Kazashi's blog

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Now THAT'S an arcade machine!

This story comes via Rock, Paper, Shotgun.

No, not the one about the over-inflated egos of G.Broussard and CliffyB losing their sh!t because someone suggested that Public Domain for old games might be a good idea.

I mean the one about this awesome simulator.

Basically, it’s a caravan decked out with consoles and flight gear via Arduino gadgets and a Unity3D-based space sim. In this setup, three people are required to control the “ship” through its mission.

So, does anyone have a spare caravan I can trash?

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International Ice Hockey 2014

The International Ice Hockey 2014 series is coming to Sydney in July. Last year, the TeamIPX founders attended the Sydney match and had a great time. After much discussion and bribery, I will be organising the ticketing for IPX members who wish to attend.

Seating

Since most of us have other expenses, we will be going for the cheapest seats. These “Bronze” seats are in the nosebleed section but also afford a great view of the rink.

To encourage an atmosphere of rivalry, the arena is split into two sides, representing Canada and the USA. We will almost certainly be sitting on the “Canada” side of the arena, but I may end up putting it up to a poll if enough people want to represent the Yanks (it is very likely though that I, or another founder, will override this and default to Canada anyway).

Booking

The maximum number of tickets I can attain in one transaction looks to be 10. Thus will start with aiming for <= 10 confirmations (including Founders). If there are more than 10 interested people, we will look into working out alternative seating arrangements.

If you are interested in attending, send me a PM expressing as such. I will then send further details to finish the transaction.

The due date for expressing interest is the 14th February. Payments will need to be in by the 28th February otherwise no ticket will be purchased.

Details

Place: Super Dome a.k.a. “Allphones Arena” – Olympic Park, Sydney NSW
Date: Saturday 26th July 2014, 6:45pm
Cost: $80.00 pp

To be discussed and decided is where people are going to meet up prior to the match. After the experience last year, I would recommend having dinner before the match, at a place that is not necessarily located at Olympic Park.

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Hardware Helping Hand

In a nutshell, my current base system is getting a little long in the tooth. This Athlon 64 X2 4200+ has done me very well for the past several years, but I figure it’s time to get a long-term upgrade now while I can still afford it (some of you know what I mean here….).

Upgrading the CPU means upgrading the motherboard, which means upgrading the RAM. I’m thinking along the lines of an AMD FX CPU, mobo, and hopefully 8GB of RAM. Near $300 would be great, $400 would be doable, suggest anything higher only if you’re willing to donate ;)

So, for an example:
CPU: AMD FX-6300 (I prefer the lower wattage models, don’t need an octacore unless the price is really right).
Motherboard: ASUS M5A97 Evo R2.0 – 4 DIMM slots ideally, USB 3.0 is nice, haven’t researched the different chipsets available.
RAM: Not sure… 8GB of whatever suits best. Always had good luck with Corsair.

Any ideas, suggestions etc. would be appreciated.

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Got a problem... with authority?

In my research for a “secret project” currently under way, I happened to come across this little gem – the music composer from EA’s 90s era NHL games.

You could’ve already watched the videos on YouTube, but now you can grab just about all the music out of this game, and a bunch of other game titles he worked on.

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Assistance requested: Coding Project

I’ve been pottering around with programming for a while, especially making use of the Qt framework. Qt is a powerful cross-platform toolkit used for developing GUI-based software, command-line tools, consoles, operating systems, and some other stuff.

The program I’m posting about here is a simple (and dreadfully incomplete) model viewer. It started off as a desire to look at the models from one of my favourite games, Anachronox, for which I was unable to find a viewer at all (let alone one that worked on Linux). Based on Quake 2’s MD2 model format, it’s old and relatively straightforward, and probably not of much interest to most people, but the supported formats can be expanded, and I plan to add more in the future.

Why post this? I would like some input that I can’t necessarily manage myself, and am not ready to release it to the world at large. I have no idea if it works on Windows (or OSX), so someone would need to test that. While it should be pretty easy to use, I need to see if it actually is easy to use. I need to know if it requires more necessary features. I need to see if it can be crashed. I need a name for it, too.

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Project TAKEDOWN

I’ve been following this one for a while, but it’s generally slipped under the gaming radar.

Have we all heard of Kickstarter yet? The site where you can pledge money towards various projects etc. Made popular by Tim Schafer funding a new point-and-click adventure game (LucasArts style), and Brian Fargo funding a sequel to Wasteland (godfather to the Fallout series)?

Among all the indie projects is an entry trying to bring back the tactical shooter. Think Ghost Recon and SWAT, where you have to plan your actions, and a single bullet is generally lethal. If that takes your interest, then Takedown might scratch that itch. Developed by the man behind such titles as Ghost Recon Advanced Warrior and Halo: Reach, they are looking to raise funds via a Kickstarter campaign that has just been revamped – they didn’t start off too well, but with this renewed focus they may reach their funding goal.

I’m getting tired of typing, go watch the video on the Kickstarter page.

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The Humble Indie Bundle #4

I’ve been rather lax in posting about these bundles of late, as there have been a few of them pop up. But now the time has come for another “proper” Humble Indie Bundle. With the same mission of providing DRM-free and cross-platform games for as much or as little as you want, plus the involvement of charities (this time being Child’s Play and American Red Cross), it’s definitely worth checking out.

What’s on offer this time? How about Super Meat Boy, the game PETA loves to hate (or hates to love). If you’d like more platformers, then try Nightsky HD for some puzzles, or if you prefer “classic” action then give Bit.Trip Runner or Cave Story+ a go. If you’d rather see more gory stuff, try Shank, or the co-op play in Jamestown. Lastly, if you pay enough, you’ll have your very own copy of Gratuitous Space Battles, where you build some fleets and sit back to watch the gratuitous action unfurl.

Oh, and Good Old Games has its holiday sale going. 50% off most of their catalogue is a pretty good deal.

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Desura

Some of you might already have heard of it, but I’m going to talk about Desura.

What: Desura is a digital distribution platform, like Steam or whatever abortion EA is working on. It is a smaller market, with a much stronger indie focus, and the company is also responsible for ModDB so it also spotlights modifications and makes them easier to access.
Why: It’s cross-platform, somewhat. It runs in Windows and Linux, maybe OSX in future. That doesn’t mean you can get Windows-only games running on other platforms, but it encourages other markets. It may not carry the latest and greatest feats of eye-candy, but it does have games that will sound familiar to IPXers. Games like Smokin’ Guns, Urban Terror, and PADMAN! There’s a nice mix of single and multiplayer gaming, in FPS, RTS… hell, go browse it yourself.
Where: At the website.
When: Ummm, now….
How: I’m not holding your hand.
Which:

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Yet ANOTHER Humble Bundle???

Yes, another Humble Indie Bundle has hit the scene.

This one started off slow, with just one game not really being a bundle, but it has been expanded with a couple of additional games, plus if you pay over the current average you’ll receive the previous Frozenbyte bundle.

So if you’re feeling like playing such games as Frozen Synapse, Trauma, and SpaceChem, go follow the link provided. As usual, the games are cross-platform (as all good indie games should be), and DRM free. Oh, and charities!

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The Humble Indie Bundle #3

Too tired to write up about all the games, but there’s another cross-platform DRM-free humble bundle on offer.

For those who don’t yet know what these offers are, it’s naming your price for 5 games plus donations to charity. Plus there’s a couple of weeks free Minecraft time on offer too.

Oh, and GoG has a promo too this weekend. 50% off games from the TopWare catalogue (e.g. Earth series, Septerra Core, Two Worlds).

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