Logitech G35 Review (7/10)

Well I've had the Logitech G930 for a few days now and there was an opportunity to get a second headset. I debated on getting the Razer Megalodon to do a proper head-to-head comparison with the very impressive wireless unit from Logitech. Alas today is not that day (one day!), today I've got the Logitech G35. When I went to buy the G930 a few days previous, I had hoped to snag a G35 but they were out of stock. I was originally enamoured with the prospect of commuting witha wireless headset and while it was a decent concept - the risk of losing the relatively small dongle (and thus wiping out the value of the headset -- as they are permenantly paired) wasn't worth it. I needed a no-compromise wired headset. In my previous review of the G930 I commented that the G35 was a wired version of the G930. Oh how wrong I was....

Logitech G500 Review (9/10)

I've had a host of Logitech mice (and Logitech products in general) over the last long time. My recent history of fulltime mice has been: Logitech Elite Mouse, MX1000, MX510, MX518, G5 v1, G5 v2 and currently the G500. While I'm very satisfied with this mouse (for now), I can look back on my history of mice and tell you the Logitech design team needs a solid smack on the rear-end... what?

A fourth look at Global Agenda (v1.3.8.5)

This game has come a long way and a few hundred hours later (I think I ticked over 1000 hours a month or so ago) my impression of the game evened out and more importantly, I've had a chance to poke around with Hirez's development/interaction approach. And I'm afraid.

Running Series: Little Tweaks, Tips and Apps (Part 3)

Contents

1. The types of tools
2. Issues to know about before jumping in

[Back to series]

I have had the luxury of working with multiple monitors for, well.... forever. The OS support for multiple monitors has come a long way over the last 15 years and even non-geeks can be found running dual-monitors these days. Regardless of whether your background is in graphics design, software development, day-trading, marketing there is a tick about a power user when they are setup with multiple monitors. Their secret is in their stash of shortcuts, tools and hacks. Keep in mind that although the focus for many of these tools is for multi-monitor setups, some of them apply even to single monitor users!

Logitech G930 Review (9/10)

I've had the Logitech G930 for a few days and I'm totally smitten by it. Sure it's got it's faults but for the targeted demographic it promises lots and delivers on almost all accounts. Having spent the last few months (actually, now that I think about it, it's probably a year and a half) with the very impressive Razer Barracuda HP-1 (particularly so being my first Razer product), my expectations were very high. I wanted a headset that delivered no-excuse audio performance (I'm no audiophile but I definitely pick up on distortion, line noise, crackling etc.), an equally high-quality mic (again, not looking for studio level stuff, but more so for ingame voip) and in a package I could stand wearing for hours (10+) at a time.

Given that a large portion of my music collection is 5.1 (and almost all my gaming happens in 5.1), there was a strong desire for 5.1 (or better) headphones although I was open to taking a stereo setup if the price worked out. Additional points for being wireless and/or no-nonsense wiring that I could use them at work (bringing them to/from work daily). Additional points if I could find a set that would pair through Bluetooth to my phone. The headsets that made the final shortlist were no slouches:

• Logitech G930
• Logitech G35
• Razer Barracuda HP-1
• Razer Carcharias
• Razer Megalodon

'Motorola Milestone' Review (9/10)

I've had the Motorola Milestone (the Canadian take on the 'Droid') for a few months now having migrated from my HTC Touch Diamond (CDMA). I've used several Motorola phones in the past - some good (V3, Q9c) and a few not so great (V9, KRZR) so it was a little bit of a gamble (although it is not often that a flagship product is tragically flawed). The switch to the Milestone represents not only a change in hardware but an entire shift in paradigm. You see, the Milestone is powered by Google's Android operating system.

With my only other smartphone exposure being Windows Mobile based, I didn't quite know what to expect . In fact, I was kind of worried -- I had just started dabbling with little development projects with Windows Mobile. While I've not had the opportunity to start developing for Android, my experience so far suggests that it won't be a painful learning curve. In short: I'm (very) impressed.

A second look at Borderlands...

I've been playing Borderlands a bit lately and although all of my complaints in my initial review still stand, I think the game's three DLCs have subtly brought some polish with them. Dont get me wrong, the game is still chock full of console-itis -- that's a bad thing. By far and large that is still the overwhelming impression from start to finish. However, if you overlook this aspect, it's actually very enjoyable. While this game will never be a totally rockin' FPS-RPG and even though I will always have more complaints than praises for it, it still can be a total blast to play. Now that I've got the three DLC packs, let's have a look again...

A third look at Global Agenda (v1.3)

Ok so I was a bit harsh with my first impressions of the v1.3 patch. I guess that was to be expected, coming from a quick stint in Killing Floor (a more 'proper' FPS... you know, where headshots count for something). Now that I've had a few days to settle into it, let's a have another go at it.


The Good

• Solo mode is available. This is not to say you can solo, but at least the option is there. In reality, soloing in Global Agenda isn't a feasible/practical option. Sure there may be fewer baddies and they may be squishier but it's just has too much of a ugh, slow feel to it. It's nice that it's at least an option.
• What I do love is the ability to launch with limited team size - no longer do we have to wait for three other people to be ready (which is, for reasons unknown, much more challenging than you might think). The upside is that it is feasible to play with teams of two and three and the loot/experience is boosted to reflect the handicap of not having the fourth player.
• The revamp of the device handling is awesome. No longer do I have to juggle 20 device points worth of items (five devices each ranging in tier 1-4) into an available 15 points. With this patch, all the devices (i.e., weapons and such) automatically are upgraded to tier4 and we can carry all five. The differentiating factor is now handled by suffixes that give micro stat boosts etc. Different/better devices/items are acquired as loot now. Awesome! I should disclaim that by opinions might be a bit biased because I already have pretty much the best gear I can for my class... if I had to grind for it, it might not be so favorable. That being said, the difference between plain and uber isn't really all that big.
• Game/Map tweaks: always a good thing. Generally speaking, they've fixed all the major map exploits and such. In-town, to accommodate the new inventory/loot system, there are class specific stores where players can buy gear for that specific class.
• The new uncommon baddie: a robotics guy! This is absolutely awesome: he's got a sweet (read: very annoying) gun, he puts down buff stations (50% damage reduction) and spawns lockdown drones (slows your movement + causes minor damage). If you're busy with a boss/mob it's absolutely lethal. It'd be even more challenging if, on the harder difficulties, instead of the drone, he put up a gun turret
• All the special gear they added for each class is a very nice touch!

The Bad

• Connectivity, stability and performance are atrocious still. Whenever a window pops up (i.e. you want to go to the in-town store to buy something ... a good chunk of the time the window will pop up empty -- leaving you to wonder if [a] you've been disconnected or [b] it's just loading the store really slowly).
• There still needs to be balance fixes (IMO). While none of these are absolutely critical fixes, they fall under the "this should really probably be done" category (Support spiders/guardian does ridiculous amounts of damage for the amount of skittering/health they have)
• I guess there's the growing pains of the massive content release -- so many players have no clue  how all the new toys work and what can be done with them.
• You still have to queue up. Seriously. Even if you have a premade team (hell, even if you solo), you still have to wait for a mission slot to be available. In 2010, this is ridiculous. Maybe I was spoiled by Hellgate's "get up and go" system where everyone was individually instanced (and when you grouped up the instances just merged) . While one could say "well they need to manage server load", I would counter with "this isn't a console game -- so don't give me console-esque limitations).
• They still kick you for idling in town after say 20 minutes. Which again comes down to a "we dont have enough computing power to handle so many idlers" versus "get a bigger server". For something so trivial, it's pretty annoying to be kicked (after all, I *could* buy the game *just* to sit in town, sure it's not normal, but it's a legitimate activity - sit in town and read the intown chat or something). For consoles it makes sense, with limited server capacity etc, but for serious PC gaming, this is silly. Get a bigger server (lol it'd be like Google search denying you a search if you took too long typing out what you wanted to search for)
• For a game that is so PVP-centric, to not have headshots... (especially running on UnrealEngine3) is kind of pathetic. I think the bottom line for these last three points are: get a better server - you expect players to run with relatively decent machines, you (as the gameserver) should run a datacenter capable of supporting your playerbase.

All in all I'm happy with the update (although I wish they would change it so that headshots matter and get the stability/performance down pat). As a patch: it's a definite 9.5/10 (a few additional balance bugs were introduced) but the game as a whole needs to be more. There are simply too many ugh moments for it to be a blockbuster.

Related

• My Initial Impressions of Global Agenda
• Global Agenda Round 2 (v1.3)
• Global Agenda Round 4 (v1.3.8.5)

A second look at Global Agenda (v1.3)...

Well the monolithic v1.3 update came out today and I am happy to say, I'm finally getting [quite] sick of the game. The update is really what the game should have launched as really. A quick summary:

• An interface that (usually) saves settings as you go. No more having all your options and such reset because you didnt click a "Apply" button. Welcome to proper UI design and how everything else works (sure, there are interfaces that dont save changes .. but those interfaces have Ok, Cancel, Apply not Apply and Reset).
• More variety for jetpacks and boosts and such. Now you can fly and shoot at the same time... but not really because remember, energy powers your jetpack and your gun.
• No more having to wait for people to accept. You can finally solo. But not really. This game isnt like Hellgate (no, it's not that good) -- they force grouping on you. Sure it's an MMO you say... but so long as it has soft aim, it's clearly not a gamers game. Sure you can solo, but it's not going to be fun. This arises from a few (good and bad) things
• They've added a new special baddy, the rough equivalent of a Robotics specialist. He fires an amped up Rumbleblaster and spawns drones and power stations. This is awesome. Now baddies will properly reinforce each other. Horrah for legitimate difficulty.
• The fancy rumble blaster he has (just like the various other opponent-wielded rumbleblasters) has magical detonation properties. Sure, it's a splash-damage weapon, I totally get that. But splash weapons ... by their very nature, need to explode to do splash damage (duh) ... and to explode, they have to hit something. Not here. You think that rumbleblaster shot that's clearly zinging past your head is gonna zing past your head? Think again. It magically explodes as it comes near you. This isnt a fancy proximity rocket launcher folks. It's a friggen ball of electrical energy (that bounces no less).
• They still haven't got the Recon class's stealth down right. I wish the developers would just decide on how the mechanics for cloaking work. Common sense indicates that when you activate cloak, you should be bloody invisible unless  [a] you are within range of a detector [b] you are within range of a special baddie or boss [c] or you get hit. In Global Agenda there is a fourth scenario: random.

This all stacks onto the two base issues I have with the game (the lack of soloing is partially addressed, not without caveats of course): the exceptionally slow pace of the game and the artificial difficulty.

I cant stand games with artificial difficulty - regardless of wheather the ultimate [artificial] product is actually hard (like Global Agenda) or easy (like Left4Dead). If you dont want to artificial difficulty, then it's a giant plot/common-sense hole. Consider this: my assault rifle does ~100 dmg/hit. The assault rifle that the basic bad guy has, does 800dmg/hit with the same range and fire rate. So either [a] this is artificial difficulty or [b] a plot hole that skips over the fact that any common sense soldier would, after killing his first baddie, immediately pick up the rifle and use that instead....

Global Agenda is a different genre of game. It's got some aspect of FPS/TPS and some elements of RPG (and some strategic elements but those are relatively minor/indirect). It's clearly not a real RPG as there simply isnt any loot, and once you settle into your basic gear families, there's not a whole lot of need to expand into the more specialized loot (perhaps in PVP, but i'll get to that). It certaintly isnt an FPS/TPS -- there's no body zone damage -- a shot in the toe does the same as a shot to the head.

Now you can argue that this game is primarily PvP and PvE was tacked on as an afterthought (which, based on the feel of things, is probably true), then I would suggest that it fails as a PvP game as well. No body zone damage in a PvP game? Seriously? How is that supposed to be competitive when neither party even has to hit the target (it's actually got soft aim).

For all this criticism, you'd think I hate the Global Agenda. To be honest, I'm not sure at how I stand: the 1.3 patch definitively makes the game what it should have been at launch. No doubt about that -- as a patch, this is phenomenal (and from a developer's perspective, it's an assload of stuff they've done in a relatively short time period). I'm just not sold on the underlying game itself.

Forced teaming, lack of hard aim (or even something resembling zone damage) and artificial difficulty -- makes me feel this is a casual gamer's game (but it certainly isnt). I cant quite put my finger on it, but it's a hell of a turn off. Do I regret buying the game? Nah. Would I buy it again knowing what I know? Probably. But it certainly doesnt have the attractive power that it could have had. All I know is I'm crossing my fingers for Hellgate Resurrection...

Related

• My Initial Impressions of Global Agenda
• Global Agenda Round 3 (v1.3)
• Global Agenda Round 4 (v1.3.8.5)

Running Series: Little Tweaks, Tips and Apps (Part 2)

Contents

1. Automated System Cleaning

[Back to series]

Automated System Cleaning
So I do a lot of ASP.NET development on my personal system. I have bursts of going through online videos. This results in a lot of garbage showing up on my system, both in the system's Temp folder as well as the Temporary Internet folder (my primary/only browser is IE). There are guides out there to show you how to Clear IE's cache and even to clear the cache for a specific domain (i.e., site) but there are a bunch of drawbacks and concerns:

• It takes damn near forever (depending on how much junk you have accumulated)
• Does it really clear your temporary browsing cache? (after all, your browser is still open and as a general principle, you cant delete files while applications using them are open...)
• What if you use multiple browsers?
• There's no easy convenient way to empty you system's temporary folders

This is where a neat little free application call CCleaner ('C' for 'crap) comes in. It's handles the deletion of temporary files, browsing cache (of multiple browsers) and general removal of "crap". It has a built in whitelist system to let you mark certain cookies you want to keep (say, your Facebook login cookie). It's pretty straightforward to run too - you just click 'analyze' then 'clean' and wait (depending on how much crap you've accumulated) and poof it's done!

It's pretty easy: double-click (to launch), click (analyze) and click (clean) and click (to close) and you're done! Normally this is something I run every so often manually (i.e., during development, when I really want to wipe cookies etc or after a particularly long session of Youtubing, or 'just because'). Being the lazy old fart I am, I figured there's got to be a better way to do things with less work. Turns out there is.

A quick little investigation yielded command line parameters for CCleaner. Turns out '/AUTO' (without the quotes) runs CCleaner in the tray with the current settings and exits when finished. Brilliant! Now just make a shortcut with the auto parameter and double-click and you're done!

There are two issues still outstanding:

1. It still takes damn near forever (depending on the amount of crap accumulated) and
2. What about all the cookies I do want to save? (i.e., login cookies and such)

Well there's not a whole lot you can do about the latter (you have to manually fire up CCleaner and whitelist the cookies yourself... so you'll still have to do work every so often). As for the former, common sense suggests that if you run CCleaner more often, the individual cleanings should be a relative breeze. So I thought: why not have the automated cleaning happen on a regular basis .. sure it would 'accidentally' wipe out cookies every so often, but in time, my cookie whitelist would get longer and longer and it would be less of a hassle. Worth a shot!

Here's how to make your life simpler and cleaner:

1. Fire up Task Scheduler (taskschd.msc) .. you can find it under Administrative Tools
2. On the right hand side, click 'Create Task'. A window pops up [sample]
3. Setup your trigger to determine how often you want to clean your system [sample]. When you're done, it will list all your triggers [sample]
4. Now setup what your want this automated event to actually do [sample]. When you're done it will list all the actions [sample]. For my system, I have the cleaning done every two hours.
5. Determine the scenarios you want the cleaning to run [sample]. This will realistically only affect notebook users and those who put their system to sleep often.
6. Set the various misc settings for the automated task [sample]. For my case, I have the system force-close if there is a crash/lock.

And that's it!

You can test the task simply by right clicking on the task in the task scheduler and selecting 'Run'. You'll see a little CCleaner icon in your system tray as it runs and it'll automagically go away when it's done it's thing. I would suggest, while you're in the Task Scheduler window, to export the task so that you dont have to do all this if you decide to format the system!

'Global Agenda' (7.5/10)

Ah Global Agenda. After the disaster that was me being an early adopter of Fallen Earth and me almost tried the failure that was Aion (thankfully my caution after Fallen Earth saved me from that). I swore off all MMOs (other than Hellgate) without first trying the game out via a demo or something (to ensure the game doesnt have magical aim). Global Agenda seemed neat in that it was an attempt at mashing together several different genres:

• HUB based MMO
• Shooter (First and Third person)
• RTS
• RPG

For those familiar with Hellgate, it can be summarized as a mashup of the Hunter and Templar classes  shoved into a post-modern espionage environment. The player assumes the role of a genetically engineered agent working against the government entity, 'The Commonwealth'. (insert standard totalitarian/repressive government backstory here). For those interested in the actual backstory, there is a whole lot of it.

The player choses from one of four classes: medic (healer/poision), assault (heavy weapons/tanking), recon (stealth/sniper) and robotics (turrets and drones). The game splits into three portions: PvE, PvP and AvA. The first two are pretty standard staples of MMOs. The last, Agency vs Agency is the attempt to blend a persistant world and long term strategy i.e., you and your Agency (the equivalent of a Guild), try to capture/control/own territory which in turn, gives resources/research for better equipment etc.

The game has free-to-play and subscription modes (although for now, all content is free to play). I dont think I'll be paying for it anytime soon though: it's a bit too hollow/mechanical to be worth monthly fees (I play mostly PvE). That being said, I quite enjoy the light-RPG elements and the greater emphasis on tactical awareness than your usual MMO/RPG where it comes down to either [a] better gear or skills or [b] just having a higher level number (aka Borderlands).

Both-ways-points:

• Armor is entirely cosmetic and has no stats or anything. This is slated to change in the upcoming patch with the introduction of statted armour but for the time being it's a nice change from having to worry about loot and it's more of a player-skill thing. Of course, it kind of saps away the appeal of playing the game if there is no loot to farm or get excited over. The game does have an independant upgrade element (conveyed in the form of neural implants and such) which lets the user have upgraded stats and such independent of the armour (so no more worrying about picking better vs prettier armour)
• Skill points can be freely reset. This is nice if you play both PvP and PvE and it's great for beginners looking to try different builds and different skills and such. Down the road though it kind of takes away from the attatchment the player might have with the character if it's so brainless to respec.

Strong Points

• Unreal Engine 3. The game looks fantastic. The aiming mechanics are decent (sniping is a bain in the butt as bullets arent hit-scan ... the delay is about 400ms give or take)
• In addition to the standard guns and such, each class has melee weaponry -- and the game encourages you to use it as it doesnt drain energy/ammo, generates morale boost twice as fast (the equivalent of Limit Breaks) etc. Definitely adds a different take to the game
• Get up and go. Gameplay is very straightforward (on paper). Since the elements are mostly cosmetic, there's not as much of a need to sit around and choose gear etc (although different gear options are available, the player is aware of all of them at the very start so they can be ready for it)
• Self-healing is a very conscious decision. Each class has the ability to self-heal. When triggered, the player will (over a brief period), recover all hitpoints but at the cost of a much slower movespeed and no energy/ammo regeneration. Makes players think before mashing the heal button (which also has a cooldown).
• Jetpacks. The ability to fly is awesome --  doubly so when it has tactical merit and isnt just for show (ahem, Aion).
• Class distincion. The classes are exceptionally well thought out: each class has it's own very specific role to play in the group. There isnt the problem of one class ninjaing everything, because it's just not doable.

Weak Points

• No loot! This totally takes away from gameplay as there's much less of a reason to come back again and again on quests
• Quest queing. It's somethign I dont understand - you cant just go and play solo (in fact, you have to play with 3 other people... ugh... humans). A friend of mine tried to explain it to me: the reason for queuing is because the servers cant handle thousands of concurrent instances firing up (which I guess is also why you have to play with 3 other people - it drops the server load by 75%). Ugh. Get a bigger server.
• Little UI bugs and issues: so many of them to name, while the overall look and feel is done up well and the glitches are minor, they really chip away at the overall polish
• Stupid players. Nuff said.

All in all, a damn fine start. Needs some work to polish it up but worth the money. If you were on the fence, go try the trial out. Bottom line: 7.5/10.

Related

• Global Agenda Round 2 (v1.3)
• Global Agenda Round 3 (v1.3)
• Global Agenda Round 4 (v1.3.8.5)

'Torchlight' Review (8/10)

I had no idea Torchlight was going to be so much fun. Then again, if we disect the game, it's really a rehash of the very tried and true Diablo formula. I bought the Steam version and so, it's got some nuances to get used to but at the end of the day, it's a hoot to play. There is, however, one absolutely unforgiveable failure of the game -- no multiplayer! For a game that so faithfully reproduces the tried and true Diablo formula (albeit with a brighter and cheery outlook on things), it's very dissapointing to not be able to fire the game up for some good old fashioned LAN partying.

Running Series: Little Tweaks, Tips and Apps (Part 1)

Welcome to the first of a new series of mine where I talk about various tweaks, optimizations for Windows power users. I can't stress enough that this is targeted at power users. For the benefit of random Googlers that get to this blog who may not be full out power users, I'll try to keep the description, instructions or whatnot as complete as possible (which is my style anyways). In this opener, I'll share one very useful app I've built out and a couple nifty tricks.

'Freelancer' Review (9/10)

One of the best games ever. Freelancer is one of those games that comes around only a handful of times each decade. The sequel to StarLancer,  Freelancer is a space-based flightsim-rpg (I use the term rpg loosely). While the story isn't exactly groundbreaking, the visuals and combat mechanics are relatively top notch. Even now, in the age of advanced shaders and physics engines, Freelancer still looks great and plays great.

The game introduces us to two factions, the Alliance and the Coalition which, for some reason or another, were locked into a stalemate stellar-war. At one point the Coalition gets a lucky break and deals a deathblow to the Alliance -- but not before the Alliance is able to launch several sleeper ships (think big transport ships built for the purpose of repopulating a system) to a far off galaxy in an attempt to 'start over' free of the petty war. The game starts about 2000 years after the sleeper ships make it to the far off galaxy.

In this world, you are a one Mr. Edison Trent (the guy on the cover) and you are one of the few survivors of an attack on a remote spacestation by an unknown force from [presumably] beyond the story's universe. Having been rescued from the wreckage, you are taken to another planet to start your life over again. Cue player.

A second look at zombie games...

It's been some time since my Left 4 Dead 2 and Killing Floor reviews. While I didnt get around to making a Left 4 Dead review (I suppose for completeness sake, that'll be coming), many of the points for it were raised with my review of the sequel. Something I have noticed though (and I am definitely guilty of this) is a certain amount of bias and animosity that the two camps have. At the end of the day, both are solid games regardless of what 'professional' reviews conclude. They just happen to target two totally different market segments (something that, as you get more and more engrossed, you forget about). Here's to a second take.

'Nation Red' Review (9/10)

One of the most entertaining games I've played as of late, Nation Red is fast-paced, arcade action game. It implements a tried and true formula of holding-out against the hoarde of creeps (in this case, zombies). To me, it is a modern take on Crimsonland, a classic shoot-em-up game. The multi-directional shoot-em-up genre is pretty well defined and there's not a whole lot that any given game of the genre can do to improve the formula. Thankfully, Nation Red sticks to the formula and simply offers a simple premise (zombies) and a fantastic graphical overhaul.

Some Steam titles to keep an eye our for...

A few of the titles I'll be keeping an eye out for price drops for! With the exception of Perimeter 2 and STALKER Clear Sky, I think I've played through (and beaten) all of these games (some of them excessively so), but for some reason or another, they just dont strike that sense of worth for the asking price. But that's what random sales (and the Christmas sales) are for!

Running Series: Win 7/Vista Aggravations (Part 2)

Welcome back, this is the second edition of my running series on Windows 7/Vista aggravations. In this segment, I'll address the nagging automagic updates and excessive collection of crash dumps.

Running Series: Win 7/Vista Aggravations (Part 1)

Welcome to the first part of a running series where I rant about problems specific to high-performance Windows 7 installations and provide some insight into addressing them (and ultimately, the solution). Due to the close similarities, the problems encountered here and the solutions provided wiill almost certainly be extendable to Windows Vista and possibly, other Microsoft technologies.