EricBall
-
Content Count
2,361 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Blog Comments posted by EricBall
-
-
Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!!!
OMG I aced my second game of PUBG Mobile.
The plane started in the NE corner of the map headed south, so I jumped out almost as soon as I could and headed for Stalber - and no-one else did so I was able to loot in peace. I picked up a helmet & armor and a couple of rifles. No scopes unfortunately, but a great start none the less.
Then I lucked out again by being in the first safe zone. So I camped out in one of the guard towers and watched for anyone coming up the hill (unlikely, but possible) or sneaking up behind me (again, unlikely but possible).
As each timer expired I checked the map and thanked my lucky stars that I was still in the safe zone. I strained my ears listening for footsteps and gunfire, but all I heard was my heartbeat thumping in my headphones (sounding like footsteps...).
Eventually my luck ran out and I had to head downhill. I headed towards where I'd seen some air drops land and got into my first firefight. To my shock (they were hiding behind a bush) I made my first kill. But there was no time to waste, it was on to the safe zone.
At this point there were less than 6 players left in the game. Unfortunately, there wasn't much cover other than a few trees. I made another kill after I reached the air drop crate (which didn't have much other than a medkit). Then I realized there were only 2 players left - me and someone else!
The play areas were shrinking quickly. After exchanging shots with my adversary, I dashed for the next safe zone and put the death wall to my back and started watching downhill. It seemed like forever - the safe zone wasn't that big. Might the death zone make the final kill?
Nope, sound to my left. I swung around and started laying down full-auto fire, trying to get my shots on target. And that was all it took - my first PUBG Mobile win.
-
It is sad, knowing Toys R Us will be leaving us. Sears next probably. Grew up with both, shopped there often and even worked at Sears selling electronics for quite a while in my 20's-30's.
Sears Canada is already dead. Target Canada only existed for 2 years.
Being a brick & mortar store is difficult against online retailers. However, I don't think it's impossible - you just can't make as many mistakes. The online retailers are also making it more difficult for consumers by offering far too many options with too little good information.
-
I suspect the batteries was a design decision :
- easier to put the console (with the controls built in) where it's needed & one less cord to trip over
- save the cost & weight of a wall wart (which were massive in those days) or the expense of getting a built-in power supply UL certified
The color is interesting, it looks like they added the output of a custom 3.595 280 MHz crystal (colorburst + one extra cycle per line) to the normal black & white signal.
Not sure why they decided to go with built-in speakers rather than adding the audio to the video output before modulating it for channel 3 / 4. Maybe a cost saving measure again - not sure what the extra modulation circuitry would have cost.
-
So the lateness (newness) of the N64 actually hurt it then, because developers were already lined up behind the PS1, and everyone knew it? Makes sense.
More that Sony recognized they needed third party developers to survive & succeed. So by the time the N64 hit the shelves in Japan the PS1 already had nearly 100 titles available (and certainly more announced), versus the three N64 launch titles.
Ben's analysis is basically the same as mine. (Although I do not believe it was possible for the N64 to execute code from the cartridge directly. Based on the docs I've found, I think everything had to be copied to RAM first (and decompressed for some games). )
-
Sony sold more PS1's because they had a much bigger, much better software library. The reasons you listed all contributed to that, but the end user only cared about the final result: what games do I want to play? The PS1 was the first modern console I owned - I never even considered the N64. If anything, the N64's later rollout should have helped by allowing them to pitch it as a newer more "advanced" console. But the titles just weren't there. The PS1 also had multiple "killer apps" over its considerable lifespan. The N64 had... ??
That's what I mean by "virtuous cycle" - consumers buy consoles based upon the games available for that console; developers develop games for a console based upon expected sales, which is strongly dependent upon the number of people who own the console.
For N64 "killer apps", see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Selects#Nintendo_64for a list of games which sold over a million copies.
For me, Super Mario 64 was the (literal) system seller, but then I had to wait many months between games worth buying.
-
The guy who created it also had the only info I could find on the N64 GPU (without digging into emulator source code / repositories).
-
Back in 2009-ish when the transition to HDTV occurred, I built a high gain UHF antenna and used it for a while. But once I got a Rogers HDTV PVR* there hasn't been any point - unless I want to watch the US Superbowl commercials. (I already subscribed to cable to get the premium sports channels.)
Unfortunately, there's a lot of misinformation about HDTV and antennas floating around out there and a lot of "HDTV antennas" are more style than substance (i.e. they are good looking junk). However, while the signal has changed from analog to digital, radio waves are still radio waves - so the basics of antennas haven't changed in 80+ years of television broadcasting.
Reception follows some simple rules:1. Height improves reception, outdoors is better than indoors2. Bigger antennas have better reception, but are more directional3. Better design, materials & build = better receptionAlso, a good preamp (mounted at the antenna) helps with long cable & splitter loss & noise but doesn’t actually improve reception.Some links to websites which help with getting more out of your antenna:Reception info: http://www.tvfool.comMap with antenna aiming: http://www.sjmillerconsultants.com/ota/For all kinds of info on OTA, including building your own antenna visit http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=81* I originally got the HD PVR as compensation when Rogers made my dual-tuner TiVo less useful by moving the majority of their SD channels to digital. Since then the majority of channels have moved to HD-only and I've bought three refurbished HD PVRs and added an external drive to one of them. -
<rimshot>
-
1
-
-
Over Christmas we watched all of the Star Wars movies (in story order) before going to see Last Jedi.
One of the things I liked about Last Jedi is how many of the plot points didn't take the easy & predictable ending. There were lots of times where I thought, "that isn't what I expected".
Can someone explain why Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo didn't reveal her escape plan to Poe? Not doing so makes it seem like she had no plan, which kicked off the whole Finn / Rose stoyline that ultimately resulted in the First Order learning of the plan.
And while I could nit-pick the film to death, it was a decent addition to the Star Wars films - certainly better than it's immediate predecessor and in the top half of the list.
It will be interesting to see where the story goes from here as the Rebel Alliance tries to recover from being effectively wiped out from a military perspective.
-
We're in windows world anyway,
I'd disagree with that. Nearly all of my employer's corporate apps (e.g. the apps they tell me to use as part of my job) are browser based, or have browser versions. Yes, my corporate laptop runs Windows 10, but I could probably do my job just as well with a MacBook and possibly even with a tablet.
Kinda like that iPad Pro commercial - is it a computer or something else and does it really matter?
-
Yep, I was about to give you that link, but you beat me to it.
It really comes down to how much CPU time is available. While the 7800 GPU is capable of displaying more sprites (total and per line) than the NES PPU, each 7800 sprite requires a significant number of CPU cycles to move around the screen, whereas on the NES the CPU cycles are trivial. Then to make matters worse, because of the unified memory the 7800 CPU loses even more cycles for each sprite & tile displayed. -
Awesome Video Game Data 2017Based on the data, I'd say console still has life for a couple more years. As long as there's money to be made, consoles will still exist.
-
Whether a games platform lives or dies depends on whether it can build and maintain what I call the "virtuous cycle". Developers want to create games for platforms where there are a large number of consumers who are likley to buy the game. Consumers buy game platforms which have games they want to buy and play. The more people who have the platform, the more developers are likely to create games for that platform and the more games for the platform, the more consumers are likely to buy into the platform.
However, the mobile platforms, cross platform development and freemium pricing models has broken this idea. People no longer have to buy into a gaming platform because they already bought into it for other reasons. Freemium pricing models also drop the cost to consumers to play games, although developers suffer because more people playing doesn't mean more people paying.
Consoles largely can't compete in this space. Why pay hundreds of dollars for a console instead of using the mobile device you already have? Why pay $60 for a game when there's a huge library of "free to play" games?
Consoles can only compete by offering complex, big-screen games which mobile can't, i.e. competing with PC gaming. And as HoshiChiri notes, the one advantage consoles have over PCs is uniformity. Consumers can buy games knowing they will work and developers can develop for a single target. Developers also like that consoles are more locked down than PCs, which helps prevent privacy and cheating.
Unfortunately, developing those complex, big-screen games has a very high up-front cost, which puts it out of reach of a lot of developers and increases the downside if a game doesn't sell well. Without enough developers creating possible system sellers, consumers aren't going to buy the consoles, and the "virtuous circle" collapses.
Maybe consoles will become like iPhones - periodically Sony and Microsoft will release the next generation of the Playstation and XBox, like the PS4Pro and XBox One S&X, which maintains backwards & forwards software compatibility while providing more CPU & GPU power for games to tap into and graphics improvements like 4K & HDR.
Or maybe consoles will move to the cloud, e.g. OnLive style gaming.
-
You'd think at some point the lenders would start to question whether they were ever going to get paid and stop throwing good money after bad.
-
Two controllers work fine. My son and I played some 2 player Joust and Super Mario Kart (slow).
As for it being underpowered, it really depends upon your expectations. Will it play a lot of games from the 8 & 16 bit generations - YES. Will it play every game perfectly - NO.
Also, while Lakka tries to be easy to use, there are areas where it's not there yet. So expect to have to do some forum/doc/Google research and stuff from the command line.
-
To blank the beam you set the intensity to zero - which is probably impossible for an O-scope if it doesn't have that as an input.
Although if you move the beam really, really fast it might not show up as much.
-
What you could do is have one of the bits select between two sample & hold circuits. So while X is passing through the DAC output, Y is holding the previous value & vice-versa. Then you would have 128 levels. Or instead of having the DAC drive the channels directly, you put them through an integrator. Then instead of X, Y you're generating dX/dY and potentially much higher resolution. dX/dY also requires some way of generating negative input to the integrator and it also helps to have a way to zero the integrators.
If you're interested, try and find a document titled something like "the secret life of vector generators", or have a look at the Vectrex for how it generated a display.
-
1
-
-
Other quirks:
- 1. Some settings require a clean shutdown to save and/or take effect.
- 2. Lakka uses circle for OK and cross for cancel - there's a option in Settings to reverse this.
- 3. The default core for SNES is snes9x-2002, which might be better for performance, but is bad for compatibility (graphics glitches with Super Mario RPG, controls don't work with Donkey Kong Country), changing to snes9x-2010 resolves them.
- 4.
I'm still trying to get bluemsx working.A kind soul provided the files which bluemsx reuqires so I now have MSX & MSX2 working. I need to do some testing then update the Lakka wiki with a better how-to. - Colecovision ROMs aren't being recognized.
-
Personally, I'm going to pick up a RPi Zero W and put Lakka or RetroPie on it and sync it up to a Bluetooth controller. It should handle any 2600, NES or SMS game.
-
Unfortunately working on Tempest never seems to come to mind when I have free time. I have, however, hooked up a rotated LCD so it's easier to work with out the cabinet.
I'm glad you enjoy Skeleton. It still ranks up there on my list of personal achievements.
-
While part of me would love to have the physical hardware, the rational part of me points out I have a CoCo sitting in a box in the basement which my parents went to great lengths to get for me.
Emulators, while not perfect, are typically much more reliable than real hardware. (One of these days I'll buy an N64 which actually works to play my collection.)
Plus, no matter how much I want to play old games I don't seem to have enough free time.
-
The patent for the Voder shows it's done by passing a pitched buzz or white noise through a set of ten dynamically weighted band pass filters. Not the same as AUDC / AUDF / AUDV.
However, it would be interesting to see whether AUDC / AUDF / AUDV could be used to generate phonemes.
-
1
-
-
I tried the AUDC / AUDF route : http://atariage.com/forums/blog/7/entry-1897-are-you-ready-for-this-pt-2/and it kinda-sorta worked (not really) although it would be interesting to try to see whether pure voice (versus music) would sound any better.
-
1
-
-
And a Vectrex
Yep, I'm with you on that one.
I have Win10 on my work laptop and it's not bad - at least with the interface I use. In fact, I've grown to like the search for installed apps rather than hunting through the start menu.
Upgrading also means you'll get a more powerful computer, which is probably quieter! It's also a good time to review your needs list and check out your options rather than just doing a like for like replacement. e.g. laptop vs desktop and Chromebooks are great if all you need is a browser.
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
PUBG Mobile
in EricBall's Tech Projects
A blog by EricBall
Posted
Played a third game last night, and got to #3 again with 3 kills.
The plane started out south of the map, flying over the western tip of Sosnovka Island. I jumped out and dove straight down to the buildings near the DN crossroads for some quick looting. This time I wasn't going to be able to camp in place as I was outside the safe zone. It probably wouldn't have been a good idea anyway - too many other players in the neighborhood. I killed one from a balcony, then sprinted for the hills.
This game I spend a lot of time running away from gunfire. Sure I could have stopped and tried for another kill, but the name of the game is survival. Most players seem to have difficulty hitting a stationary target at medium range - a moving target at long range is just wasting ammo. So unless the attacker is between me and my destination, I'm going to ignore them and keep running. (Although I might change direction slightly so they have to lead their shots.) I eliminated another player as I made may way to the church overlooking Pochinki.
Again, as the play area contracted I made for an air drop. Even if I couldn't get some good loot, it seems to land in the future safe zone. Another player seemed to have the same idea, but I spotted him and chalked up my third kill.
Then I was in the final three, although not in a particularly good position. However, my opponents seem to have discovered an exploit as they were driving around in the damage area, seemingly without taking damage or dying. I died just outside the safe zone as I was crab walking to it ahead of the death wall. I'm not sure what killed me, whether it was the death wall, or one of the other players running me down or shooting me. Unfortunately PUBG Mobile doesn't provide a replay or spectating mode so I wasn't able to see how the match turned out.