Working on a new novel.

I have started work on a new novel over the last two weeks. This one will probably require a good 6 to 12 months work. I will do my best to bring new posts to thecynicalgamer as regularly as possible.

My Adventures with Linux
Linux as an alternative to Windows (Day One with Linux)

As a gamer Linux had never even crossed my mind as being a gaming alternative to the Windows Operating System (OS). Windows was a gaming platform and, has been, for many years. However, I have been reading more and more in gaming mags that software developers are porting installers to Linux for major gaming releases. Linux, to me, is a complicated OS used by computer geeks. Why would it be then that I would be interested in changing my OS from Windows? This statement from Bungie last week was enough for me to reconsider Windows as my preferred choice of OS.

"Q: Why are you releasing Halo 2 for Windows Vista only?
"A: As Bungie Studios and Microsoft are dedicated to delivering a top quality translation of Halo 2 for the PC, their efforts require the use of the best available technological platform for Windows games. Windows Vista will help bring clarity to our customers and help them get more out of their personal computing experience, allowing them to focus on what matters most to them.
"Q: Why is Halo 2 for Windows Vista not backwards compatible?
"A: To deliver an optimal gameplay experience, Windows Vista will provide a great platform on which to bring to Halo 2. Microsoft and Bungie Studios will provide additional information at a later date."

This has given me a goal that I want to work towards and I will document in this blogg (as well as maintaining my other cynical gamer stuff). While I know that it is not possible to play all games on Linux, I am going to endeavour to learn how to use it and run it as an alternative to Windows. You have to remember that I am not a computer geek. DOS did not reflect the glory days of PC operating systems for me. A command prompt is not logical means for me to manoeuvre my way around a file system. So, I am approaching this as a complete novice. I have no prior experience with Linux and will try to make my way through the techno babble and support for this platform.

My adventure with Linux started last Saturday. I had been talking about doing this for a couple of weeks. I had done some looking in to Dual Booting Linux and Windows on the one hard drive and had decided I didn’t want to compromise my primary Windows installation. I have a spare hard drive so, the easiest way for me to install the software is to just unplug my primary drive and plug in the spare hard drive to accommodate the Linux install. A friend had given me their copy of Mandriva (Mandrake) and said the install process was pretty straight forward and this would be the best way to start with Linux.

My goal for that day was to install Linux, get it up and running with my hardware, and get Quake 4 installed and up and running on this system. I believed this was a fairly simple task. I knew that id had released a Linux installer for Linux. I owned the software and I believed that I would be up and running with Linux and playing Quake 4 by the afternoon.

The initial installation process was quite simple. I just followed the prompts with the setup and let the Mandriva installer do all the work. The first problem that I had was with my Canon laser printer. The installer recognised the printer (connected via usb) and set it up, however, I couldn’t get it working after installation. This wasn’t a major concern as the printer wasn’t my primary focus. However, when I did some looking in to printer compatibility with Linux I opened up a whole new world. It seems that printer setup can be, somewhat, haphazard with Linux. Canon don’t support the Linux platform and some smart individuals have had to port the code over to give some of the Canon range compatibility. However, while I could find some information about getting the printer up and running through a couple of Linux websites. The help files for installation of the software required a prior knowledge of Linux which I didn’t have. This became my first major issue with Linux. Of the websites that I could find most of them required some working or prior knowledge of Linux. What I needed and wanted was a complete step-by-step guide for setting up something as simple as my printer. If Linux wants to attract new users and convert many users from Windows then there needs to be a simplification of some of the help required by users.

Overall, the Mandriva installation process was relatively simple. My internet connection (which is shared via a router over our network) didn’t work out of the box, but going to the hardware connection and setup I got it running in a couple of minutes without any stress. The GNOME interface (which is a windows type graphical user interface) is very easy to get around. Those people who want to run a secure system for the internet, word processing and the like would probably find Linux very easy to use and a great deal more secure than windows. Anyone with a basic understanding of how windows works would have a pretty easy time negotiating their way around the Mandriva interface. However, this was not my goal. I wanted to do something that I thought was just as simple. To install Quake 4.

I downloaded the Quake 4 installer and then realised that I could not print out the readme file so that I could reference it while doing the installation itself. That was a bit of a bugger. I went to boot up my notebook and print it from there until I realised that my computer was the print server for the network. Considering I couldn’t get the printer working I wasn’t going to bother trying to share it on the network. Doh. I just loaded the Quake 4 readme on to the notebook so I could read it onscreen while doing the installation. The Quake 4 readme said that I needed to create a Quake 4 directory in the usr/games/ directory then copy the installation files from the Quake 4 DVD to this directory and run the Linux installer. Easy. No probs. I’ll get this done in no time.

The mandriva system uses a graphical file management system called Konqueror. This looks very similar to the windows system. Files displayed as folders and what not. However, when I selected the right folders to create the Quake 4 directory I got a message that I did not have the right permissions to create the new directory. I tried a number of different ways of doing this without any success, which included reinstalling the operating system several times. I attempted to do so without any passwords for admin and user. Let me just say that these ideas did not work. I then did some looking around on the internet and found the site www.linuxfordummies.org. Although, it says it was for dummies I found some assistance here. I finally worked out (after some time) what I had to do. I had to go into the console and log in as a root user in order to create the directories that I needed to run the game installer. I won’t go in to all of the intricacies of finding out the information, but it wasn’t easy. I couldn’t immediately find a list of console commands.

I eventually worked out what commands I needed to create the directories and to copy the files I needed. The problem was that I could not locate the optical drives in the console. It did not seem logical that I would have to look in the /mnt/ directory to find these devices.

Time was mounting up. Reinstalling the operating system several times while trying different configurations did not work. It was only after this that I realised that my sound wasn’t working at all and I eventually solved this. Before I knew it 3 o’clock had rolled by and I still had not had any success.

I finally worked out how to create directories and copy files through the console. This allowed me to create the specified directories for the Quake 4 installer. Coming close to 4.30 I had finally installed Quake 4. I could see the files. While Mandriva did not install the Quake 4 program link in the menu it did not matter. I double clicked on the Quake 4 executable and, to my surprise, Quake 4 booted up in to the main menu. I couldn’t believe that with all the stuffing around and chasing rabbits down different holes I had finally managed to get Quake up and running. I went in and changed the preferences of the game. Made sure that I thought it would look pretty enough when on screen. Exited the game and rebooted for the changes to take effect.

I couldn’t wait to press “new game” in the menu. I was still unsure that it would work. I selected the second hardest difficultly and watched the little bar at the bottom of the load screen work its magic. The opening cut scene came on no problems. I hit escape to skip it and the load screen came back. After a little bit of time the game had loaded and the display loaded the opening scene. Before I knew it the game had crashed and the computer had turned itself off. I couldn’t believe. It was so close and yet so damned far. I went to reboot the system with the view of changing some of the game preferences and get it going again, but Linux wouldn’t reboot. It recognised the system had not closed down properly. Yet it just could not boot through to a desktop.

Unbelievable. All day for nothing. I didn’t know what to think. I quickly disconnected the hard drive and reconnected my windows drive. I didn’t want to touch Linux ever again I was so disappointed.

After cooling off for a couple of days I decided that I would try it again. I was going to ask people about Linux and maybe work out some of the errors I had made along the way.

I desperately wanted Linux to be an operating system which could compete with Windows. I don’t want to be contained by Microsoft any more. I want to have some choice. I mean, isn’t this meant to be one of the fundamental principles which drive our consumer based society? However, sadly, when it comes to these things we really don’t have much of a choice at all.

To Starforce Or Not To Starforce

I will say from the start that I don’t have a problem with copy protection. There is a definite need to protect artistic work and ensure that the artists get paid for what they produce. That is not to say that I agree with MMOs and their monthly fees. To me MMOs are just the same as playing a poker machine. Some poor individual sits at a computer screen for hours on end, ignoring others, hypnotized by a boring repetitive flashing of pixels. This is by the by. To get back on track, considering the years of development time that goes in to making any one game companies have a right to earn some revenue for the time it takes to produce the software. These companies even have a right to protect their creative work. But, I don’t see the need for software companies to install Starforce copy protection on game demos.

While I will say that I have not had any problems with Starforce and nor has my brother. I have had a few Starforce games installed on my PC in the last twelve months (X3, UFO: Aftershock, GTR, GT Legends, to name a few). I do feel that there is something insidious behind the packaging of Starforce with demo games. There could be many reasons why any individual would want to run disc imaging software and it is their right to be able to do so. I also think that it is a gamer’s right to be able to run a No CD patch for their software. I have had a few old game CDs get damaged and become uninstallable. Firstly, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to buy old software and secondly I should be able to either back up or protect the CD I have purchased with the game software to prevent these things happening. Using No CD patches means that I don’t have to run the game with the CD in the drive and have it deteriorate with scratches while it loads.

Why is it then that developers are placing Starforce in game demos. Obviously, the protection software is disabled in some way so that it doesn’t look for the game CD, otherwise the demo would not run. If the purpose of Starforce is to ensure that the protected software is being played with an authentic CD then there is absolutely no reason to have it install with game demos and, in these instances, it should be seen as being Malware. Sony is very familiar with their use of Malware on music CDs and the bitter taste it left in everyone’s mouth when it was discovered.

The other issue that I have with Starforce is the aggressive nature in which they bombast their views in the gaming community without, really, addressing the issues which gamers legitimately believe they have had allegedly inflicted upon them by the Starforce software. Starforce really have come across very negatively and have not helped their case at all. I think their PR department needs a good shake up and they should look at tackling any perceived issues about Starforce copy protection differently.

Anyway, what would I know? I am just a gamer. My entertainment time is filled with clicking mouse buttons and pushing keys on a keyboard, something they could teach monkeys to do.

Fallout 2 is one of my favourite RPGs. Apparently, if you haven't played Fallout, but have played Arcanum they use the same combat system/engine. Fallout was an expansive RPG with a massive world and open ended type gameplay (not entireley, but the best at the time).

Over the last couple of weeks I've been playing a bit of Fallout Tactics. This is a toned down version of fallout which is primarily combat based. You can play it in either real time or turn based. I really enjoy the turn based combat and have got it set that way.

The maps in this game are larger than some of the maps in UFO Aftershock. So much so, that a turn based mission will take you a good two to three hours to complete. The character development in game is the same as in Fallout. You have a number of base stats which govern your abilities. Then you have a large number of skill sets that you can improve in. (Small arms, mellee, first aid, doctor, stealing/theft, repair, etc). Fallout also has once of perks which can be implemented at set intervals during your level ups. The perk may be an instant level up or having the ability to see better at night. There is a good range of perks (some of them relatively useless, but still funny) to choose from to advance your character.

One of the things that I love about this franchise is the humour. There are more funny moments than you can possibly mention. It is possible to choose as a skill when you create your character that your enemies die in the most grizzly and unfortunate ways. When you approach enemies there is always some sort of funny banter going on.

Fallout Tactics progresses quite well. You will be given a number of objectives at the start of your mission. Then you can go about your business in any way you choose. If you don't have to kill everyone on the map then you can use stealth as your main form of offence (what's the fun in that?). Your characters don't start with many items. The idea being that you collect as much as you can from the map and the enemies you kill. At the end of the mission you can then sell those items at a depreciated value and upgrade your existing items.

There is something compelling about these games. They are excellent and very hard to fault. Even with the six or so years that have passed since they were released they have not aged that much. The main difference being their fixed perspective (isotropic, I think it is) 3D view. We are so used to a fully 3D RPG now. The humour in them is timeless and the level of enjoyment and satisfaction you will get from completing a level shows that there is something missing from the current generation of games.