Logichaos is a blog site created by Neil Moore with
the help of John Wolgamot. Here you will find guides
for Windows and Windows based programs. Logichaos started out
as a hobby many years ago and over time it has become my personal
website where I submit and edit guides and video tutorials. I maintain a
list of free programs for Windows called The
Ultimate List of Free Programs for Windows.
This is an interesting video I found about the construction of an earthquake-proof bridge. If you want to skip through the video, it gets good about half-way through. Sorry, it has commercials.
In the past, I've used a free version of a defrag program called Ultimate Defrag. Unlike most defrag programs, Ultimate Defrag lets you dictate which files get high performance priority and low performance priority. It will then defrag your files and place them accordingly for the best performance. The high performance files get placed on the outside of your harddrive where reading files is faster and the low performance files get placed on the inside of your harddrive where read speed is not very important. To top it off, Ultimate Defrag has an option called Strict Placement, which forces your files to be sorted by folder structure and alphabetical order.
All defrag programs claim they boost your system performance. While this is true, rarely do they consider the impact on gaming. Lets say you install a brand new harddrive and you install a game on it. Your game files will be installed in a natural order close to each other. But as time goes by and your harddrive space runs dry, new files and games must be placed wherever free space is available. Files not only become fragmented, but they also become scattered all over your harddrive. This can cause hitches and lag while playing games that frequently access your harddrive.
When you defrag your games with Windows Defragmenter or some other Defragger, what you're essentially doing is giving that defrag program the ability to even further scatter your game files all around your harddrive. This causes game performance to worsen after a defrag. Ultimate Defrag is the only program I have ever used that manages to intelligently defrag files without worsening game performance, and it keeps getting better. Version 3.0 is just on the horizon and some of these new features are great.
I have been using a commercial H.264 decoder for a few years now, and I figured I'd spread the word about a great deal being offered for a limited time. CoreAVC, a commercial H.264 decoder by CoreCodec is selling for $10 after you insert a promo code. This deal is only good until February 28th, so get it while it's hot! The promo code is displayed at the purchase screen after you click buy for CoreAVC. CoreAVC is faster than all other H.264 decoders including those found in FFDShow Tryouts (K-Lite Codec Pack or Combined Community Codec Pack). CoreAVC is both a software and a hardware decoder, depending on what graphics card you own.
CoreAVC is useful for playing 1080p videos or movies on slower computers without lag. It can be used to watch Blu-Ray movies, too. If you've ever downloaded a .mp4 file from youtube, CoreAVC plays that too. I can't tell you everything about it, except that I have used it for many years, it keeps getting better with every release, and it is maintained and updated often.
CoreAVC is a decoder, not a program--which means it can work with Media Player Classic or Windows Media Player (pretty much any player that supports DirectShow for video output.
I am not affiliated with CoreAVC and I was not paid to write this or advertise their program--although I wish I was. lol...
I hate to sound like a hippocrite when it comes to Steam (I'm always praising Steam), but there's a weekend deal going on right now just begging for a little ridicule. Crysis or Crysis Warhead (for this weekend only) is 50% off. Crysis being $30 is now $15 and Crysis Warhead being $30 is now $15. Together, those total $30. Deal, right? Not so fast.
If you look closer, you'll realize that Steam sells both of these games together for a normal selling price of $40. They call it the Maximum Edition. 50% of $40 is....
$30? That's a mere 25% discount. More like Maximum Deception! I was excited to find out that I might be able to get the Maximum Edition for 50% off, but to my dismay, it's only 25% off. I realize this is a matter of technicality. The deal is for either game, not both. Comon Steam, you should know better than that. If you're going to sell either game for half off, you should at least do likewise for the Crysis Maximum Edition. Or, at the very least advertise the Maximum Edition as a 25% discount so there isn't any misleading.
Better yet, lower the price of Crysis and Crysis Warhead to $20 a piece. This would prevent people from accidentally buying both games separately at normal price, effectively wasting $20 when they could have bought the Maximum Edition for $40. This way, you can offer all Crysis products 25% off. On top of that, I wouldn't call Steam out for deceptive advertising. I'm sure I'm not the only one that looked at this weekend deal and thought, "Wait, what?"
About a week ago, I posted a rant about Modern Warfare 2's attempt to screw the PC gaming community with its creation of IWNet. Finally, MW2 is released and people are talking about it. If you're still not sure what the huge deal is, I have a 2 part video that sums it up nicely. These videos do not belong to me and I take no credit for them.
This is going to be my first attempt at reviewing a game. I recently picked up a game called Shattered Horizon for $18 on Steam. I saw the previews and the game looked very impressive. It's a game made by Futuremark, the creators of the popular 3dMark benchmarking engine for 3d graphics. It takes place in space in the near future, where the moon has been "shattered" by a nuclear explosion. Many of the level settings take place in the midst of asteroid debris in our solar system where earth and the moon are clearly visible. What makes this game so appealing is, it's a first person shooter in a floaty environment. The last game to do that was Tribes, which hasn't seen a sequel or true successor in years. I found out a buddy of mine preordered it, so I decided to give it a gamble. I finally got a chance to play it, and these are my thoughts thus far.
The price is "almost" right. For $20, the amount of content is lacking, but I am giving Futuremark some faith. This is their first shot at a game and based on the level of realism in both graphics and gameplay, I have to say I'd feel guilty for giving them any less, but at the same time I wouldn't pay more for it. $20 is about the perfect spot for a game of this complexity.
Levels One of the most popular levels is (ISS) a nearly destroyed space station orbiting earth. Another (The Arc) takes place in asteroid debris orbiting earth, another (Moondust) on a very large asteroid orbiting earth, and the last (Flipside) is a large, destroyed space station orbiting the moon. My favorite level is ISS because it's very balanced in terms of fragging potential. You can go "rambo" with your automatic fire, you can snipe, you can flee when it's necessary, it's not too big, not too small. It seems like the perfect map. My worst map is moondust. It's HUGE and it's too easy to get killed by snipers.
Gametypes
There are 3 gametypes, Skirmish, Battle and Assault. The game revolves around teams, so the gametypes are basically variations of team deathmatch. Skirmish is classic Team Deathmatch where only the team with the most points wins. Battle and Assault are nearly identical with small differences. They both have points that the teams must capture. Battle is basically a tug of war. In Battle, both teams must fight for all of the points. Once a team has all the points, that team is the winner. Points can be reclaimed. In Assault, one team starts with all of the points and the other must steal them. Once a point has been taken, it cannot be reclaimed. The defending team wins when the time runs out. My favorite gametype is Battle because it can last a long time and doesn't boil down to just free for all killing. It's the perfect balance between the other 2 gametypes.
Weapons The game has only 1 weapon, but it serves many purposes. It's both a long range, medium range and a melee weapon. The primary fire mode is an automatic fire, which is HIGHLY inaccurate, making it useless at long range. You can compensate by throwing EMP grenades (which I will explain in a minute) or using your thrusters. The Secondary is a burst fire sniper-like mode. Luckily, the developers have implemented a few handicaps for this to prevent campers from having a hay day. When you fire in zoomed mode, your gun kicks back temporarily obscuring your view. Your gun waves slightly making it more difficult to hit your target. The more you shoot, if you get shot at, or if you strafe left and right, your gun waves about making it very difficult to aim. You're essentially a sitting duck. On top of that, your bullets have EXTREMELY bright glows revealing your location as soon as you shoot. It is very difficult to effectively camp in this game, which earns the "Neil Seal of Approval".
The gun can also shoot 3 types of grenades. The first is an EMP which temporarily disables an enemies suit functions making them unable to hear, unable to control their thrusters, and their aiming is extremely slowed; however, they can still attack you. The EMP grenade is also really annoying because it's merely a stun grenade. Once all of the noobs discover it, the game quickly evolves into stun grenade mayhem. The second is a standard grenade. It blows up, it deals damage. I have several complaints about this: 1. it doesn't make enemies knock back enough. 2. it has a very pitiful radius of damage. I can't even kill a player with 3 grenades unless they're all placed perfectly. 3. I pretty much said it, they don't deal enough damage. The last is an ICE grenade which doesn't deal any damage. It serves as a stealth assist making it easy to capture enemy points or flee an area when under attack. It's pretty useful if you know how to use it.
It took me a while to figure this out, but the longer you hold down your grenade key, the further your grenades shoot before detonating. Unfortunately, there isn't any kind of indicator to see how long you've charged your grenade, which in my opinion really sucks. I wonder if they did that on purpose to handicap players or if they simply neglected this.
The one thing that really disappoints is the lack of multiple weapons. This game could really use some innovative weapons, but I'm not sure how they could go about providing them. Personally, I prefer the well thought out placement of weapons around maps, but in recent years those kinds of games are disappearing. Now, you either start with every weapon, or you can choose a loadout. Honestly though, Shattered Horizon would be better off with weapons placed around the maps, where the players start with limited pistols and must pick up their trusty assault or find another weapon, but that would only truly work in Skirmish mode. The other modes would have to use selective Loadouts, but this is all just pipe dreaming. The game doesn't have either methods at the present and that's a real downer.
Movement: The thrusters allow you to boost for a short period of time, but since you're in space, you keep your momentum. This is very useful for getting from area to area or escaping enemy fire. You can latch on to any surface and walk. This is great for sniping because it improves your accuracy tremendously, but it encourages camping. One of the cool things you can do is latch onto a surface directly below a capture point. Enemies will be confused and you can steal the point without them knowing.
You can roll by holding down your Roll key and moving your mouse from left to right, but I think this would be better as separate Roll Left and Roll Right keys. The current method requires you to stop firing or maneuvering and that can mean your death in the middle of a battle. You can still shoot and move if you are good at pressing weird combinations of keys with both hands, but good luck doing that.
The one thing that really angers me is getting hit with an EMP grenade because it cripples your movement severely making you a sitting target for all in the area, but I understand it's there for realistic appeal. I can't really complain that things should be done differently since this is an adequate way already, but they could have merely rendered you slightly crippled rather than extremely so you have a chance to fight back. Oh, and there is a function that lets you turn off your suit functions which serves a few purposes. It makes you extremely quiet, you don't produce any lights when thrusting because you can't thrust, it makes you extremely hard to see, it takes you off the enemy radar and you can't latch onto any surfaces to snipe easier. The downside is, you're EXTREMELY vulnerable, and it's almost one of those useless things like "Feign Death" from the Unreal Tournament games.
Difficulty/Learning Curve This is one of the hardest games I've played in a long time, but it's also one of the easiest. It's hard in the sense that it really makes me work for my kills, but easy in the sense that I've been playing games like this for a long time, so it really hits home for me. The noobs will have a really hard time getting used to the gameplay. There's no single player mode and it is all slaughter based skill. The only way to get good is to get slaughtered. This game is also so new that it has yet to be exploited by the highly competitive gamers, and I dread the thought of that day. Hopefully, finding a suitable counter measure isn't too difficult, but I have a feeling my days are numbered unless I can keep up and get good along with the rest. The game just might spiral into a pros-only community where all of the noobs and potential pros are scared away, but as long as I don't think about it, I'll be okay. That's just something to consider if you want to try your luck on this game.
Technical Stuff
Graphics Shattered Horizon has incredibly good graphics The game has everything you'd expect from a modern 3d game including latest shader technology, ambient occlusion, dynamic soft shadows, reflections, glows... you name it. It is practically a DirectX 10 and 11 advertisement since it does not support DirectX9, in other words all OS predating Windows Vista. I can live with that since I recently upgraded to Windows 7, but many can't since they won't make the leap to Vista/Win7 for whatever reason. There are 2 immediate things that really annoy me. The game runs like ASS at highest graphics on my system, and that's pretty pathetic. I have an 8800GTX, 4GB of DDR2 800 Ram, and an AMD 6000+ 3.0Ghz. This game looks as nice as Crysis at times, but it has a much visibly lower poly count and runs worse, which is absolutely no excuse. It's definitely playable, but I expect it to perform better on a computer of my specs. I will admit, this may be nVidia's fault, and they may drastically improve performance of the game with a driver update. My friend says his game runs buttery smooth on an ATI 4870, which is generously faster than my current videocard, but not "holy shit" faster.
Interface I can't really say much about the interface other than it's not UT3s (Unreal Tournament 3). UT3s menu/interface was a disaster, a true testament to what PC gaming interfaces SHOULD NOT BE... and thankfully, Shattered Horizon has an interface that doesn't stink. It's simple for a simple game, but not too simple. The one thing I can say that really disappoints is the lack of an FOV (field of view) adjustment slider. This may have been at the developers will to neglect this, or they simply don't think changing the FOV was important enough to include. The game defaults somewhere around 60-80 FOV, which is extremely difficult to adjust to (I come from the UT2004 days when changing almost anything was possible). Another thing--the game could use in game, push-to-talk voice chat and lots of settings, but I have Ventrilo and that's enough for me. Still, the game should have included it just to keep up with the more modern games.
Realism Shattered Horizon treads lightly when it comes to realism. Its the perfect amount of sci-fi for the time in which it takes place. At first glance, you might think sound in space is impossible, which it is... and this game has a very meaningful way of adding it without stepping on the foots of skeptical sci-fi'ers. At the beginning of the match, your suit's voice says something about initiating audio simulation... which is a fancy way of saying everything you hear, whether it's gunfire, footsteps, thrusters, or any kind of sounds are being produced by the suit based on what's going on outside. This makes the game more interesting but at the same time, it's reasonable to say it adds that extra bit of much needed believability. When you get hit with an EMP grenade, the sounds of gunfire and explosions dampen due to your suit malfunctioning. Cool, huh?
I'm not sure whether to call this a result of realism, or bad gameplay implementation. When you use your thrusters, it temporarily disables your ability to shoot your gun. If this were real life, nothing should prevent you from shooting your gun because your finger is always on the trigger. At the very least, you should be able to shoot your gun but be horribly inaccurate until your gun finishes animating after it returns to it's normal position. This could mean saving your ass if you have good reflex. Also, you can't melee attack until you've finished thrusting and the animation of your gun returns to its normal position. You should be able to interrupt thrusting and melee attack almost instantly, because as it stands, melee is extremely difficult already. There's no reason to unnecessarily handicap something like that.
Dedicated Servers and Custom Maps It's too soon to say if you'll be able to purchase or rent your own dedicated server for this game. Honestly, I don't know if you can, but I'm hopeful the servers will be available. I can't wait to see what kinds of creative mods are possible with this game. Also, since this is using the Futuremark Engine, there isn't a map editor, which means no custom maps. That may change in the near future with the release of a map editor, but I honestly don't think that will happen. I believe we're at the mercy of Futuremark for all downloadable content and dedicated servers.
Conclusion
I can honestly say that Shattered Horizon is not a bad game and I suggest it if you're a diehard FPS, and you'll know what I mean once you watch the gameplay videos. The game takes a unique concept like space fighting and takes it to the brink of absolute realism, without being dull and unworthy of playing. As my friend would say, its a "project game". It's not meant to be one of those games with 12 sequels, or begin a collective following. It's supposed to be "fun" and unique. I hope Futuremark continues to make games, because they have a lot of untapped potential just waiting to shine through. I have to stop and think about who I suggest this game to, because it's extremely difficult. There are a lot of keys to master and it demands ambidextrous perfection. It's for gamers that are already accustomed to the gameplay and have what it takes to be good. This is definitely one of those games where, the better you are at it, the more fun you'll have. Noobs might have to pass this game up, although I gladly welcome them. They give me something to shoot at! :)
Heads up--this is going to be a rant, which I try not to do very often, but this is simply unavoidable. I have to dispense my thoughts about this because I know I'm not the only person out there that feels the same way as me.
Infinity Ward, the creators of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare have been hard at work on the sequel called Modern Warfare 2. I wouldn't say that I've been eagerly awaiting the game because, admittedly, I don't really care much for realism shooters--where the focus is on automatic weapons and grenades, or anything having to do with wars on planet Earth.. I'm more of a fantasy / sci-fi gamer where I can feed my imagination. However, I can say that Call of Duty 4 is a genuinely good game despite its stereotype. With that said, I hope what I'm about to say about Modern Warfare 2 is not to be confused with my distaste for games of this type.
Infinity Ward decided it was in the best interests of the company to lie to us and make us think their decisions are in the best interest of gamers. Confused yet? You should be. Modern Warfare 2 is going to be a drastically different multiplayer experience for many gamers. They have vouched for a match-making system in place of their "tried and true" server browser. Instead of bringing up a list of servers that you can pick and choose from and decide as an intelligent gamer which is best, they have developed a system called IWNet which does all of the thinking for you. It will "match" you up with players of your skill range and location. Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of a match making system for PC games. The server browser is really starting to show its age, but it's also too entrenched to abandon entirely. Call of Duty 4 on the PC is made up of gamers that love the server browser and all that it offers, and with the new match making system for Modern Warfare 2, you'll no longer reap the benefits of the old way and for most gamers, it will be a very difficult transition.
Creating a match making system for Modern Warfare 2 on PC made Infinity Ward get a little too excited, so they decided to " throw out" what made PC gaming what it is today. They will no longer have support for dedicated servers and custom content, in other words, modifications to the game, essentially making the PC version of Modern Warfare 2 identical to the console version right down to every last pixel. The only thing they couldn't do is force us to use controllers and I have a feeling they would try that if they could get away with it.
What does this mean for the average PC gamer? Well, for starters, it means you are at the mercy of IWNet to pair you up with players of your skill range and location, but the only problem is.. this doesn't actually benefit us. We as PC gamers don't want to play people of the same skill level. We want to "own", even if it means getting completely owned while climbing the ladder to greatness. Our goal is to be the best. We are egocentric and we don't care who knows it. Forcing a matchmaking system down our throats doesn't make things better. To top it off, connections won't actually be better, since there won't be any dedicated servers. The host, or creator of the server is the one hosting the match. I'll be referring to the host as "Guy". Everybody is at the mercy of Guy's computer. Guy might be using his computer to download torrents, or porn. Guy's internet connection might be really terrible, and stinking it up for the rest of the players. Guy might also have a really slow computer, so no matter how fast his internet connection is, Guy's computer will make the match extremely bad for everyone. Also, Guy is using the same computer to play Modern Warfare 2, which is something a dedicated server would NEVER do! The job of a dedicated server is to provide a high speed connection on a high speed computer, dedicated to one thing only: the server. In what way does Infinity Ward think a match making system without dedicated servers is better than a serverbrowser with dedicated servers? ...because it's not. It's a horrible idea and the competitive community is speaking. They hate Infinity Ward for this and they deserve every bit of criticism they receive for forcing a fatally flawed match making system on us.
It doesn't end there, either. Rob Bowling from Infinity Ward came out to tell us some of the benefits to using IWNet, but offered absolutely no defense for the bad things said about it. This includes: matchmaking, smoother gameplay, private matches, friends list and cheat and hack free games. We knew most of that already. What part of "lack of dedicated server" do they not understand? That last part about hack free games should make us all outraged. This is the PC we're talking about. You can't stop hackers. The only hacking and cheating they refer to takes place on the serverside with custom mods, which isn't even called hacking and cheating. That's called a modded server. This will not stop aimbotters, wallhackers, and radars. If IWNet really does stop hacking in its tracks, I give it a week before a prototype aimbot comes out.. and then what? IWNet will be the new Punkbuster... assuming that's what Rob Bowling wants us to think.
Is this supposed to put our minds at ease? They're talking to PC gamers, not sheep. If I was a sheep, I'd own an X-Box 360 and I'd own the X-Box 360 version of Modern Warfare 2. They are treating us like we're idiots and alienating us in the process. To top it all off, the PC version of Modern Warfare 2 is going to be $10 more than the traditional $50 pricetag for PC games. To take a line from "drinkingwithbob" from Youtube, "ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?". They hike the price up for the PC version to match the price of console versions, all-the-while, giving us less content than ever. As my brother would put it, they are "systemizing" the PC version. They're saving and making so much money they should just give us X-Box 360s for free, and just to spit in our faces they wouldn't even include the 360 version of Modern Warfare 2.
I'm not one to advocate piracy, but it's unavoidable when piece of trash companies like Infinity Ward give PC gamers no other choice. Forgive me for not tip-toeing around words with that last statement, but I'm not the one to blame. For those of us that do buy the game, I hope you really love the lack of content, and the extra money you'll waste spending on the downloadable content for which they starve you. Just think about it. Charging us for the things we used to get for free is inevitable once greedy companies like Infinity Ward get savvy to this. Oh and don't let this rant confuse you, I'm not denouncing the game, I'm denouncing Infinity Ward. There may come a day when I decide to buy Modern Warfare 2, and it all depends if I have enough reason to or it's offered for bargain on Steam. Knowing Infinity Ward, though, Modern Warfare 2 will be retail price for MANY months. It's looking very unlikely. Hopefully Infinity Ward delays the PC version to right their wrongs because that's the only way they could have enough time to fix this debacle, but who am I kidding?
I've been using Steam for several years now, but only recently have I begun to truly cherish the service it offers. In the early days, Steam was chastised by many gamers due to it's imposing-like nature, but over time Steam has earned a new reputation for being the best thing since sliced bread. It's impossible to emphasize how great Steam is without resorting to a list of points, so that's exactly what I've decided to do. This is my own, personal list of reasons to use Steam, with a few suggestions and influences from my friends.
10. The Steam Chat System and Friends Lists Make it Easy to Stay in Touch and is a Decent Alternative to X-fire.
Steam has its own in-game interface that lets you chat with your friends without having to minimize to your desktop. You can easily see what games your friends are playing and you can even join your friends games from the buddy list. X-fire has long since been the gamer messenger of choice, but it's good to know Steam is a competitor. X-fire may never be around forever, so it's good to know Steam will be around.
9. It's Usually Faster Downloading than Ordering Games Online or Buying From a Local Store.
When preordering a game on Steam, you get the game as soon as it's released. If you have a fast internet connection, the wait can range from 30 minutes to a couple of hours. That means you don't have to waste a trip to your local Best Buy or Gamestop, or wait several days for your game to be shipped to you... and you get all of the other benefits of using Steam.
8. Steam Fixes Registry of all of Your Games if you Reinstall Windows
This is just one of my personal favorites. I like to install Windows on its own harddrive (or partition) and in the event I upgrade Windows or need to reinstall, all of my Steam games remain unharmed because they are on a secondary harddrive. All I need to do is reinstall Steam and launch my games. Steam will automatically recreate the registry entries to make those games work, saving hours of time you would have otherwise needed to install or download the games.
Why buy games from the store when Steam offers deals and price advantages? Preorders sometimes get a $2-5 discount, along with early access to the game (sometimes). Steam often has weekend specials ranging from 20-50% off popular / current games. Also, Steam offers bundles of games by publishers that can even further decrease the cost, but those bundles usually contain older games. If you're into older games, Steam is a boon for you!
6. No Security or Lax DRM (Digital Rights Management)
I can't say Steam is without DRM because Steam itself is a form of digital rights management, but it is very lax... in other words, friendly. There are no activation limits or constantly running background processes. Steam is master so there's no need for additional software. All that is required is Steam needs to be running and you need to be logged into your Steam account. That's it.
5. Automatic Patching and Defragmenting of your Games
One of the biggest annoyances in the PC universe is keeping your games up to date with the latest patches. Steam will patch your games automatically, so you will never have to worry about being outdated. Also, Steam defragments your game while it's installing, and you can even defragment your games manually from within Steam. This makes your games have better performance and load times than store-bought games or other download services (like Direct2Drive).
4. No Installation Wizard
Once you buy the game, Steam automatically downloads and installs your game so that it's ready to play as soon as it's finished. You don't have to tinker with annoying installation dialogs or decide where to install your games, Steam does it all for you.
3. You Cant Lose Your Game
Unlike store-bought games or other download services like Direct2drive.com, you can never lose your games on Steam. If you reinstall Windows or go to a different computer entirely, you can just redownload your games without any fuss. There isn't a limit on the number of times you can download a game because Steam is simple. As long as you are logged in to your Steam name, nobody else can download or play your games from a second location. This eliminates the threat of illegally duplicating your games for friends, which lets you download your games an unlimited number of times from Steam. On the flipside, you can lose your entire collection of games by having your account hijacked, but Steam is quick to return your stolen Steam account if you can provide proof the Steam account is yours. I ran into this situation once and it took Steam less than a week to respond and they have a pretty much fool proof method of dealing with cases like that.
2. Never Lose Your CD Keys
Steam takes care of the CD key hassle entirely, but if a certain game requires a CD key at first launch, Steam will prompt you with an "in-game" message containing your CD key. No need to write it down first, just look at the lower right corner of the screen and type what you see. Also, you can access your CD key from the properties of your game in the Steam program.
1. No CD Requirement
This is my number one annoyance in the PC universe. Virtually every game released for PC's nowadays requires the CD / DVD to be in the drive in order to play. If you're like me, you absolutely despise this... as a power user, I feel like I have been reduced to a console gamer, where disks will almost always be required. As a PC user, I have ample harddrive space, memory and ram and nothing annoys me more than having to put a slow disk in the drive... which isn't used for anything other than an antipiracy measure employed by nasty DRM software. Since steam is an all digital delivery platform, it's safe to assume a CD check isn't required, which makes Steam officially awesome.
Like any good persuasive essay (list form or not), it's a good idea to list the potential negatives.
Disadvantages to using Steam
1. Internet Connection Required
It's a given that Steam requires an internet connection in order to download your games, but sometimes Steam goes a step too far and requires an active connection in order to play your games. An example of this is Half-Life 2. Valve has since relaxed its connection requirement for most of its games since Half-Life 2, including HL2 Episodes 1 and 2, but if you have this burning desire to play one of your games that is exclusive to Steam, you may be disappointed. Very rarely are games on Steam required to have an active connection, but when they do, you can find out by looking at the description of the game before you purchase.
2. Not suitable for slow connections
Sometimes games can range from 4-15 gigabytes, which is almost too much to handle for slower internet connections. If you are a victim of slow internet, Steam may be a huge burden. This can be an all-or-nothing point that can sway you from choosing Steam, but it is also a hypothetical one. Slow connection or not, you will get your game eventually and I know plenty of people on wireless connections with Dialup speeds that still prefer Steam, but I can feel their pain!
In the end, it's up to you if you decide to use Steam. If you prefer the physical copy of a game over a digital copy, then Steam could never satisfy you.. but if you're warm to the digital revolution, Steam is a big step forward with some extremely prominent benefits for which its worth salivating.
List made by Neil with the help of Steven Michael Bryan, Erik and others.
Hey guys, I have finally uploaded my MeGUI tutorial to Youtube and it's in glorious HD. If you're wondering what took me so long, it has a lot to do with Youtube being really bad. lol. Basically, youtube would never put my video in HD becuase it was so high quality, it compressed extra well and I guess Youtube's encoders decided my video was unworthy of high definition. It hit me that maybe I should try and fool Youtube, and that's exactly what I did. I applied a film grain effect to my video tutorial and that seems to have fooled youtube into thinking my video was worthy of HD.
I have created another video tutorial for a program called Areca. It's a free, cross platform, open source backup and recovery program for backing up and recovering your files. It supports features like compression, encryption, incremental/differential backup modes, verification, automatic backup deletion and backup scheduling.
Thursday, 29 April 2010 14:07
I hate to sound like a hippocrite when it comes to Steam (I'm always praising Steam), but there's a weekend deal going on right now just begging for a little ridicule. Crysis or Crysis Warhead (for this weekend only) is 50% off. Crysis being $30 is now $15 and Crysis Warhead being $30 is now $15. Together, those total $30. Deal, right? Not so fast.
Heads up--this is going to be a rant, which I try not to do very often, but this is simply unavoidable. I have to dispense my thoughts about this because I know I'm not the only person out there that feels the same way as me.
I've been using Steam for several years now, but only recently have I begun to truly cherish the service it offers. In the early days, Steam was chastised by many gamers due to it's imposing-like nature, but over time Steam has earned a new reputation for being the best thing since sliced bread. It's impossible to emphasize how great Steam is without resorting to a list of points, so that's exactly what I've decided to do. This is my own, personal list of reasons to use Steam, with a few suggestions and influences from my friends.
