mark.nine » Random

I’m Sorry Dave..

Mark — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 04:43:02 +0000

I’m afraid I can’t do that.

So Steam Is Here

Mark — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 02:22:47 +0000

On the Mac, that is. And so are some of Valve’s Source games, like the Half-Life 2 series, Portal and Team Fortress 2 (Which I have been waiting for).

TF2 in particular is a special one. The OS X community all got iPod earbuds as a welcome gift into the delightfully gore-tastic festival that is Team Fortress 2. Since I’ve been playing the game on Boot Camp for almost a year now, it’s reassuring to know that when I feel like sniping heads off, I no longer have to boot into Windows.

Actually, I confess. I still boot into Windows to play Tf2. The game is just way too buggy and under-performing (to its Windows counterpart) for me to accurately play. For instance, the first time I ran the game, I couldn’t join any of the custom maps that I mostly play on. The download of the map file itself would just stop. I bypassed this problem by grabbing the custom maps from my Boot Camp partition:

c:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\\team fortress 2\tf\maps\

Right in there you’ll find your custom maps associated with the servers you have joined. Their extensions end with “.bsp”. Just copy those files and place them in Mac OS X in:

/users//Library/Application support/Steam/SteamApps//team fortress 2/tf/maps

You’ll be able to join your favorite servers with no problem.

But other than that, the game just runs poorly on OS X versus Windows. Lower frame rates and stuttering audio are some of the other problems. Something about the way the mouse is handled bothers me too. The same can be said for Half-Life 2 and Portal. The periodic updates are helping some, but it’s still just not as good. The great news it that Valve is working closely with Apple + NVidia / ATi to bring better driver performance to OS X, so we’ll be waiting for that.

It’s not just with Valve games. Sims 3 is the same deal. Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 runs so poorly even with every graphical setting imaginable at the lowest point. Okay, but RCT3 just may be a horrid port. The point is, for the time being, the same games under identical hardware runs far better on Windows than Mac OS X. Hopefully, that changes.

The music industry (IM conversations part II)

Mark — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:13:21 +0000

Tom> mark
Tom> i have 1 hour left to submit my essay on the website
Tom> i need to write 1 more page
Tom> 1 success i’ve had
Mark> triple space action GO
Tom> i cant think of anything other then playing my first GIG
Mark> I/O?
Mark> Unnamed Label?
Tom> but i gotta tell a story
Tom> “then my non-RL friend over the interwebs bought the domain and we where excited, cant wait to start coding PHP into the web pages”
Tom> lol
Mark> Be like “i single-handedly fixed the entire music industry using nothing but duct tape, a hair pin, and an HP laptop with a 3D screen defect.”
Tom> LOL

IM conversations part I

Mark — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:21:36 +0000

Tom: http://madison.craigslist.org/m4w/1568706277.html
Tom: HAHAHAHA
Tom: You can be his “girl”, Mark.
Mark: He looks like the kind of guy who would drug my drink.
Mark: No thanks, i’ll pass.

new firmware / announcement

Mark — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 16:52:09 +0000

We regret to inform you that after this new 2.20 firmware update, we will no longer be developing or updating for your Mark™ Character. The decision was a difficult one but it’s best for the company. We will instead be focusing on newer, more advanced Characters for personal enjoyment. Your Character will still be fully functional, but will no longer be issued any new updates. If you would like to continue to stay up-to-date with the latest features, please consider replacing your obsolete model with a newer one. We’ve made it easy to replace him. Do note, however, you can not be in possession of two live Characters at once. It is highly recommended that you disable your old model rather than completely leaving him. Leaving your model may cause him to do unexpected actions or behave uncontrollably. To replace an older model, we recommend making a back-up of any data so it can be transferred. The killswitch must then be activated and the final shut down sequence will begin. You must then throw your old Character off a bridge, incinerate him, or bury your old Character.

New in this update:
Now compatible with IRL engine 4.10
New mini games can now be played when performing tasks
Loading times have been decreased
Dream notebook has been added – Allows for recording of dreams in real time
Kodak Zi8 – Allows your Character to record his environment in 1080p High Definition
Achievements – 60 new achievements to unlock

Bug fixes and updates:
Fixed a graphical issue where new shoes would not show up properly
Fixed an issue that made music creation more difficult than it should be
Fixed an issue where inventory would not be displayed properly
Fixed an issue where the backpack would disappear when walking into a new location
Fixed an issue where waking up at a certain time of night would cause him to behave strangely
Fixed an issue where background music would play suddenly
Fixed an issue that caused the Character to be stuck in the bathroom door
Applying for a college class no longer displays graphical bug
Health bar now disappears when there’s minimal damage – can be brought back upon request
Fixed an issue where the stamina bar would be stuck on screen after being completely drained and regained.
Trade system has been modified and updated to accommodate for recent items.