Ah, PC gaming. When you work, you're so satisfying. And when you don't, you're absolutely infuriating. In this particular case, I played some GRID for the first time in... A month or two, and I've been getting this periods where the game just slows down in the middle of a race. Five or six times, for a few minutes each. The game files didn't need to be defragged, a driver rollback didn't help and neither did the following rollforward. I think I'm having heat issues. If I recall correctly, my video card (KFA Galaxy 9600GT) is a naturally warm piece of hardware, but it shouldn't be peaking at 105c. That's friggin' HOT. So I took off the side of the case and used to vacuum to de-dust it a bit. I was able to play for a lot longer before the slowdowns started happening again. But they never used to happen at all, so... Maybe I need to take out the components to properly clean them. Or maybe my card is on its way out. But really, what do you expect when the manufacturer doesn't even have a website? Something tells me this may not be a quality piece of equipment. I shoulda gone with EVGA, they did alright by me last time.
I watched two movies this last week, actually. National Treasure 2 was... Wonderfully predictable and shallow. A few semi-humourous bits, but as a whole it was completely forgettable. I won't even mention the gaping plot holes and idiocy in some parts of the logic.
Then I also watched Flight of the Navigator, a kid-friendly sci-fi flick from 1986. It was a movie I probably haven't seen in... At least 13 years. We used to watch it when we went to visit our grandparents - there was a decent video rental shop in town (something we usually couldn't get to without a 40min ride in a bushplane), and I remember us getting it on at least two or three occasions. Often by request. Unfortunately, it hasn't aged well. The movie is SUPER corney and lame. I will say two things, though - the premise was really intruiging and the visuals were good. Part of the movie revolves around a robot alien merged with a spacecraft, and it was done with *gasp* actual props. Yeah, it wasn't mind blowing and it looked flimsy, but I'd take that over most of the CGI we see nowadays that litter the sci-fi genre.
Nurse Jakie is a good show, but they try too hard to make the main character flawed. I'll tolerate it for the time being, we'll see if/when I give up on it.
Dark Messiah of Might and Magic was a fun game. Neat universe to explore, and I really like how they made the environment useful in combat. It had a pretty wide array of ways to approach a situation, and the RPG-style classes were implemented well. For as much emphasis as there was on melee combat, the system sure feels a bit unpolished. Something in the way that enemies don't get knocked back or stunned by your blows, and can attack while you're attacking. And part of the AI scripting became a little obvious after a short while. If you charge at them while ready to strike, they'll attack at the exact moment that you reach them. It's okay though, the magical weapons were neat and some of the spells were cools. Visually too, the art direction here (and in a few other areas) was really solid. Really captured the atmosphere well.
I need to get some more mapping done this week. I'll be damned if I don't get that map done (at least an initial version) over the summer. I blame all the photographying for distracting me.
Gotta register for class. I start school in a month and twelve days. Sigh. I can't believe so much of the summer is gone, and how little time is left in my free life.
Here, this should help with all the crap I've been spewing lately.
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go find something to settle my soul for the upcoming week.
-Cril
I said I'm sitting here watching
Matchbox hole in my clothes
I said I'm sitting here wondering
Matchbox hole in my clothes
I ain't got no matches
But I sure got a long way to go
The Beatles - Matchbox
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