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Artlover

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Posts posted by Artlover

  1. Posted · Edited by Artlover

    I have Knology and there are no caps whatsoever. I can download from the first day of the month to the last day if I want.

    I think you need to read their Terms & Services aggreement.

     

    Edited for length to focus only on relevent points.

    ]KNOLOGY CUSTOMER SERVICE AGREEMENT

     

    7.2. Modification of the Service. We may discontinue, add to or revise any or all aspects of the Service in Our sole discretion and without notice, including access to support services, publications and any other products or services ancillary to the Service. ..... In addition, for Broadband customers We may take any action consistent with our Internet Appropriate Use Policy, including actions to ..... (g) limit access to the Service to prevent abusive consumption and ensure fair access for all subscribers.

     

    As I said, pretty much all ISP have some convoluted drivel in their contracts that amounts to much the same thing as a cap, only it has no defined size to give anyone a guild line to follow. It's simply a vague condition that allows them to come in at any time and say you're using too much bandwidth per their discression.

  3. Posted · Edited by Artlover

    I got an idea for a story...hang on...

     

    Headline: Man found dead under pile of vintage Atari 2600 cartridges.

     

    A man (name withheld by request) was found dead late last night under a pile of thousands of vintage Atari game cartridges. Friends and family say he had an ambition to bring retro gaming into the limelight again and was attempting to build the worlds largest "house of cards" out of the old cartridges. Using ladders and shear will, his work approached 20 feet tall. Tragedy stuck when he was down on the ground filling a bag with cartridges to take up the ladder to construct another level with. An unexpected gust of wind collapsed the structure, crushing the victom. One witness was quoted as saying "Oh my god, it was horrible. One second everything was fine, the next there was nothing but muffled screaming and a sea of cartridges washing across the ground like an ocean wave. We tried to dig him out as soon as we could, but it was already too late."

     

    Services are to be held this weekend. As per the victom's instructions, he will be burried in a coffin that has been made to look like an Atari 2600 console box.

  4. Posted

    Comcast I have no experience with but I hear they have a download cap which is complete bullshit.

    Nothing wrong with caps so long as they are reasonable.

     

    As far as caps go, Comcast's 250Gig/month is decent and better then most. To that end, whether they say so or not, most residential class service, no matter who your ISP is, it probably has a cap of one sort of another. Convoluted as a vague term like fair-use.

     

    It's funny, in Japan where formerly a lot of their ISP's were unlimited, they started putting caps into place over the last few years. Get this: 1 TB/Month caps, the worse yet is NTT's 30 GB/DAY (yes, DAY or 900+ GB/Month), and people were/are still bitching about it. :ponder:

     

    Seriously, as a long time professional leech, the hardest I've ever been able to hit the net is 700 GB/Month. What the hell are individual people doing that they need more then 1 TB/month?

  6. Posted

    Ok, let me ask this...

     

    How the heck can you extract working files off a DC CDI file or burned CD?

     

    I'm trying to pull the VMU games off this to copy over to the xbox for it's VMU emulator.

     

    PC reads everything as being 7.8k and is reading the same 7.8k worth of data from somewhere else on the disc/image that is unassociated with the fies. Pain in the butt. Wasted several hours today working on it. :ponder: Don't seem to recall having problems doing this kind of crap 10 years ago when I used to rip the music & movies out of images. :|

     

    Grrrrrr. :x

  7. Posted

    If it worked. Which it wouldn't have. The history of coin-ops is littered with ambitious, over-complicated controllers that couldn't handle the beating.

    Force feedback was really nothing new, and I don't see anything over-complicated about this concept. It really could have been just about as simple as attaching a motor directly to each of the shafts, a protection circuit to prevent motor generated voltage backfeediing into the motor controller, and a fairly straight forward basic motor controller driven by the code. All you need are two i/o bytes to drive it. Simplest coding application would be to break them down into nybbles and use straight binary for a 16 step resistance level for each direction. If you want to do a bit of bit shifting math, you could make it 128 steps. Mechanically all I could see being needed is for the shafts to be rubber coated to prevent slippage which might make for jerky movement.

     

    :ponder:

  8. Posted

    There are a lot of telnet BBSes out there if you look. Get the right telnet client and it will look just like the old days.

    Ya know, I never played around with this kind of stuff. Just did real quick tho, telnetted into a C64 site running Image 1.2.

     

    Oh, the good ole days.

     

    What I need to do now is explore Vice64 a bit and figure out networking on it so I can run CCGMS and have it all telnet out. :ponder: :cool:

  12. Posted

    When I was hacking Jr. for speed, I noticed how easy it was to add it's method of easier games - by eliminating some of the monsters using the low bits of the game variation and using that as the upper limit to the monster's routines. I was already using a variable to track the variation, so that is another "why not?" option...it didn't "cost" anything to implement.

    Any idea why intermissions don't work on the modes with less then 4 ghosts? :ponder:

     

    Difficulty switches:

    Left difficulty controls how well the monsters track the player. In B difficulty, only the red monster will seek out the player, all others move randomly. In A difficulty, each of those random monsters are given a variable amount of time to seek the player as well. The arcade's method of tracking the player is not implemented in either mode, so this game is considerably "dumber" than it.

     

    The right difficulty controls how fast the player moves. In B, the player can outrun all of the monsters on any level.

     

    The score's color will indicate what position the switches are in, as a reminder. White = both B. Red = left A, right B. Blue = left B, right A. Green = both A.

    Cool. Thanks for that info. :)

     

    BTW the Ms. Hack version was pretty much abandoned, because I could never figure out why it doesn't work on real hardware...what's the point of a 2600 game that doesn't work on a 2600? ;)

    Quitter! I reiterate, QUITTER!

     

    But seriously... Quitter!

     

    You should atleast look at it again. Time away helps clear the mind, and gives you a better chance to maybe pick up on what's wrong.

     

    Didn't you save earlier builds as you were making the hacks to Hack'Em? If so, do any of them work on real hardware? That would help narrow down what you need to look at right there. :ponder:

     

    If not, start over then, and keep builds as you go along. :P

     

    Or just say screw real hardware; it works in emulation, that's good enough. ;)

     

    But seriously, you're a 2600 Pac-Man God, Hack'Em proves it! To leave Ms.Hack unfixed & unfinished is criminal. Criminal I tells ya! You can't let "it" win and give up (you quitter :P ).

     

    I wish I knew something about 2600 programming so I could give you an extra set of eyes to look it over with. I know 6502 assembly and junk, did lots of programming on the C64 & 128. But the 2600 I can't wrap my head around. I was reading your assembly code for Hack'Em and was post-2829-1239163656.gif over some of it. :|

  13. Posted

    It deepens the color for a couple of days but certainly does not make anything shine.

    One of the key features and selling points of Armor All is that it does shine. It's even specifically listed on the label and their website. "Clean, Protect, and Shine". It's even on the back label too and shown in the picture you took.

     

    Take a look at the ingredients: water-based silicone emulsions, surfactants, and ultraviolet light inhibitors, humectants, dispersants and gloss enhancers.

     

    And what's with all this greasy talk?

    Lets go back to the ingredients a minute: water-based silicone emulsions. - IE: Silicone oil, because that's what water based silicone emulsions are made from.

     

    Also that it says (quoted verbatim from their website): "Attention: Not for use on floors, vehicle controls (pedals, grips, steering wheels), bench or cycle seats, cycle tires, brake drums and other surfaces where slipperiness may be hazardous."

     

    :ponder:

  14. Posted · Edited by Artlover

    Believe this or not. Today was the first time I ever tried Hack'Em!. I know, I should be beaten.

     

    Anywho.... WOW!!!!!!! :-o :-o :-o post-2829-1239150582.gif

     

    This is amazing. Arcade maze, mostly arcade close sound, intermissions, even the arcade self test screen garbage on start up. :cool: :thumbsup:

     

    If this isn't the BEST 2600 Pac-Man out there, then I don't know what is.

     

     

    Now, I have some questions and comments. I'm using the most recent version (per the link in the first message). 123,618 bytes, dated 10/4/2006. Also, I'm running this on the xbox port of z26.

     

     

    Questions:

    • Are the difficulty switches used? (If not, I have a suggested use for one).
    • Pressing Reset cycles through what seems like 16 game variations. 4 each for Hack'em, Hack'em 2, HanglyMan and HanglyMan 2. The only difference between each of the 4 variations appears to be the number of ghosts (from 4 to 1). Correct? (Edit: I notice intermissions only work on the games with 4 ghosts, and not the ones with only 3,2 or 1.)

     

    Comments:

    • The speed seems a tad fast at the begining? :ponder:
    • The game seems to be finished as best as I can tell, so put auto-start back in. :P I would like to suggest a difficulty switch (if they aren't being used) instead of the Color/BW switch for the toggle. I say this because not all emulators have the Color/BW switch (IE: z26 on Xbox doesn't, or atleast the function isn't mapped in any user selectable way), but they all have difficulty switches. ;)

     

    Anywho, again, this is freaking amazing and excellent. :cool: :thumbsup:

     

    Now go finish Ms.Hack! :P

  15. Posted

    This is proving to be a really good read so far.

     

    Regarding Marble Madness

    The coolest fact revealed by the document is that, in the original concept, the trackball had motors attached to it, so its motion would match that of the marble on-screen. If it rolled down a ramp and the player didn't want to go, he'd have to fight the motor to stay up there!

    Whoa! THAT would have been f'in awesome! :cool:

  17. Posted

    As a side note.. being the owner of all the systems mentioned above, the Dreamcast is FAR more picky than a GC. Yes a GC can be picky, but I've never had so many disks not boot than on my DC.

    Yeah, the DC is picky too. Per "my personal experience" I would rate the DC as a very close (just short of a tie) second place.

     

    PAD THE INSIDE OF THE CASE

    Yes. For sure. I'd actually take some masking tape or painters tape and tape the disc in place too.

  19. Posted · Edited by Artlover

    One thing that I have noticed is that when sellers are shipping used CD based games, there is a strong tendency for the CD to become loose from the case which allows them to float around freely within the case which in turn causes them to become scratched during transit. I don't know if this applies to you or not.

    I suppose that could happen, but the game was near perfect, I would think a game would work even with a few minor scratches from accidental shipping. I pack things pretty well, so i wouldnt think that would happen.

    To add my two cents in reverse order.

     

    How you pack it doesn't matter in a case like this. All good packing does is prevents an item on a whole from being damaged, it does not prevent loose things inside said item from being knocked free. Abusive shipping forces are still being applied to the item. - IE: You could be trying to ship an old tube radio. You pack it very well in padding and bubble wrap. That protects the unit itself from damage (case/frame won't be dented/crushed/broken), but the tubes inside could still pop out all the same. I have "never" bought a CD in the mail that was still attached to it's locking mechanism when it arrived. And I'm not talking used stuff either, but new factory sealed directly from reputable companies and manufactuers. They have always been loose in the case.

     

    Of course how much damage the disc will get depends on the size of the disk and the size of the case. A music cd in a regular music case for example, no so much since the disc can't move alot and the spindle stays around the hub. But just about anything comming in a dvd style case, yeah, there is a lot of potential for scratching if it comes loose since it can move alot inside the case. This is very true with the GC which uses those damned mini discs and has a whole world to slide around in.

     

    To that end, the Gamecube is very picky, and it doesn't take many scratches to make a disc unplayable. One of my RE games on the GC has just two tiny little super light scratch marks on it, not even across the entire disc. So small and light, I'd practicaly call the disc immaculate. It's unplayable. DRE's before even getting to the title. Most consoles tend to be kinda picky here, but out of all the CD based consoles I own (SegaCD, Saturn, Dreamcast, PS1, PS2, Xbox, Xbox360 and Gamecube) the Gamecube is the worst!

     

    Not that I'm trying to defend the buyer. His approach to handling the situation does make him an a-hole, but I do absolutly believe what he said about it not working and why.

  20. Posted

    I don't see the point of comparing it to the cost of a 360 etc, honestly. The $ cost argument is certainly valid, but you could say that comparing any two unlike items. I don't have a 360 nor do I particularly want one. In many cases, they're different markets.
    To someone contemplating a single system, the comparison would be ridiculous on any basis other than cost.

    I'm sorry, that makes no sense at all.

     

    If one is contemplating a single system, the ONLY logical basis of comparison would be does it have the games you want to play. If it doesn't, it's a waste, no matter how cheap it was.

  21. Posted · Edited by Artlover

    If it makes the 2600 last longer, and it's not perminant, I don't see what the issue is here. I think you're going to come to a point a few decades from now where these shells are going to start deteriorating and people are going to wish they took better care of them while they could.

    Unless you store your consoles outside in the sun, Armor All is not going to do anything to make them last longer.

     

    What it will do is make it greasy, glossy and turn it into dust magnets.

     

    Not to mention the jury is still out on the overall effectiveness of the product at all, even for it's intended use. Just about every car forum has a few long threads about how it made things worse, not better. From causing dashes to crack to discoloring plastic. I'll vouch for the discoloring plastic myself, as that's happened to me.

     

    Back in the 70's when it first came out, before they changed the formula, the product was so horrible and causing so much damage that they were paying people upto $500 for repairs.

     

    Armor All is right up there with Rain-X on my list of products you couldn't pay me to ever use again.

  22. Posted

    Sorry if my post was'nt nerdy enough lol. I've played the 5200 version and well, it's no where

    near as good as the one I mentioned.

    Only because it is the arcade version, and it's "equal" to all the other rom emulator versions out there. Be it MAME or some complilation disc for a modern console.

     

    To that end, I think it's breaking the spirit to consider them when talking about native mode console games. We can use them as a bench mark for comparing how good consoles versions are to one another. But to simply say they are the best goes without saying and is unfair.

     

    With all that said: Ms.Pac-Man on the 7800 is the best native console mode version of Ms.Pac-Man out there I think. But then, since it was designed by the same people who designed the arcade version, it's no wonder.

  25. Posted

    Yes... type SCRIPT to start a transcript on your printer, UNSCRIPT to stop.

     

    I don't know if this works on all Infocom games, but I used it on Hitchhiker's and Planetfall back in the day.

    Yeah, I did it with HGttG too back in the days.

     

    Loooooong printout, on a noisy, slow dot matrix printer.

     

    I've still got it somewhere. :P

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