• 10Jul 09

  Dead Space is grinding my gears a bit [UPDATED]

  So I started Dead Space recently.... however, in my quest to get the most out of my system, I'm encountering some obstacles with this particular game. The default option for Vsync (where the frame rate matches the refresh rate of the monitor) is to leave it on, which, on my 22" 60Hz monitor, makes the mouse move sluggishly. If I turn Vsync off, the mouse movement is fixed and the visuals look twice as good, but there's a problem: I can't make it past the point where I get the Plasma Cutter (near the beginning of the game). The problem? Look here:
  
  
  
  There's supposed to be an enemy blocking the door here, but for some odd reason, with Vsync off, the game doesn't render the enemy. As a result, it looks like the crewman behind the door is getting mauled by something invisible, and the door remains blocked, impeding my progress. So, I have no choice but to leave Vsync on, which impairs the visuals and hampers the mouse movement, but renders the game bug-free. I'm at a loss here, but I shall continue the game with Vsync on.
  
  In other news, I'm thinking of taking a trip to NYC in two weeks. I'll keep you posted.
  
  UPDATE: For now, the trip is called off. My parents gave me a red light.
  • Posted Jul 10, 2009 4:28 am PT
  • Category: Games
  • 9 Comments
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• 7Jul 09

  Update 392845... Yeah, I Lost Count

  So I just felt like making a blog... there's a few things going on. First, my health: I've been sick the last few days, but now it looks like I finally kicked that sickness to the curb, as I'm feeling better now. I'm really glad that cold didn't last for a week. Also, a couple of weeks ago, my family was planning a trip to my grandparents' house on Long Island for yesterday and today, but I wasn't able to go. In fact, none of us went down there. Unfortunately, it wasn't because of my illness (as I was feeling well enough to travel yesterday) - it had something to do with my mom, and I don't feel comfortable discussing it in public, so I'll stop there.
  
  On the school/work front, I received a grade for one of my two summer courses I've been taking the past month. It's a B for my technical writing course, and I'll gladly take that. For the other course (a crash course in MS Office), I have no doubts I got an A, but I haven't checked that one yet. Also, my internship site (who paid me for a month's work) wants me to come back for some more paid work, but being a state agency, they have to go through all sorts of channels to get clearance to pay me. Ugh, sometimes I wish NY wasn't as dysfunctional as it is... if you haven't heard about the Senate stalemate in my state, search it. It's rather ugly in terms of how childish the politics of my state are. Anyway... I got an e-mail from my old supervisor saying the process is moving along, so I'll hopefully get an answer in the next few weeks.
  
  Finally, for the gaming stuff, which is obviously what you all care about. I downloaded FFVII off PSN a couple of weeks ago and I'm enjoying playing this cIassic on the PSP without Remote Play lag or emulation problems from the 80G PS3. ^_^ In my latest playthrough, I have just acquired the airship, which is about a fifth of the way through the second disc, so I'm doing rather well in terms of progress. In retrospect, I kinda wish these games didn't require so much grinding, but such is life... I might go back to playing Persona 3 soon, seeing as that game isn't as intensive with the grinding and is much more story-based. I've reached a sticky point in Devil Survivor, so that's on hold for now. On the side, I'm also starting Dead Space on the PC. A lot of my friends are playing it, so I'm gonna see just how good it is. I played a tiny bit of the opening chapter, and the graphics are amazing on my machine. I can play it maxed out at 1680x1050, which is pretty damn impressive. It spikes my temperatures, though, so I might have to work on the airflow in my case a bit sometime soon. Other than that, I'm incredibly happy with this machine. I just wish I didn't lose my Crysis disc.
  
  Anyway, thanks for reading, and have a great week!
  • Posted Jul 7, 2009 4:31 am PT
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• 3Jul 09

  Rock Band of the Month - July 2009

  I've decided to go a little indie with this month's rock band, but not too indie: this month's featured band is Modest Mouse. Most of you know MM from their 2004 hit single, "Float On" (especially if you've played recent iterations of GH/RB), but they've been around far longer than that. Here's their bio: http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&searchlink=MODEST|MOUSE&sql=11:hifrxq9hld6e~T1
  • Posted Jul 3, 2009 4:18 am PT
  • Category: Music
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