the Xbox. I heard of this game a year ago and gamers have said that Halo was the game to own on Xbox. One year later I had a chance to played this game. It is good. The military tactics are realistic. Halo is a game that makes Rainbow Six look like a maggot. It has military tactics that the other Tom Clancy's Splitter Cell couldn't easily done. This would be over rating Halo because I've never tried Splitter Cell. Campain Mode and Multiplayer Mode(s) The game also has Multiplayer Modes. Almost all First Person Shooters have a Deathmatch mode. I've never tried Deathmatch. Halo also has Interlink cable where you can play 8 players in Deathmatch on four Xboxs. Halo is no different from other First Person Shooters, except that it has Co-op in the "campaign mode" The Co-op in campaign mode is splitscreen. The same idea Free Radical Design put into Timesplitters. Player 2 has the same armor and guns / ammo as player 1. Both go through the large levels in the game. In level 1 you landed on a deserted planet. Pyro (you) and selected squad members of the United Nations Space Command go towards and warp portal which you beam onto a alien ship. There you are surrounded with aliens who use guerilla tactics against your squad. Then Pyro needs to open doors / activate elevators without lossing teammates in the process. Very Easy is to Somewhat Easy. Easy is to good level. Normal is to hard. Hard is to Very Hard. Now for those of you who liked to drive --- The Jeep! ---- in Halo. The Jeep controls are as good as many driving games. Is it the power that makes you come back? Pyro can loose teammates in the process. However your squad doesn't feel as suicidal as Pyro does so they'll follow the red dots on Radar through out the game. Jeeps have machine guns mounted on top of it. So the right thumbstick controls the gun. It's easier firing at a distance then up close. Squad members don't get to drive Jeeps as much as you do. The point of this paragraph is driving Jeeps in Halo is fun! Which each new level you get new recruits. But like the 3rd level, you get to drive a Jeep, but your recon is lying dead somewhere just because the Covenant forces are to strong. Pyro must do eveything, including destroying the majority of the covenant. In level 4 when you crash into the mothership, but eracusally Pyro survives being rammed against the outshell. Inside is the covesant, and no recon. So it's up to you to go against really tough hunters with shields. Shields pertect them from everything including plasma grenades. Read this article from IGN.com. Summing up Halo Graphics 10.0 Halo has the Xbox hardware down packed. Like I said, this game won the 2001 Game of the Year award at E3. This game has a lot of particle effects to enjoy. Much like what guns look like in Unreal Tournament 2003. There are a lot of good looking enemies. The squad members have clarity in their faces instead of a washed out look that you'll see in games of this kind on Playstation 2 and Gamecube. Control 9.5 I like to say that controls are good. You can easily target the enemy. On the PC you'll get to play this game with a keyboard and mouse. The weapons can easily be sorted with the B button. A is for jumping. And naturally, the left and right triggers are for firing the weapon / tossing out grenades. Orginalism 10.0 Highly original. Bungie got the feel of some of those games that Red Storm Entertainment (developer for Tom Clancy's Splitter Cell, Rainbow 6 Raven Shield and DEUS EX) has. You can even include Perfect Dark and Goldeneye in this category. All are the leading military action games which require stealth a much as teamplay. Sound Effects 10.0 Halo is full of mature taunts and a radio with real military commands. Whether you follow them is your choice. Sometimes if you follow the commands of your squad, you'll see how valuable they are to you. The main point of this game is the weapon fire and the music. Yes, the gun firing sounds like a M-16 assault rifle or a double barrow 20 caliber sniper. The music is good and atmospheric for Halo. The game features futuristic industrial tunes. Replayibly 10.0 The main game is long. But what makes this an ideal xbox title was that it wasn't rushed in the production. The co-op game play was well thought out. The graphics are great. You'll have fun playing with a squad in campaign mode or deathmatch in multiplayer mode because of it's slick control.

[ Top ]

Suse 8.2 report completed

I haven't finished de-bugged this website yet. I know what I'll do I'll send a popup message saying you can't read this page in Netscape to warn users of errors. This website looks fine in Internet Explorer but some images haven't shown up in Netscape. Odd, but it shows up on Mozilla and Konqueror in Linux? Is that right? I am about to fix that sometime this weekend. I've added my SuSe Linux 8.2 Impressions to the Editorials page. This week is the last week of Intro to Unix college course. So I must hurry up with my source code and get it handed in before too long. At school I minded my own business. I'm thinking that should stop. I think I got to get out and talk to some people. Hmm what to say. I could talk about Linux all day but no one would care, besides I dont' know enough about Linux to appeal to even shell scripting students. Damn, I get lonely. I am always so glad I get home from school from the college. Not really to go to sleep, but get food in my stomach. I have really been going light on food when at school. For what you ask. A stupid game? I much rather spend my money on videogames then food. I was looking at that Nascar Thunder 2003 for Gamecube, honestly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Note from the Writer : Some readers
may view this page as Playderism. If you ever known about how open
the Linux community is about their opinions, you do now. There are
100s of websites that review SUSE LINUX. So if you read off of LinuxNews.org
or some of those first hits off Google, will you call those sites, Playderism?
They don't list their sources neither. While I should list my sources
after the sentences, I won't because I forget where I find the most
of this information. If you still think that this article is playderism
then leave. I don't want you here!

Suse Ltd was created in 1997
in Oakland, California. The four lucky people who created capital in
Suse includes Hubert Mantel, Burchard Steinbild, Roland Dyroff and
Thomas Fehr. Suse went into business with the goal of distributing
a better OS then Red Hat. Redhat publicly
introduced itself in 1998, one year before Linux sored high
on the stock market. (source : "Revolution OS" on
IFC ) Redhat has been making commercial versions
that weren't sold in stores until 1998 (Redhat 6.1). So it came
together by a group ownership. With SUSe's Germany operation(s),
Suse was able to create something competitive to Redhat's OS. Suse
bought the Jurix Linux source code and renamed it to Suse making a
much improved interface. By this time Linux was well established. Since the operating system was commercialized, it quadrupled in
size. Now we are at version 8.2 with version 9.0 around the corner.
Recently Suse went 64-bit instead of 32. This improved the interface,
it booted up faster and do more applications then it has done. Suse
has a office sweep specifically designed for Suse Linux.

 

If you haven't read my Red Hat 8.0 editorial, you should read it, I
mean I put weeks into that project. I described how
Redhat looked a lot like Windows. I don't know about copyright laws,
but Linux in general has moved up the bar and broke laws. Windows
applications are able to run on Linux! I think that is so cools. I
talk about this later. Red Hat has recently been keeping up with
the industry, surprisingly. They have
both Gnome 2.2 and KDE 3.1 on their desktop. Red Hat supports both
operating systems! KDE is entirely commercial in it's looks and
it's performance as a desktop shell. I knew Redhat is good at what
they do now. But I realized that their
competition have had some interesting ideas. Suse, who is
entirely profit driven, is unlike Redhat who goes more towards the
GNU Project. Both operating systems use the same KDE Desktop and
it comes with all the applications. But Suse Linux is priced 20
dollars less then Redhat. I choose the Personal version because it
was cheaper.

Suse is
already faster then Redhat. The bootup is faster. I like this much
better. Instead of commands being compiled, Suse has an upload statist
bar.  Opening applications is as fast
as Windows XP. I have a 1.8 Ghz Athlon XP with 386 MB of DRam with a ATI Radeon 9000
video card. My processing speed is plenty fast. When the
industry lowers it's price for 3.0 Ghz processors I'm going to
upgrade.

style="font-size: 20pt;">The X factor [rating 9.5/10]

face="Charter">X as in Xwindows. Xwindows seems much stronger in
Suse 8.2 then in Redhat 8.0. Suse has a system were the MS Windows C
drive is displayed on the KDE desktop. I shrugged at this massive lang="en-US">accomplishment, for I have never seen
the c drive on Linux before. Whether this option is in Redhat 9.0, I
don't know. But it makes it highly flexible to
save things to the Window's C drive through Linux. Infact the C
drive is listed on /root for easy access. You have the stability of linux to do your work without it
crashing. I can do multiple stuff on the c
drive that I couldn't of done in Redhat 8.0. Personally I listen to
MP3s on Linux that's on Windows. The sound quality is as good as it
was on Windows. The drives for Redhat 8.0 will also pop up. If you
saved work in Redhat 8.0, it'll automatically work in Suse. It was
really weird, but it was really awesome. I know Suse did one thing
right, they've added a full directory listing to Kstart so that you can
directly access /root directory through the gui. I suppose I went
sur-crazy for a mere 10 seconds. It's that cool. I don't have to
make cdr each time I go on the Internet like I thought I had too.

style="font-size: 20pt;">Installation [8/10]

Installation (YaST) has a
lot in common with Redhat. No doubt it is a excellent and well set up
Installation effort done by SUSE programmers. I liked Redhat's latest
installation wizard in version 8.0. By default, Suse 8.2 comes only
with KDE desktop. What we really need is both Gnome and KDE. YaST
will help you through the installation. If you have this by default.
KDE runs faster then Gnome, slightly. Gnome has even more programs
then Redhat. All programs are installed in Gnome show up in KDE. The
Professional version of Suse comes with 5 discs instead of 3 disks
and can add up to 3 Gigabytes instead of 2 Gigabytes. The source code has been shorten in the
Professional version and helps the computer load software faster. But
the Personal version, what I have, has the exact same properties,
but alittle slower. The system will have to re-partition your current
Linux partition whether it is Redhat or Mandrake because Suse has
to use the same partitions to create it's basis too. It's the damn competition way of saying, “ You bought me,
now you have to use me instead of Redhat” So at least Suse is kind
enough to show file progresses that are installed to the Linux
partition. Put this can easily be reversed by renaming the
partition to a different Swap drive and have Ext 4, 5 and 6 for
Suse or vice versa for Redhat. There is an option that allows the
superuser to check gnome, too. With gnome you get another desktop.  The installation takes 15
minutes. It takes anywhere from 1 Gigabytes to 2 Gigabytes of hard drive space. KDE and Gnome are both 700
Mbs each. With the huge and cheap options with
hard drives these days, it should be recommended by anyone
for the full installation of both Shells.

The YaST asks the user to
check his modem. The modem is connected in the COM1 of my computer (
bottom socket of the motherboard ) The only modem that'll worked in
Redhat is the common 3COM Robotics 56K Fax Modem. YaST needs to be
updated further. If you have a Win modem,
it won't work. So I went back to CompUSA to get an External Modem called the
Creative Modem Blaster. That time it worked. Sometimes I think that
PCI cards aren't viewable since they aren't in use unless you stick
something in the serial port such as a external fax modem. I
have had a odd connection viewing my fax modem inside my computer.
There has been news off the web that Suse doesn't have the proper
drivers for PCI modems. YaST will ask you if you want to download
a patch for your Nvidia videocard. I know most people will go and
buy a Geforce II or IV. While others will go with ATI Radeon series.
This patch will give your card compatibility with OpenGL. 

 Suse Personal version automatically
asks you if you want to become a workstation in a LAN. Since most
people will only own one computer, this isn't possible. So
workstations work fine. Like in all The installation recognizes all 2003 hardware
components and earlier (video card, hard drive, monitor, mouse, sound
card, speakers, processor, modem, network card, fire wire ports, usb ports, etc.) When Suse is
installed I like to use Partition Magic 8.0 to create free space so Redhat can detect it and install
according to it. I haven't seen a way that Suse can do that. No
problem though.

The difference between SuSe
8.1 and 8.2 are noticeable. I don't know.
I've never used Suse. So I heard : A lot of the bug fixes that comes
with shell development are now fixed. Not so much a new release of
the two desktop shells, but rather improved use of memory and small
application fixes. Suse 8 can now recognize newer
hardware. Suse 8.2 never crashes. That's good news. To prevent extra
work. Suse put more updates on the Programs on 3rd disc. I never needed
to use the third disc.  

style="font-size: 22pt;">The Internet on Linux [rating 8.5/10]

Unix has much Improved in
the Internet field. Netscape Communicator has been whipped off the
face of Linux distributions! This OS comes with Konqueror,
Mozilla, Opera. Out of the three, Konqueror is the most advanced
browser. It can open any webpage without a problem. Not to say
that Mozilla or Opera don't have that ability. You can't read most
javascript made by independent users that work exclusive for
Internet Explorer seen on both iMac and Windows. Gaim is still the
premiere instant messenger for Linux. It has everything : MSN
Messenger, ICQ, AIM, Yahoo, IRC. And is very reliable. There is
more drivers that allow automatic detection like you see in
Windows XP. That annoying “Hardware Found” icon on the Windows
taskbar is in Suse 8.2. I don't know how long Suse had the technology
though. It comes with Opera 6.0 and Mozilla 1.0.2. Opera and Mozilla
are award winning programs. Both browsers use Sun's Javascript in bedded into each. This allows you to see
some basic html javascript like popup menus and
slide shows.

style="font-size: 22pt;">The Word Processor / html editing /
programming [rating 9.0/10]

I recently
talked about Open Office on Redhat, and it's so good, that it's back
on Suse 8.2 version. It is the preferred office suite of all KDE and
Gnome operating systems. KDE makes it's own version of Koffice.
And Gnome makes Abiword. But these word processors, although
close, dont' have as many features as Open Office.org Office
Suite. One enhancement is that it highlights your typing in blue
and while you type, displays the end result as you type. That's
cool. Now I don't have a problem of missing words. In
OpenOffice.org 1.0.1 for Redhat, OpenOffice.org crashed once every
time I use it. The only thing that kept me from getting mad at it
is that it periodically saved my files to /home/students/
directory. It's better in Suse or Linux in general. 

If you want
to edit html, you have plenty of options. Linux comes with Mozilla
Composer. It has much improved over the Netscape 6.0 composer. MC
can view both gui style and html script in the same program. Then
you can use Open Office to create light html pages too. There are
some free downloadable software like Bluefish 0.9 and Coffeecup HTML
editor. Both a command line based html editor. People can use the
Kate for easy access to their html script. It highlights different
code in color so you can easily find your code. It's also used for
Pearl, C++, shell script and Python shell script. Best of all, when
your system crashes, Kate will keep your work for you till you log in
and open Kate again. I seen this work in different Linux OS, and
it isn't new to Linux.

One thing new
aboard linux is Python 2.2 programming client. Python script looks
like shell script, but has MSDOS commands are built into it, and some
simple commands. It's available for all
Linux distributions. The script is simpler then
shell script for linux and looks the same. Not like Korn shell.
That's what the terminal uses now. What is Korn, you ask? Korn is
a more advanced shell programming structure then Bourlen Shell script. It's a hybrid, to be exact.
Python is included with SUSE under the programming tab of the lang="en-GB"> statist bar.

style="font-size: 22pt;">The Multimedia Software [7/10]

With the ability to see Mp3s on windows partition, you
can use a program called XMMS (looks exactly like Winamp) and play
your songs. The XMMS can read all Winamp customized zipped skins.
It's about the highest quality mp3 player out for Linux. XMMS comes
with equalizer abilities and a range of sound adjustments. I really
like. XMMS is in Redhat 8.0 too. So it's a Linux thing. Sometimes
XMMS will play, but not show up and then crash with the music still
playing. At least XMMS is skinnable.
Mplayer can show DVD movies not very well, but the idea is there. I
haven't seen this program in Redhat at all. Mplayer can read avi and
mpeg off DVDRs, so that's a plus. It's not as buggy as the Redhat
version of it's media player. Suse comes with Realplayer. Realplayer
reads MPEG off cds, but also doubles as an Internet radio
tuner and streaming video client.

Picture
clients are cool. I like Kuinkshow better then Image Viewer in Gnome.
This program will read graphic files off Linux / Windows and scrolls
through them as you scroll the mouse wheel. Esc on the keyboard
cancels Kuinkshow. It has many similarities with
Irfanview. One thing that I find difficult in Suse makes it's file
system so you can't bring up Kuinkshow first, and look at your
photos, but have to find them on the desktop or even cut / paste
directory shortcuts to the open statist window.
I look at Kuinkshow so I can easily page through my artwork I made
in Windows.

Many games
have the same problem with Nvidia cards that use Direct 3D. Suse has
an easier time using the video card to
it's advantage, but SUSE stop supporting Nvidia drivers for what
ever reason. The focus for Linux
partitions is OpenGL, an open source graphics
accelerator which should work as well as Direct 3D and
doesn't. OpenGL improved some since 1999, but it still doesn't
look as good or have as good as frame rate as Direct 3D. However I
was able to get a Geforce driver off Nvidia.com, which improved
graphics acceleration slightly.  

Video editing
can also be done on Suse with “MovieActor 3.7.” The Linux version
of Microsoft's Moviemaker software and still more filled out with
options. It is still very basic. Some features that properly describe
it is that it can move mpeg video around by croping the video and
export it to mpeg. It can add still images and add slide transitions
too.

style="font-size: 22pt;">New Games [7/10]

All the games are stable in
Suse 8.2. Gnome's game package grown bigger in this version. Racer
is a 3D Car Simulation (a 250 MB game) The game is much like
Midnight Racer for the PS2. At least we
know that 3D racers are supported by the operating system. There
is also Fool Billiards, a pool game for
Linux that uses real nice 3D acceleration. href="http://www.loki.com/">

href="http://www.loki.com/">Loki makes
some affordable commercial versions of
Neverwinter Nights, Civilization 4, Simcity
3000, Quake III, and Unreal Tournament 2003 for all Linux OS. There
just isn't games to go around in Linux. I found a large selection of
free games off linux.tucows.com.
Chronoium is a good 2D shooter, but it requires OpenGL. Should Direct
X be on a Linux operating system, that will be the day. The
frustrating time comes when 3Ddiag doesn't work with Nvidia's
latest driver. The driver can come in a compact 1.3 tar.tz format or
a very large uncompressed .run format. Quadra is a new Tetris game
put in Suse. It wasn't in Redhat's distribution. It's fun, but
Ksirtris is more fun and it has somewhat better level adjustment.
Quadra is impossible to keep up with after level 3. Grometris is
Grome's version of Tetris. It's a basic game at best. KDE had come
up with Kbattleship after the boardgame Battleship. That is alittle
fun too. The buttons in the game have been updated to look rounded and
shady that went well with the desktop anyway. This wasn't possible 5
years ago. Desktop appearance took a giant leap in the Linux department
in KDE 2.0 and 3.0 AisleRiot is the only solitaire game on board
Suse Linux. That sucks! Katomic is a fun games. It's a well known game
in the Linux community. I am good at it. The game is about matching
balls which move and stop by hitting a wall. Then they have to be in
the order of the matching screen to go on. There is 50 levels in this
game. There is plenty of time to fool around.  The higher levels
are unreachable by the average person, I believe. Linux is about having fun. The more fun your having,
the more you are educated about Linux, and that is the best part of
using Linux. Patience is another solitaire game. Solitaire is relaxing.
Thus, Solitaire is the bomb! Everyone agrees with it. 

I've played Tux
Racer and it's a good game. It has a catchy jingle to it. It's more of
a Penguin Grand Prix then a racer. It's a nice game though. A good
effort. As a player, you can race 6 tracks. The tracks are better then
most racers. It has various shades of tree colors and snow cover. Good
background artwork. It runs in high resolution. I wonder if KDE or
Gnome plan to add Doom 1.1 to their 3D games. If so it would be
awesome. If not, that's ok, I'll just download it off the Internet. If
only I had a videocard that excepted OpenGL.

There was one
game that worked with OpenGL well called Frozen Bubble. I love this
game. It's new and it's cool. Frozen Bubble most resimbles the N64
game, Bust-a-Bubble. It's simple, it's stable, just line the bubbles up
with the color and there it all goes down. Do this all in time to move
on. This game has 100. Newer versions should have more then 100. 
The program comes with mp3 music that is apropraite for this style
genre. The music isn't that cheesy. Redhat didn't come with this game.
It was top rated on the web for most enjoyable game on Linux. So ... I
rest my case. This is one of the best games for Linux off the Internet,
period. This game deserves a 9.0/10 user
rating. If you don't own a brand new computer like me, you can even
lower the graphics quality so it'll run on your videocard. You'll see
once you find it. 

If you like to
download a lot of games, I advice you to download the compressed format
.tar or .gz. Then you won't be missing files and a lot of times, if
your games come pre-compiled, you can get away with it. So download the
zip format of your games. If you don't have an unity, which you should
have if your running Linux is ARK. 

width="737" height="160" border="0">

Linux is fortunate to have as many
games as it does. Here are examples of those games for users that
aren't familiar with Linux yet.
style="text-align: left; width: 100%;">

Grometris - Tetris for Grome	KSirtris - Tetris for KDE	Gnome Mines - Linux version of Minesweep	KKK		Katomic - Perfection building
KTron- Anti crash dot game	KBattleship - Battleship for KDE	Travravex - "Match the numbers in time"
Grometris - Tetris for Grome	Aisleroit - Solitaire for KDE	Katomic - Perfection building
Quadra - Tetris for KDE	Patience - Klondike for KDE	Kmarbles - Perfection building
SameGame - Process of Illimination	FFKWK

style="font-size: 22pt;">Desktop Management [8/10]

Desktops in Linux improved
slightly in the last 2 years. Linux has a good os shell recovery
system (something that occurs in the kernel.) Applications can't
crash as they would in Windows. It's a Linux standard and gets
better in every release of Suse / Redhat / Mandrake. In the industry,
there is an argument whether or not the latest versions of SUSE,
Redhat or Mandrake are as stable as they were 2 years ago. It
shouldn't been true though, the kernel went
up more then a 100 public releases since then. All of these curtacy of the GNU Project.  These
companies release a new version every 6 to 8 months every year.
They're always trying to put something new in there OS. I mean ,in
Linux, SUSE took a more drastic turn then Microsoft did when they
went from Windows 98 to Windows 2000. Now you can go to your folder,
right click and do renaming, moving of files to any directory. Use
the terminal or use of the gui to make adjustments to your files is
quick. If you right click on the desktop itself you have a broad
view of many options. By the way, I found out all the screen savers
that Linux is known for is in Gnome. In KDE, you get a scenic black
screen that will enlighten your Desktop. You can change your resolution
to look like Windows, Change your background image. I
tried this on my mom and she thought she was using Windows XP. It
was so funny to watch. She did see something different about "Kstart."
 I didn't say anything.  Like in KDE 2.1, you
could change your titlebars to look a lot like Windows 2000. There are
a lot of Desktop backgrounds that come with Suse. Really cool screen savers appear when you don't' use the desktop for a length of time. I
seen these in Redhat, though. Every thing has a
minimum quality, for all screensavers have to look cool and
not crash. Linux also has an option where you can reserve energy by
putting your computer into sleep mode. Sleep mode doesn't make much
since to me when you can turn your computer off. 

Installing
programs are varied. RPMs usually don't have the the system files
I need to install what I need. RPMs are the install wizard similar to EXE for Windows. Some programs come
compressed in tar.gz format. I don't like these as much because there
harder to work with. YaST gives me errors saying that the packages
need to run the wizard is unavailible. A lot of times you need to be
signed in as root to allow any rpms to be installed. Sometimes you
can't install new versions over the old version (such as Mozilla) so
you have to delete the directory Mozilla and install the latest
version over that. Suse has an uninstall wizard, but I have no idea
where it is?

style="font-size: 22pt;">FIN : The End Result

The end
result is that I much rather have Suse on my Desktop then Redhat.
Although in the future, I'll use redhat for school. I can have what I
feel more comfortable with in Suse 8.2. I
like the ability to see the Windows hard drive,
it gives me more options I never had. I
like Redhat's smooth features like the screensavers. They both run
the same version of KDE and Gnome. But, Suse runs faster then
Redhat. So I have to like Suse more then Redhat 8.0. I'll see what
Redhat 10.0 is like in 2004. But until then, I like what I have
with Suse. Suse.com doesn't have any selection of drivers for
hardware what-so-ever. But they do have a toll free 1800 number to call
for tech support. 

Written by
May 10, 2003 with Openoffice.org | rev 1.0.4

New Metal Gear for Gamecube?

Some interesting Metal Gear Solid sequel news : Komani asked Silicon Knights to make "Metal Gear Solid : The Twin Snakes" exclusive for Gamecube. All I know is MGS2 was a top game for Playstation 2. The new game is suppose to look the same or better then the xbox version of MGS2. The new Sonic game is coming to gamecube, Sonic Adventure Directors Cut. I have the Dreamcast version 1.1 of Sonic Adventure. I've played it and the game was ok. But now I learned that Sonic Adventure DX also includes all the Gamegear titles to boot.

I took my road test the first time and passed. It's a good feeling to have that out of the way. Now I can go where ever I need too. Finally the day has come.

Xbox - Elder Scrolls III - GOTY review

| GAME FEATURES |	Developer : Bethesda Softworks
A.) Being one of xbox's largest games. The first being Shenmue 2. Developed with the best attentions.	Publisher : Bethesda Softworks
B.) Play as any Dungeons and Dragons characters including Elfs, Orcs, Human.	Released sometime in 2002
C.) One of few first person RPGs seen only in Heroes of Might and Magic, DEUS EX.
D.) Quest around in a massive world doing favors for people. Although, some of these favors are from evil outlanders who don't look evil at all. For example, all aristocrats in this game are evil because they've got their hearts stolen from evil elves.	Type : "Massive Offline Single Player Role Playing Game"

Elder Scrolls III Morrowind is the sequel to Daggerfall. There is absolutely no comparison to the two games. Daggerfall was released on DOS in 1996 by Bethesda Softworks. The graphics best compare to Dungeon Keeper or Hexen for the PC. If you want to see what Daggerfall really looked like Click Here. DaggerFall first introduced a huge 3D game with entire lakes, dungeons, lands, towns, roads and country making it up. Much like what Diablo was when it first came out. Expect Diablo franchise from Blizzard didn't improve as much as this franchise. At the time in 1996, Elder Scrolls II was really awe inspiring. Anyway it's really old now and few people play it anymore. Seven years after the release of Elder Scrolls II : Daggerfall; Elder Scrolls III : Morrowind became a state-of-the-art RPG with a huge world to boot. And it wasn't originally released on Xbox. I could of owned the game either way because both my PCs can handle the graphically demanding PC version. I have never played a RPG in first person before except if you count Legend of Zelda 64. Morrowind is also the smash hit PC game. I guess I wasn't the only one looking for an Xbox RPG. Except I waited it out one year after the game was released. I don't have the PC game. But from what I heard the Xbox version look better and I wanted to play a RPG on Xbox. Although I've seen some nice textures on the PC. Regardless, Elder Scrolls III is a huge game. The closest game that comes in comparison is EverQuest.

So first in the game, you go through this process. You've just got out of jail and they want you to decide on what character your going to be and then they make you answer a lot of questions just so you have a signed release forum saying you've passed security. Now for the fun part. The part where you get to create quests and take what you want. Much like Dungeon Siege. The bigger / stronger the enemy, the more expensive loot he has on him. So you can loot anyone whom you kill. Except people / alien races aren't dumb in this fantasy world, the minute you steal something, who ever you steal it from will want to kill you. Except the aristocrats are amused and still try to kill you. They are amused only because their heartless fouls who got their hearts stolen from evil elves (the game tells me so...) Which brings me to my next point, the character your playing is wiser then you, so check the journal often. You might even discover what ways you can set apart a good elf from a evil elf. Your job is to kill all the evil elves. The journal is usually right. I almost wonder if this game will be similar to the upcoming World of Warcraft. World of Warcraft stepped aside from war strategy foundation and stepped up into the realm of Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games.

One thing that the PC has is Patches. This is relatively new to console games. Mech Assault is the only game that allows you to download new patches from the Internet to the hard drive. Even though the game is well designed and has amongst the best graphics on Xbox, it has slowdowns. The game usually goes a long the lines of 30 frames per second. That won't cut it for just any game, but I've been arrange by the size of each level. There just isn't any boundaries in this title. It's a very large world and it loads along the way. Which is OK. This makes me curious how Gas Powered Games managed to make Dungeon Siege a huge game without any loading times. It has something to do with the balance between backgrounds loading when some disappear. Everything in a 200 feet radius loads simutaniously. That's how the game engine works.

The infamous example of the half orc in Neverwinter Nights "He may be strong and reckless, but everyone tends to stay away from him because he's not too bright." This fact stays true with Morrowind as well. In the beginning, if your character doesn't have a very good score, that old guy won't say a word, however, if you are lucky to answer most of the questions right, he'll be overly friendly to you. The guard just grinds at you as if nothing seriously happened. But hey what can you do, you have no weapon.

There are evil creatures in this game like in all RPGs. In this game, the smart ones pretend to be friendly so they can lure you into a trap so they can kill you or just turn you evil. In this game, you have a choice of being evil or good from the actions you do. Your not evil when you fight back when someone is trying to kill you. The opposite is true. Some creatures are just born evil, while others become evil. This game gives off a whole new meaning of evil I've never encountered in a game before. Yes, there are many ways to die in this game, you can even die evil. An example would be, where a thief hands me a bag full of something expensive. Of course I'll take it! But if it looks like something evil, I'll just leave it. When you evil, there will be people who hunt you down to kill you. It's more trouble then it's worth. Don't think you can out last most of the guards from the beginning because guards are very well armed. Some evil in this world is better equipped with armor and magic then you. Once you have a weapon then you can explore the many towns. Some quests require you to go all the way back to the beginning of the game and explore a town opposite of where you are. Sometimes you'll bring items back and forth from town to town, while other times you'll bring people from location to location. Be careful though, some people will ask you to go one direction and you won't know what they're talking about? So when I offered to help this one person, it took me 45 minutes to find it. To be specific it was a farm near the coast line.

The level up system in this RPG is like others, in other words it's average. Most console RPGs have a high standard of it's level up system. In this case the new stats are displayed in text each time you level up. Instead of giving you stats points like in Diablo 2. The more your character uses melee weapons, the stronger he gets. The easiest way to get the weapon you want is to kill someone for it. Becareful who you duel because some guys are very well skilled. I tend to try to duel aliens with out shields. There are ranged weapons in this game, but 9/10 of all weapons used by everyone is melee. Glass type weapons are the most effective. All magical weapons have a green glow.

My favorite part is exploring the new world. I wonder if I compares well to Dungeon Siege. That was also a huge game. It had not 1 massive world, but 3 maps roughly the same size. From the beginning with a new gamer, the game looks endless. And the hundreds of quests makes it so you can cover the same ground that makes the game so huge several times.

Summing up Elder Scrolls III : Morrowind
Graphics	10.0	Elder Scrolls III Morrowind is a good looking game. It renders graphics that surpass any Playstation 2 game. In this case I'm comparing Everquest to Xbox's Elder Scrolls III. The game one Xbox RPG of the Year from Xbox Magazine. Baldur's Gate was it's runner up. Morrowind is huge. It's full of countless characters to Interact with. The character models are average while, the world they live in is eye popping, like the PC version, although I seen some Internet sites say that the Xbox version looks better. The PC and Xbox versions of Morrowind are similar. The trees, plants are all 3D. And they look very high definition. There doesn't look like there's a odd placed pixel in the game. The water effects and reflections are awesome. You can even go swimming in this game if you like. Unlike some games where you just float, in this game, you swim for real! The game doesn't have smooth frame rate, a though its really good 90 percent of the time. Be worn that there is a lock up bug in this game wear the game locks up. But this could also be that Morrowind is way too graphically defined to be simple for Xbox to handle.
Control	10.0	The game is easier to control then most first person shooters. At least most console First Person Shooters. The only ones I think that stay par to Morrowind is Unreal Championship, Timesplitters 2, and Halo. The reason why I compare it with a first person shooter is that these games share the same controls. The left thumbpad controls forward movement while the right joystick turns the character left or right. It's simple and effective. The left thumbpad could be the keyboard arrows, while the right thumbpad can be the mouse. The difficulty in this game is medium. Like I said above, you can equip your inventory with stuff you buy or steal. If you steal, you must over power the person who is trying to kill you first. But if someone notices, then there is not 1 but 2 or 3 people trying to kill you. So if your planning to buy this game, it's great fun. But don't get caught killing someone in public.
Orginalism	10.0	I can now see how this game can come with high expectations from anyone who plays it. It's perfect and I thinking that Elder Scrolls IV is going to be a whole lot better in this area. The game looks like it been worked on for 3 or more years just by looking at it. The developer, Bethesda, is new to me. I mostly known about Black Isles, Blizzard Entertainment and Gas Powered Games. I'm not much of a Might and Magic fan myself, so I never had a RPG in first person view.
Sound Effects	8.0	Morrowind has a less then perfect soundtrack. But the spoken dialog with every person you encounter makes up for the gap! Voice acting in this game is good.
Replayibly	???	Don't know yet. It looks fun and I've been playing it for a couple days, spending 3 hours at each setting. Not doubt, it's fun, just that this game is so huge.