My Alienware Experience - Part 4

Well, it's been two weeks now, and I am still using my Alienware Aurora R3 PC, and I still love it. I've had the chance to really give it a workout in some new, high end graphical games, and it really shines. It also works great for the day to day computing that I do.

Let me start out by saying that if you are like me and research the crap out of major purchases before you commit, then you will have read all of the internet horror stories about Alienware. They ship broken, or they don't work right, or you have to spend two months working with support to get the right stuff, etc. Of course we all realize that the Internet is 90% bitchfest, and only 10% praise. People don't come online to tell you how great a purchase they just made, but they sure do come on to complain when something goes wrong. So you may be a tad bit anxious about purchasing a computer that even has it's own sucks.com site. I say "don't be."

My Alienware shipped on-time - actually, a couple of days early. It was working flawlessly when I set it up. (Yes, I had to install all of my software and update some drivers, but hey, that's life with a PC. If you don't like that, you shouldn't be using a PC.) It has performed with excellence in all tasks that I have shoved at it, and I have yet to have occasion to complain.

As far as performance goes, let's talk briefly about two modern games: Brink and Rift. I ran Fraps during both of these games for extended periods to make sure that I was getting decent performance for my money. I chose these games because they are both newer releases, and because they both push the graphics card to work hard. In fact, these two games are the only games that I played recently that actually caused the graphics card fan to spin up to a faster level.

During multiplayer, 16 person Brink sessions, the fps (Frames per Second) never dipped below 38. They averaged out at 44. This is with all of the graphics options turned up as high as they will go and at a resolution of 1920x1200. The game looks nice, and it played smoothly, with no detectable hitching. I will note, however, that Brink is a really new release, and that it still has its share of graphical bugs. I expect that as the game is further optimized, I will see an increase in fps.

Rift is a newer MMORPG game that really has spectacular graphics. Of course, in order to enjoy those graphics, you need a PC capable of showing them to you in an acceptable framerate. I ran Rift at a resolution of 1920x1200, on the Ultra setting at first, and I was getting an average of 62 fps. But then I noticed that the "ultra" setting left quite a few graphics sliders turned down. How ultra is ultra if it isn't actually ULTRA? So, I went ahead and turned all of the sliders up to the max. Go big or go home, right? When walking around solo and questing, I averaged around 45 fps. In groups doing dungeon runs, my fps dropped just a tiny bit to average around 42. And the real test, giant raid sized outdoor events where rifts are opening and spilling out hordes of monsters and 100+ players are all on the screen at once battling those monsters. During these chaotic events, the Aurora R3 still averaged 28 fps, with a low of 24fps. Even with that many things happening onscreen at the same time, the gameplay was smooth and I never noticed any detectable graphical hitching. My old system hitched during World of Warcraft raids with as few as 20 players present, and it wasn't out of date or under-powered. it just wasn't as top notch as the new Alienware.

So, I am going to end my series of articles on the new Alienware Aurora R3 with a positive rating for the system and a few notes. The only thing even slightly bad I can say about it is that when playing Rift and Brink the GeForce 590 GTX card's fan kicks up the speed quite a bit, and the exhaust sound is quite loud. It actually makes me turn up my speakers a bit. Of course, my system sits level with my desk and about a foot away from my monitor, so moving it might make the noise a non-issue. (Or liquid cooling it, like the CPU.) The only time the system ever crashed was the first day that Brink was released. The open GL interface between the game and the graphics card locked it up tight. Other than that, it has run flawlessly. The lighting system looks great, and is fun to set up with different color schemes for each game or flashing lights when you receive an email. So far, my Alienware experience has been very positive, and I would definitely recommend them to others who want a custom gaming PC, but don't have the time to build and support it themselves.

Things that I learned from FEAR 2.

1. - No PC gamer has a 5 button mouse, and even if they did they wouldn't want to use buttons 4 and 5 for anything in game anyway.

2. - Improved graphics now means it looks good on an XBOX 360. If you're unlucky enough to be a PC gamer, it means "Sorry, we had to make this run on an XBOX, so you get less collateral damage effects, smaller explosions, and lower rez textures."

3. - Shotguns blow people up at close range. We're talking all that's left is a cloud of blood. No wonder PETA objects to hunting, all those deer are being disintegrated!

4. - Old women have a much better chance of surviving in a combat zone than trained soldiers.

5. - Coffee tables will completely stop any number of high caliber bullets.

6. - Body armor will stop several rounds from a firearm, but will cause you to die if punched just once.

7. - In the event that somebody's illegal experiment goes wrong, don't worry! They will leave all sorts of evidence of their illegal experiments lying around so that you can figure out what they did.

Crysis: Warhead - Dual SMG fix

Just got Crysis Warhead home. Loving it so far. However, I noticed that since I assigned Mouse 2 to Jump, instead of the default Zoom function, I cannot fire my second SMG without jumping. You'll have the same weird issue with any function you reassign Mouse 2 to.

To fix this, you need to open your Vista documents folder. (Default is c:/Users//Documents/My Games/Crysis_Warhead/Profiles/Default)
Once in the default folder (or whatever you named your profile) right click on actionmaps.xml and choose open with, and then select Notepad.

Once you have this file open, scroll down and look for:

action name="attack2" onPress="1" onRelease="1"
key name="mouse2"/
/action

Go ahead and change "mouse2" to whatever key you assigned zoom to, or to whatever key you wish.

Click file at the top and save.

Now you can rock dual SMGs without any weird secondary behavior. (Jumping every time you shoot sucks!)

Crysis performance with GeForce 260 GTX

I've been replaying Crysis since I got my new video card. I played it stock for a while until I realized that there were patches, and then I updated. In both cases, I have been playing with all graphics settings on Very High. The 260 is handling it very well. Gameplay is very smooth almost all the time, the exception being right after the game first loads. I don't expect that will continue once the alien ship comes into play, but we'll see.

My old card, the GeForce 8800GTS 640 MB would have absolutely choked at these settings. I couldn't even run the first couple of levels on it, let alone the back half of the game. I think I had one setting on Very High and a couple on High, but most were on Medium. Even at those levels, it paused sometimes and had very low frame rates at others.

So, yeah, I'm happy. When the new Crysis: Warhead comes out, it should run even better, as the developers claim to have optimized the engine further.


EDIT: I've played through the whole game, and the only time it really showed any really noticeable decrease in framerate was the final couple of battles aboard the aircraft carrier. Not bad for the "midrange" card.

Diablo 3

DIABLO III

Nice.

Blizzard's announcement of Diablo 3 wasn't much of a surprise, but it is nice to know it's finally coming out.

More spore

Spore Creature Creator is fun!

Gordon Freeman Lives!

Apparently the Half-Life resistance group is alive and well in Endicott, NY.



There could very well be Combine soldiers lurking in there, waiting to ambush you when you go looking for ammo and health packs.

Sadly, this building is not alone in making Endicott look like a post-apocalyptic city straight out of Half-Life 2.

EDIT: The building in the photo used to be a car dealership. I took the picture because due to the combination of our crappy weather, the run down condition of our town, and the Lambda vandalism, it looks like a screenshot from Half-Life 2.

Frontlines: Fuel of War, STEAM, and my refund.

So, I did exactly what I told STEAM support I would do if they did not issue me a refund. I called my bank and disputed the charge. Guess who got his $50 back?

Frontlines: Fuel of War and Steam

Just a warning for those of you who haven't already purchased this game: DON'T!

I paid for the game Sunday, March 2nd, and let it download overnight. Well, I tried to. The download locked up at 94%. So, this morning I restarted Steam and the download continued. Or so I thought.

At 100%, the game still wasn't ready to play. No word from Steam on why, it just said it wasn't ready. Restart Steam again, and now it lets me start the game.

The game that crashes before the first splash screen comes up.

Checking Valve's forums, I see that this is common. OK, I'm a PC gamer, I'm used to rough starts. Try a bunch of fixes, now it crashes my whole PC, and I still can't play. At this point I've already wasted two hours of my time messing with this game.

I'm now trying to check with KAOS, the developers. No support there. There's a nice message telling people to wait for a patch.

MESSAGE TO THE PC GAMING INDUSTRY: THIS IS THE FUCKING TYPE OF SHIT THAT IS KILLING PC GAMING!!!!!

Seriously, who wants to put up with having to fuck around for hours trying to get a game to work when console users simply pop it in and it runs?

So, off goes the email to Valve:

Hello,

I purchased Frontlines: Fuel of War on Steam yesterday (03/02/2008), having seen it on the front page of my Steam program, and having read a couple of glowing reviews on the game.

I downloaded the game overnight, but when I tried to play it today (03/03/2008) the game just kept crashing. I couldn't even get the game to do anything but bring up a black screen and crash. Then I visited the game developers forums and the Steam forums and discovered that this game is having all sorts of issues, and a lot of people cannot play. I tried a few of the suggested fixes, but now the game not only doesn't play, it crashes my computer when I try to start it.

The forum moderators suggest waiting a week or two until the game is fixed.

This is not an acceptable solution. I purchased software for around $50 US to use now, not to wait until somebody can fix it. Nowhere was it advertised that the game would not be playable on purchase or that this was a pre-sale for a game that is not available to play now.

I understand that normally nobody offers refunds for software due to the prevalence of piracy, however since this product is not functional, I would like a refund.

Thank you.
Jeremy Star

And the canned response:

Hello,

Thank you for contacting Steam Support.

Please verify
your GCF Cache files for this game.

Please follow the link below for
more information:

Title: Verifying GCF Cache Files
Link:
http://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=2037-QEUH-3335

If you
are still unable to play Frontlines: Fuel of War:

Technical support for
this title is handled by a third party support department - please follow the
link below for instructions to contact the support provider for this title:

Title: Frontlines: Fuel of War
Link:
http://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=8968-QIOZ-2623

Please
let us know if you encounter any difficulty contacting the support provider for
this title, or if you have any further questions.

Note for the curious: There are no GCF cache files for this game, and the Steam support pages says basically that they don't support this game, please bug the developer.

There is no GCF cache for this game, and THQ has no support for this title other
than a useless 5 question FAQ and a redirection to the KAOS web community, where the answer is to wait for a patch addressing these issues.

Perhaps I was not clear. I do not wish to pay for a game that I am unable to play upon payment, especially in light of the fact that no mention of these numerous
issues with the game was made in the STEAM store.

If I cannot obtain a refund through STEAM, then I have no recourse but to contact my credit card company and have them resolve the dispute.

Thank you,
Jeremy Star

I thought I was pretty damn clear.

Hello,

Please update your game files.

Go the my games tab, right-click on Frontlines: Fuel of war

Go to properties, then click the local files tab

Click on Verify integrity of game cache.

I guess not.

So, it's off to my bank's help desk to request assistance from them in reversing the charges. Thanks for nothing, Valve. Literally, nothing. No support, no refund, no service, and no game.

LOST PC game

As always, click for a larger image.
John and Hurley. 4 8 15 16 23 42?

Dell making WoW themed laptops

STORY

Very cool. However, a PhysX card for WoW? Why? It will do nothing but add weight, heat, and power consumption.

Corsair Memory

I was a naughty little monkey tonight.

For most men, this might mean that they made out with the secretary at work, or paid a hooker for some oral action.

For me, it means I spent money I shouldn't have on computer parts.

You see, the game Crysis came out yesterday. I've been waiting for a couple of years for this game, as it was made by the guys who made one of my all time favorite shooters, Far Cry. It looks fan-f**king-tastic. The downside is that you need to travel to the future and bring back PCs from 2010 to get it to run smooth at the very high graphic setting.

My PC runs it just fine in Medium, with a couple of settings turned up to high.

I don't want to run it with a couple of settings turned to high. I want to be high. Period. (I know, get the stoner jokes out of the way...) So, I am snapping up anything that might net me more power.

2 more GBs of DDR2 RAM should help out. Then I will have 4GB total. Of course, general 32-bit Windows weirdness will only be able to use about 3.2GB of that, but that ties in with my plan to order the 64-bit version of Vista when I get home. (It only costs $10 if you already own the 32-bit version)

Any anyway, there's a $40 rebate, bringing the price of this RAM to $52. I wish it cost that little when I bought the original 2GBs earlier this year for over $200.

Now, if the price of that Athlon 64 X2 6400 processor would just drop by another $50...

Half-Life 2 Episode 2

I bought this the moment I could pre-order on STEAM, and played it the minute it was unlocked. I just finished it tonight, after playing casually between bouts of WoW.

WARNING: Spoilers Ahead!

Noooo! Not Robert Guillaume! Say it ain't so! I worked so hard to save him in Half-Life 2! Ah well. The game was short but sweet, with an ending that actually elicited an emotional response. And, they managed to tie in Portal to the plot. Nice.

Oh, and I believe Gordon Frohman from the webcomic Concerned made a guest appearance. (Even though he's supposed to be dead...) And, oh yeah, the LOST numbers appear on a PC screen in game, as well as a hidden Dharma Initiative poster. Very cool.

All in all, well worth the money for the game. I can't wait for the conclusion.

Received: Dell 1720 Laptop

DHL dropped this puppy off for me this afternoon. I've been configuring it for a couple of hours now. (Taking off Dell bloatware, installing my programs.) Of course, the first thing the laptop did was bluescreen while setting up Vista, so I'm not entirely confident that it's going to live up to my expectations.

In about a month, I will be writing up a review for MMORPG.com.

Warcraft III

It took me two years, but I finally beat Warcraft III today. What can I say, I'm not a huge fan of RTS games, so it's hard for me to muddle through to the end. I basically wanted to learn the background story for World of Warcraft, so I played whenever the mood struck. (Not often.)

Now it's on to The Frozen Throne, which I can hopefully beat before the new WoW expansion, so I am all caught up in the lore.

Bioshock

One word: Incredible.

I've been playing this game for hours now, and I barely noticed the time passing. From the awe inspiring graphics to the thundering sound, from the tossing of super power weapons to the chattering of the machine guns, this is one of the best shooters I have played in forever.

If you have a Direct X 10 video card, the water and lighting effects look outstanding. Even with DX9, the graphics are still great. Water blurs your vision if you walk under it, smoke clouds the air, and frost obscures sight. The water reflects the environment, and sends shimmering reflections down the corridors.

The textures are all pretty sharp, and the mapping is superb. My one gripe is that you can't blow things completely apart. A game like this would have been great with destructible environments and deformable models. I'm guessing we missed out on those aspects due to the simultaneous programming of the Xbox 360 version.

The plot is pretty forced, but you honestly don't miss it much due to gasping over the rest of the game. The backstory is much more interesting than the plot, however, full of retro 50s social issues and trappings. Honestly, I could feel the similarities between this game and the System Shock series developed by the same people, and that is a good thing. It's almost like System Shock 2, but the RPG aspects are toned down and the combat sped up, which is perfect for shooter fans.

Speaking of shooting, you do get some nifty guns, but by far the most interesting thing to destroy your enemies with is the genetic mutations you are capable of getting. An electric bolt from your fingers can stun someone like you were a human stun-gun, but if that person happens to be standing in water, it will fry his brains. You can toss a fire ball from your hand and watch your enemies writhe in flames (or jump in to water and create a huge steam cloud when the flames are doused), or you can ignite the surrounding scenery and really watch the fiery carnage.

Finally, the AI is a little more believable than most shooter games. People on fire try to find water to douse themselves with, they will run to healing machines to try to heal themselves, and they generally act like they are trying to preserve themselves. They are all nuts, so some aberrant behaviour certainly fits, but they still act smarter than most games "smart" AI.

All in all, I think Irreverent (or 2K, or whatever they are calling themselves this week...) has a winner on its hands. I can only hope for a sequel or expansion.

You Don't Know Jack

I can't believe I forgot to put a link up to this game!

I found this while cruising around the Internet at the in-laws house. I used to play the game with some friends back in the olden days before the advent of the WWW, so it was cool to see it resurrected online. Plus, it's funny.

You Don't Know Jack

EDIT: Whoops, my wife informs me that I did indeed put up a link before. My bad.

Lord Grey Deathbringer the Pimp?

My Fable hero was known for a while as Ranger. Then I won the arena championship and changed my name to Deathbringer. Then I married Lady Grey. That should make me Lord Grey Deathbringer, right?

Then I became a pimp.

Fable Pimpin'

I've recently become addicted to the game Fable: The Lost Chapters again. My wife bought it for me for Christmas, but I lost interest during the whole wedding/buying a house thing shortly thereafter. I just reinstalled it, and I have been losing hours working my way through it.

Of course my wife is loving the fact that I just slept with every whore in the game to find out what was behind the demon door in the Bordello area. In case you are curious: