Posts by Thrik

  • What are you playing now?

    roflmao

    Mario 64 was great but going back and playing basically the first 3D platformer probably isn't going to go so well.

    That said, I did briefly return to it at one point and was surprised by how well the gameplay and camera movement, etc hold up — shamefully better than some modern games at times.

    The gameplay is pretty standard fare for 3D platformers: you complete quests in worlds to get items that're used to access more levels in the overworld. Granted it was basically Mario 64 that invented the idea but it caught on.

    If you're looking for something similar from the same era but better: Banjo-Kazooie. Rare took everything great about Mario 64 and made it better, prettier, funnier, and it is just a fuckin' classic. Probably my favourite 3D platformer of all time.

  • Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

    To be honest I've been waiting for a truly great pirate game for years so if it takes the cash behemoth that is AC to make it happen I'm cool with that. I've been getting huge sequel fatigue but after skipping AC3 and only really skimming Revelations I'm about ready for some more.

  • New Strider game

    That does look lovely. Gotta admit, I immediately thought of the Half-Life 2 striders too. I didn't even realise there was an old game called Strider, I guess it makes sense seeing as I was two when it came out and I didn't really go to arcades at that age.

  • Tech Support

    Both my last GPU (AMD) and the one before that (NVIDIA) just died after a few years. I don't know if it's normal or what, but if I were you I'd get one from a manufacturer that offers long/lifetime warranty (BFG used to be one, was another too, might have begun with X). Those were high-end models too. I think in future I'll go for a bit more economical and just replace more often.

  • What have you watched recently?

    Quote from Minos

    Started watching Fringe, still on the fence about this one. Does it get pretty crazy and imaginative or is this just a sci-fi CSI?


    The first season is essentially like The X-Files' 'monster of the week' episodes, with very slight foreshadowing of later seasons. Once it was renewed they went pretty crazy and it kicks off into a four-season 'end of the world' arc revolving around cross-dimensional travel, enslavement of the human race, and the consequences of screwing with time. Think the X-Files if the stuff they endlessly hinted at (eg: aliens taking over) actually happened, turning each subsequent season on its head.


    It's not for everyone, you really do have to be into things such as The X-Files and science in general. But it is a shame that it takes so long to get going. After the first season it turns into a 'love or hate' kind of show (ie: you think it's the best shit ever or pretty meh), but the first season is definitely just 'OK'. Great for backstory but it really lacks the boundless imagination of the later seasons.

  • Mad Max

    Yeah it's a bit of a weird choice of franchise. It's pushing it to expect people in their mid-20s like me to have seen it, let alone the youths they surely hope will buy it.

  • Tech Support

    Oh OK, that's all right then. I'm still sure my (old) CPU does it the other way round but I'm totally not ripping everything open to check, lol. Both probably accomplish about the same anyway, because if you suck air away then cold air rushes in to replace it. I remember learning that when I built a HTPC with no existing fans and had to figure out a good layout. Cooling becomes serious business when there's so much power in such a tiny case!

  • Tech Support

    Yeah the way your fans are working doesn't sound correct, I'm pretty sure the CPU and GPU fans are meant to be sucking air away from the components unless there's some new technology I've not heard of, lol. In my experience the main things that cause overheating from most to least:

    1. Dust inside the heatsink/fan (this is by far the most damaging factor, which is why I highly recommend a closed case with dust filters on the fans)
    2. Thermal paste needs reapplying because the cooler was connected badly and rubbed it off, or maybe it's just old
    3. Bad air flow

    I'd tackle those in order before worrying about anything else. The difference dust and thermal paste can make runs into the 10s of degrees Celsius.

  • Rise of the Triad 2013

    Did you watch the gameplay videos on the last page dux? I never played the original but I did watch this:


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ_VACrPibY


    To me the new one looks like it's in the same vein: very fast-paced, traditional shooter full of slow-moving Nazis and coins. Interesting that it was meant to be a Wolfenstein 3D sequel, never knew about it. Clearly the art is different but let's face it, the original looks like ass.


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqhHXmiCwNo

  • Tech Support

    Yeah I can say from personal experience that an open case is actually a very bad idea. The point of fans is to suck the hot air constantly coming off the hardware away as quickly as possible; the only way that can work is if you have a closed case. If the case is open the air just kind of sits there not really going anywhere, thus the hardware drowns in its own hot-ass air.


    I'd imagine that in certain climates water cooling is pretty much vital if you don't have efficient components. At least make sure you've got a closed case with an efficient airflow though. Here's a good guide:


    http://www.extremetech.com/computing/1283…cooling-your-pc