I have waited for 9 years for this game. 9 long years of waiting paid off on Thursday a couple of weeks ago when I recieved a call. "Dude.. I have your... stuff here.. 's in a brown bag for
you already.. just come and collect it, whenever you want" My pusher had got his stash of good stuff in. (Fallout had arrived a day early at EB)
I was worried that this game would only carry the name of the original 3, Fallout 1, Fallout 2 and Brother Hood of Steal: Tactics. I need not have worried. Playing this game has so much in common with the originals. Sure the isometric view of the first ones has been replaced with a full 3d graphics of a first person shooter.
Right from the start of game play I was impressed.
(trying not to give too much away)
The way you interact with people including the conversations is just like the original. The corney lines are still there.
You can stash weapons like you could in the first : My guy at one point was carrying 10 assault rifles and 5 pieces of heavy armour he needed to take back to his house. At another point he had 4 miniguns stashed under his arms. Regularly I find myself wandering along with 10 different pieces of armor.
Other things similar to the first one: Ammo is weightless. I am currently carrying around 12000 bottle caps, 6000 rounds of 5mm ammo (minigun ammo), 1200 rounds of 5.56mm, 1200 shotgun shells and 200 rounds of .308 ammo. YOU try carrying that sort of ammo stash without complaining! Go easy on thet .308 ammo! if you find it, keep it! I havent found much out there and it goes with the sniper rifle! the sniper rifle is a one shot instant take out a mutant killing machine! (like it was in the first games)
In the first set of games the famous way of dealing with enemies was to shoot for the eyes. This shot was always a hard shot and %to hit was a lot lower. That same wonderfull friend is here in the new game. If you aim for sombodys head you are likely to seriously mess them up if you get a critical. I took the Bloody mess feat and when I get a Critical Hit to the head with my trusty assault rifle... well.. lets just say theres blood EVERYWHERE, then I added improved critical and a few others.. and... weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet :)
Ammusing case of searching dead and exploded bodies: Scenario: YOu shoot an enemy: HE explodes and splatters accross the room. his corpse is 10 meteres from you but his exploded foot as at your own feet. If you search that foot then you will find any items that nmay have been on his corpse, 10 meteres away!.. :) Sweeet!...
Dog Meat: @$$#%% I leave the stupid mutt at home now. He runs off and engages in enemies wherver.. theres no way of saying "stay within 5 meteres of me and ONLY engage enemies that I engage" For a while there I thought I had lost him when I sent him home and forgot to check which home I sent him to.
Review Part 2.... days later.
Well, I have got pretty deep into the game now and yet I seem to be only just scratching the surface. Found my 5th Bobbel head last night.. They are in obvious enough positions when you do find them as far as I can tell. IE: I Dont THINK they are hidden behind fallen down bookshelves or in the wilderness behind collapsed buildings.
The AI: *sighs* The AI sucks.. The AI sucks BIG chunks.
The AI of the enemies is okay: They come at you with guns blazing and you kill them and they try and kill you.
The AI of companions is REALLY bad .. I mean REALLY REALLY bad..
There does not seem to be a way of telling your companion to stay with in 5 meteres of you.. (or osmething) Dogmeat races off ahead and engages mutants.. and when that mutant has a mini gun then dog meat is... dogmeat. --- I have taken to leaving him behind in Megaton. I just dont need to worry about him.
I picked up another companion for a particular mission. I had to get to a nother part of the map which I hadnt explorerd to yet. This meant i needed to fight through all the streets and train stations untill i found rivet city. WOuld have been good if she didnt decide to run off and engage enemeis several hundred meters away, whilst I was distracted during my looting, I dont know how they detected the enemies but she was constantly runnign away on me and getting killed. A reload later and I would have to run ahead of her to take out the threat.
I upgraded my computer form a P4 3.4Ghz machine with 2 Gb ram and an ATI x1950 video card to a brand new shiny E8500 with 4Gb ram and an ATI 4850 video card... And whilst the whole thing generally runs the same, I am now able to set the fade distance for the eneimes to be a LOT further out. This makes it MUCH better for engaging enemies. The previous problem I was having was when the enemies would engage me with heavy weapons at a really close range. Becuase my original graphics card couldnt cope with the eneimes at serious range, it would not render the enemies whilst thye attacked me, untill they got quite close. this resulted in me getting shot to pices by somethign I couldnt find. new system fixes that. I regulaly wander through the wilderness and take out the enemy at range....
Anyway, thats where I am at the moment with the game... it is so awsome its .. just awsome... I know a couple of my friends have had trouble installing the game due to DRM or Computer issues but I was lucky not to have had those problems....
you already.. just come and collect it, whenever you want" My pusher had got his stash of good stuff in. (Fallout had arrived a day early at EB)
I was worried that this game would only carry the name of the original 3, Fallout 1, Fallout 2 and Brother Hood of Steal: Tactics. I need not have worried. Playing this game has so much in common with the originals. Sure the isometric view of the first ones has been replaced with a full 3d graphics of a first person shooter.
Right from the start of game play I was impressed.
(trying not to give too much away)
The way you interact with people including the conversations is just like the original. The corney lines are still there.
You can stash weapons like you could in the first : My guy at one point was carrying 10 assault rifles and 5 pieces of heavy armour he needed to take back to his house. At another point he had 4 miniguns stashed under his arms. Regularly I find myself wandering along with 10 different pieces of armor.
Other things similar to the first one: Ammo is weightless. I am currently carrying around 12000 bottle caps, 6000 rounds of 5mm ammo (minigun ammo), 1200 rounds of 5.56mm, 1200 shotgun shells and 200 rounds of .308 ammo. YOU try carrying that sort of ammo stash without complaining! Go easy on thet .308 ammo! if you find it, keep it! I havent found much out there and it goes with the sniper rifle! the sniper rifle is a one shot instant take out a mutant killing machine! (like it was in the first games)
In the first set of games the famous way of dealing with enemies was to shoot for the eyes. This shot was always a hard shot and %to hit was a lot lower. That same wonderfull friend is here in the new game. If you aim for sombodys head you are likely to seriously mess them up if you get a critical. I took the Bloody mess feat and when I get a Critical Hit to the head with my trusty assault rifle... well.. lets just say theres blood EVERYWHERE, then I added improved critical and a few others.. and... weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet :)
Ammusing case of searching dead and exploded bodies: Scenario: YOu shoot an enemy: HE explodes and splatters accross the room. his corpse is 10 meteres from you but his exploded foot as at your own feet. If you search that foot then you will find any items that nmay have been on his corpse, 10 meteres away!.. :) Sweeet!...
Dog Meat: @$$#%% I leave the stupid mutt at home now. He runs off and engages in enemies wherver.. theres no way of saying "stay within 5 meteres of me and ONLY engage enemies that I engage" For a while there I thought I had lost him when I sent him home and forgot to check which home I sent him to.
Review Part 2.... days later.
Well, I have got pretty deep into the game now and yet I seem to be only just scratching the surface. Found my 5th Bobbel head last night.. They are in obvious enough positions when you do find them as far as I can tell. IE: I Dont THINK they are hidden behind fallen down bookshelves or in the wilderness behind collapsed buildings.
The AI: *sighs* The AI sucks.. The AI sucks BIG chunks.
The AI of the enemies is okay: They come at you with guns blazing and you kill them and they try and kill you.
The AI of companions is REALLY bad .. I mean REALLY REALLY bad..
There does not seem to be a way of telling your companion to stay with in 5 meteres of you.. (or osmething) Dogmeat races off ahead and engages mutants.. and when that mutant has a mini gun then dog meat is... dogmeat. --- I have taken to leaving him behind in Megaton. I just dont need to worry about him.
I picked up another companion for a particular mission. I had to get to a nother part of the map which I hadnt explorerd to yet. This meant i needed to fight through all the streets and train stations untill i found rivet city. WOuld have been good if she didnt decide to run off and engage enemeis several hundred meters away, whilst I was distracted during my looting, I dont know how they detected the enemies but she was constantly runnign away on me and getting killed. A reload later and I would have to run ahead of her to take out the threat.
I upgraded my computer form a P4 3.4Ghz machine with 2 Gb ram and an ATI x1950 video card to a brand new shiny E8500 with 4Gb ram and an ATI 4850 video card... And whilst the whole thing generally runs the same, I am now able to set the fade distance for the eneimes to be a LOT further out. This makes it MUCH better for engaging enemies. The previous problem I was having was when the enemies would engage me with heavy weapons at a really close range. Becuase my original graphics card couldnt cope with the eneimes at serious range, it would not render the enemies whilst thye attacked me, untill they got quite close. this resulted in me getting shot to pices by somethign I couldnt find. new system fixes that. I regulaly wander through the wilderness and take out the enemy at range....
Anyway, thats where I am at the moment with the game... it is so awsome its .. just awsome... I know a couple of my friends have had trouble installing the game due to DRM or Computer issues but I was lucky not to have had those problems....
Wanted: Used hard disks
Nov. 12th, 2008 02:55 pmOkay I know its geeky but I'm after peoples used and unwanted hard disks. I want to take the platters out of them to rebuild my collection of hard disk platters. See, before I left my previous company I had built up a 100 platter collection and left them on my desk in my "desk toys" collection. When they packed up my stuff they didn't see them as desk toys and threw them out..
Hard disk platters are cool.
So, if you have small useless hard disks that you do not want any more and can part with then feel free to send them my way. I will crack them open, throw away the shell and add the platters to my collection of drives.
Actually I wont thorw away the outsides, I will send the outsides to recycling next time I wander up to ByteBack with a stash of electronic waste.
Hard disk platters are cool.
So, if you have small useless hard disks that you do not want any more and can part with then feel free to send them my way. I will crack them open, throw away the shell and add the platters to my collection of drives.
Actually I wont thorw away the outsides, I will send the outsides to recycling next time I wander up to ByteBack with a stash of electronic waste.
Free To Good Home:
Nov. 9th, 2008 11:22 amI am cleaning out my back room at home and I have found an Ancient G3 Mac there.
ITs An Apple PowerPC G3 266Mhz 512cache manufacture date November 1997
I have a 17" Apple CRT that came with it and two Apple mice and Keyboards.
Let me know if you wish to have it.
If I havent heard from people then I will take it all up to Byteback when I next get a chance and they will crush it down and recover any valuable metals and plastics from it.
ITs An Apple PowerPC G3 266Mhz 512cache manufacture date November 1997
I have a 17" Apple CRT that came with it and two Apple mice and Keyboards.
Let me know if you wish to have it.
If I havent heard from people then I will take it all up to Byteback when I next get a chance and they will crush it down and recover any valuable metals and plastics from it.
US Election
Nov. 5th, 2008 03:30 pmObligatory Post : First time in months
So we all knew this day would come, or at least we spotted it a few months out when the polls began to point out that the Republicans may have a slight issue with their public opinion polls
The question I have really is Just how big a thrashing will the Democrats give the Republicans?
It looks like The Democracts are coming VERY close to absolute power.... My question is, is this a good thing?
So we all knew this day would come, or at least we spotted it a few months out when the polls began to point out that the Republicans may have a slight issue with their public opinion polls
The question I have really is Just how big a thrashing will the Democrats give the Republicans?
It looks like The Democracts are coming VERY close to absolute power.... My question is, is this a good thing?
When its time to take a risk
Jul. 10th, 2008 11:12 pmToday I made a conscious decision to take a risk with my Career. I had two choices I could make, A Safe option and the risky option.
The safe option involved working on a network that sounds like it is in the position that the network of my previous company was in when I got to it. A well assembled network with good quality equipment and servers and services which all worked really well but could be integrated onto a single network and centralise all the management onto a handful of servers. I could do this job with my hands down. I could do it really well and I could implement things I had learned at my previous job. There were a few technologies that I don't know but would learn quickly, but much of the system sounded pretty vanilla. I would have enjoyed it and the environment it was in. And got along well with the people who I was working with. The company has similar socio-political leanings as I do and so it would have been good but it wouldn't stretch my brain. The only thing about this role that would be foreign to me is that it is over the other side of the city.
The Risky option was a complete change from what I know. It may not work out. I may find that I cant get my brain around the concepts that I need to and I may find that my brain has been "microsofted" to much. The Risky option was a technology which has massive growth potential and minimal people with real skills to make a go of both the technology and the human side of this technology. Everything about this role is an unknown. I don't know the people I will be working for (Well I know the manager but only through the interview), I have never used the technology to the extent that we will be using it in this new business, and I will be actually programing in languages that I would have blinked at not too long ago. Everything about the job is foreign to me. just about the only thing about it that is familiar is the business location. I know the area well as I have worked at 3 other jobs in the area.
I chose the risky option. I chose to stretch my imagination and push the boundarys. I chose to really put it all on the line and see if what I have learned over the last 10 years can be translated from the "skills I know" to "the way I learn those skills" Everything about this new job is going to be learning and stretching my mind.
I have been in AutoPilot for the last few years. I haven't been learning much new stuff but have been maintaining the systems I was responsible for and slowly improving them, This new role, if I can actually do it is going to stretch my mind in new directions. If I can do it well its going to shape my career in computing for the next long and unknown time period.
If I cant do it then I have my old technologies to fall back onto. I have skills that I know I'm good at that I can rely on, and I still have a significant proportion of the redundancy package left with which I can use to continue to find new work.
I'm both excited and scared of what I'm about to do.
Is taking a risk everybody's thing? No. Most definately not. I'm lucky to be in a financial position, thanks to the redundancy, that I can play around with my career and see what else I can do. Risk may not be your thing, But I urge you to think about it carefully. You never know. The risk you take might be the best thing you ever did. I don't know yet about this risk. Only time will tell.
It is interesting, it seems that another one of my friends has also today decided to take a risk and see what happens with their own career.
The safe option involved working on a network that sounds like it is in the position that the network of my previous company was in when I got to it. A well assembled network with good quality equipment and servers and services which all worked really well but could be integrated onto a single network and centralise all the management onto a handful of servers. I could do this job with my hands down. I could do it really well and I could implement things I had learned at my previous job. There were a few technologies that I don't know but would learn quickly, but much of the system sounded pretty vanilla. I would have enjoyed it and the environment it was in. And got along well with the people who I was working with. The company has similar socio-political leanings as I do and so it would have been good but it wouldn't stretch my brain. The only thing about this role that would be foreign to me is that it is over the other side of the city.
The Risky option was a complete change from what I know. It may not work out. I may find that I cant get my brain around the concepts that I need to and I may find that my brain has been "microsofted" to much. The Risky option was a technology which has massive growth potential and minimal people with real skills to make a go of both the technology and the human side of this technology. Everything about this role is an unknown. I don't know the people I will be working for (Well I know the manager but only through the interview), I have never used the technology to the extent that we will be using it in this new business, and I will be actually programing in languages that I would have blinked at not too long ago. Everything about the job is foreign to me. just about the only thing about it that is familiar is the business location. I know the area well as I have worked at 3 other jobs in the area.
I chose the risky option. I chose to stretch my imagination and push the boundarys. I chose to really put it all on the line and see if what I have learned over the last 10 years can be translated from the "skills I know" to "the way I learn those skills" Everything about this new job is going to be learning and stretching my mind.
I have been in AutoPilot for the last few years. I haven't been learning much new stuff but have been maintaining the systems I was responsible for and slowly improving them, This new role, if I can actually do it is going to stretch my mind in new directions. If I can do it well its going to shape my career in computing for the next long and unknown time period.
If I cant do it then I have my old technologies to fall back onto. I have skills that I know I'm good at that I can rely on, and I still have a significant proportion of the redundancy package left with which I can use to continue to find new work.
I'm both excited and scared of what I'm about to do.
Is taking a risk everybody's thing? No. Most definately not. I'm lucky to be in a financial position, thanks to the redundancy, that I can play around with my career and see what else I can do. Risk may not be your thing, But I urge you to think about it carefully. You never know. The risk you take might be the best thing you ever did. I don't know yet about this risk. Only time will tell.
It is interesting, it seems that another one of my friends has also today decided to take a risk and see what happens with their own career.
Home and boy do i have a story to tell
May. 25th, 2008 08:03 amWow, I can't believe im home. After 7 weeks I arrived home yesterday morning at 7:25am.
There is so much to tell, and im not sure where to start. Yes, start at the begining, but how much do I tell and how much do I keep to myself!
There are tales of long flights, cat fights, Lots of amazing sights, Exhaustion, New friends, love, bent hire cars, public holidays, GOod health, bad health, stress and the list goes on!
I have over 2700 photos of things I have seen, some of them even have ME in them. I have to sort and format them, Delete the BAD photos and then filter the remaining ones to show what I got up to. Ahh I love thee digital photography.
There are also confessions of stupidity to be made.
There are thank yous to be said and payoffs to be made (okay so i owe some people some money for accomodation and car hire)
My house sitter cleaned my house from top to bottom... its clean and shiny and smells nice! its so nice to get home to a clean house.
There is so much to tell, and im not sure where to start. Yes, start at the begining, but how much do I tell and how much do I keep to myself!
There are tales of long flights, cat fights, Lots of amazing sights, Exhaustion, New friends, love, bent hire cars, public holidays, GOod health, bad health, stress and the list goes on!
I have over 2700 photos of things I have seen, some of them even have ME in them. I have to sort and format them, Delete the BAD photos and then filter the remaining ones to show what I got up to. Ahh I love thee digital photography.
There are also confessions of stupidity to be made.
There are thank yous to be said and payoffs to be made (okay so i owe some people some money for accomodation and car hire)
My house sitter cleaned my house from top to bottom... its clean and shiny and smells nice! its so nice to get home to a clean house.
Advice: Buying a Dishwasher
Jan. 7th, 2008 04:58 pmI am going to buy a dishwasher for my kitchen. I have narrowed the field down to three dishwashers.
1) Dishlex DX303WK for $748
Made in Australia
Good energy rating: 233kw per year
Water rating 2 star although it says 16.8ltr
2) BOSCH SGS53E72AU For $862
Made in Germany
Good energy rating: 303kw per year
Water rating 4 star 11.3ltr wash
3) Fisher&Paykel DW60CDW2 for $740
Made in China
Good energy rating: 233kw per year
Water rating 4 star 13.6 ltrs wash
So the issue I have is which one do I choose.
If it wasnt down to WHERE the items were made then the F&P would be the one I chose...
What do other people say?
1) Dishlex DX303WK for $748
Made in Australia
Good energy rating: 233kw per year
Water rating 2 star although it says 16.8ltr
2) BOSCH SGS53E72AU For $862
Made in Germany
Good energy rating: 303kw per year
Water rating 4 star 11.3ltr wash
3) Fisher&Paykel DW60CDW2 for $740
Made in China
Good energy rating: 233kw per year
Water rating 4 star 13.6 ltrs wash
So the issue I have is which one do I choose.
If it wasnt down to WHERE the items were made then the F&P would be the one I chose...
What do other people say?
Best Comedy Award - Melbourne Fringe Festival
Season Sold Out - Melbourne International Comedy Festival
Moosehead Award - Melbourne Comedy Festival
RICHARD McKENZIE
on
MINT CONDITION - The Joys of fannish collecting
We do all sorts of promotion to say what's of interest at the MSFC. For tonight's event we appeal instead to your pocket, for the SF fan is careful with the pennies, meantime saving for the collectible of their dreams.
Richard's show is normally $20 or more, tonight it's free for members, $5 for non-members and guests.
We aren't joking - we have a very fine guest here, as part of a fine full program to Christmas.
Here's the web link.
Richard McKenzie is in Mint Condition
Check out the rest of the calendar here: http://home.vicnet.net.au/~msfc/
MelbourneScience Fiction Club (MSFC) events commence at 9pm sharp - meetings areevery Friday except Good Friday and Christmas to mid-January at: St.David's Uniting Church Hall, 74 Melville Road, West Brunswick, Hallopens at 8pm, everyone out of the pool before 11pm (Melways ref 29 C5,or catch a 55 tram from William Street in the city, to tram stop 36).Friends visitors and guests are welcome, Gold Coin please. Real coffeeserved.
Website: http://home.vicnet.net.au/~msfc/
Season Sold Out - Melbourne International Comedy Festival
Moosehead Award - Melbourne Comedy Festival
RICHARD McKENZIE
on
MINT CONDITION - The Joys of fannish collecting
We do all sorts of promotion to say what's of interest at the MSFC. For tonight's event we appeal instead to your pocket, for the SF fan is careful with the pennies, meantime saving for the collectible of their dreams.
Richard's show is normally $20 or more, tonight it's free for members, $5 for non-members and guests.
We aren't joking - we have a very fine guest here, as part of a fine full program to Christmas.
Here's the web link.
Richard McKenzie is in Mint Condition
Check out the rest of the calendar here: http://home.vicnet.net.au/~msfc/
MelbourneScience Fiction Club (MSFC) events commence at 9pm sharp - meetings areevery Friday except Good Friday and Christmas to mid-January at: St.David's Uniting Church Hall, 74 Melville Road, West Brunswick, Hallopens at 8pm, everyone out of the pool before 11pm (Melways ref 29 C5,or catch a 55 tram from William Street in the city, to tram stop 36).Friends visitors and guests are welcome, Gold Coin please. Real coffeeserved.
Website: http://home.vicnet.net.au/~msfc/
Fake Birthdates
Oct. 1st, 2007 02:34 pmThe only thing annoying about using a fake birth date on all the on line websites that require "age verification" is that when your fake birth date comes up every site you belong to sends you a birthday greeting or provides a happy birthday greeting as you log in. Fake birth dates are great for privacy but can become amusingly annoying when you get a greeting on the wrong day.
Netspace: Bad Employee?
Sep. 25th, 2007 03:46 pmI just read on the Age website the following article http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/gone-in-12-seconds-your-rest-break/2007/09/25/1190486291378.html Which discusses how the Netspace Call center staff are allowed to go away from their desk 4 times a day and have 12 seconds between calls.
There appears to be ample evidence that this is in fact the case.
I'M a customer of Netspace. I have been since December 1995. So that makes me a long term customer. But this sort of thing from the supplier of my internet services makes me think I dont want to be involved with that sort of company any more.
I want to complain to Netspace but im not sure how to. I want to draw their attention to my displeasure in that sort of treatment of their staff, i want to point out that im not happy with my money supporting a company that treats their people like that. I just doint think they will care. I can see them responding with "we are providing a service that we know you want and this helps us provide this service to you"
Netspace used to be the up and coming internet service provider in Australia. They used to be one of the best ISPs around. But now that's not so much the case.
Internode is the one to go with if I do change ISP but im not sure if I really want to change ISPs.
Conflicted
There appears to be ample evidence that this is in fact the case.
I'M a customer of Netspace. I have been since December 1995. So that makes me a long term customer. But this sort of thing from the supplier of my internet services makes me think I dont want to be involved with that sort of company any more.
I want to complain to Netspace but im not sure how to. I want to draw their attention to my displeasure in that sort of treatment of their staff, i want to point out that im not happy with my money supporting a company that treats their people like that. I just doint think they will care. I can see them responding with "we are providing a service that we know you want and this helps us provide this service to you"
Netspace used to be the up and coming internet service provider in Australia. They used to be one of the best ISPs around. But now that's not so much the case.
Internode is the one to go with if I do change ISP but im not sure if I really want to change ISPs.
Conflicted
Went to see StarDust last night. its based on the Neil Gaiman book.
I think this movie will go up there with high adventure classics such as The Princess Bride
It was Fun, full of action and intrigue, amazing costumes and beutifull people. (and ugly ones too)
IT was fairly true to the book with a few things cut for time sake I think. It worked..
I loved it.. I laughed I laughed and cheered lots.
Just see it. No no I mean it. Leave work now and go along and see the movie if you havent seen it already.
I think this movie will go up there with high adventure classics such as The Princess Bride
It was Fun, full of action and intrigue, amazing costumes and beutifull people. (and ugly ones too)
IT was fairly true to the book with a few things cut for time sake I think. It worked..
I loved it.. I laughed I laughed and cheered lots.
Just see it. No no I mean it. Leave work now and go along and see the movie if you havent seen it already.
Computer Games
Sep. 17th, 2007 11:56 amDue to high level brain shutdown (Read: the inability to organise my own social life) I spent most of my weekend playing computer games at home.
( Things I observed. )
( Things I observed. )
I'm having trouble finding clothes I like to wear! I'm posting this in hope that sombody will suggest places i can try and also just because i'm annoyed.
( In which I complain about shirts )
So if anybody knows where I could go to shop to get that kind of shirt that is 100% cotton (and NOT poly-cotton) and also has lots of nice solid colours then i would be greatly appreciative.
*rambles*
( In which I complain about shirts )
So if anybody knows where I could go to shop to get that kind of shirt that is 100% cotton (and NOT poly-cotton) and also has lots of nice solid colours then i would be greatly appreciative.
*rambles*