I had a mid-term today in one class today. I didn’t have to take it because it’s a snow day! I felt I had to look on the Internet quick for VI commands and EMACS commands, put them on a floppy so I can view them at school. It’s as good as note taking because the teachers will think I was looking at the man pages. Linux is interesting, it is the only OS that can fit on a CD and run off it.

Bob and I want to get together. He’s been taking the day off too. So this morning I’ve been watching Bridge to Far DVD on one PC while I reinstall Windows back on one of my PCs. It’s a timely process. Somehow I managed to delete hardware acceleration files, Direct X 8.1 if you get specific. My OS was kinda messed up for a while there. I blame it all on Microsoft. The installation cd should have fixed my problem, and it did absolutely nothing! Like I said before, I know how to install Windows XP in my sleep so I didn’t get that mad.

I was thinking of bringing two computers over to Bobs so we can play Unreal Tournament (the first one) together. If I bring my 3rd PC, maybe it’ll be a 3 person LAN game. It’s funny though, I have a CAT V NIC on all my computers, and my HUB is only a CAT 4. It’s nothing really, I just loose 90 MB of bandwidth. Dad should have given me a router instead. He said it was his unused hub from work. CAT IV Hubs should be adequate for playing Unreal Tournament or Neverwinter Nights over a server for now. I’m also bringing over Quake 3 Arena because I know Bob has a copy. I have waited 6 months to have a LAN party. I am waiting to kick Bob’s butt at Unreal Tournament later today.

I found a used copy of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles at the game store. I got it for a modest 35 dollars instead of a full 50. So I was playing it for 3 hours yesterday. Everything looks better than Final Fantasy X, which is amazing to me. Now, I technically have all the Final Fantasy games except for Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy Adventure and Final Fantasy Legend 1 and 2 (Secret of Mana for Game Boy.) I want to bring over Gamecube so we can play that game in multiplayer, that is if he doesn’t want a LAN party. I am also planning to bring over Midnight Club 2 and Winning Eleven 6. Bob told me Midnight Club was one of his favorite games.

This just in, I didn't have a LAN party today. It's a disappointment, but we got 5 inches of snow fall.

On the second part of my blog I realized that there are going to be a dozen RPGs coming out in 2004. Of course Gas Powered Games is releasing Dungeon Siege II [ http://dungeonsiegeii.com/ ] Dungeon Siege will be upgraded to graphics that par up with World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XI if not better. Dungeon Siege, is not your average game because it is a hack and slash title like Diablo in a 3D engine. It looked pretty good in 2001. Dungeon Siege 2 will have the same features, hopefully an improved multiplayer experience. Dungeon Siege was horrible to be played online, ran very slow.

I’m skipping Everquest 2 and World of Warcraft because I can never afford the online subscription. So this leads me to Ultima X Online. It’s been 4 years since Orgin Systems released an Ultima game. Ultima IX was released in 1999. Ultima IX was like Raven (Myst 2) with the exact same graphics, gameplay and a lot more bugs. Ultima IX was reviewed at IGN.com, and it was not your Neverwinter Nights. Sadly, it was below average. Although it made Ultima 3D. I’ve never played IX. Ultima X is a Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game, with graphics as good as Lineage II and Elder Scrolls III : Morrowind. It may even be good, and without bugs! Go to this website to read about it and judge for yourself. [ www.uxo.ea.com/intro.html ] I’m kind of excited for it. Here are some screenshots from the game. Looks original? I hope it plays as good as it looks :)





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