Vidya Gaems General

glennmagusharvey · 2017-10-03 18:38:44

Note to self: stick this at everyone who complains about unfair dice rolls. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recall_bias

glennmagusharvey · 2017-10-05 04:28:13

Behold: http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/3089/

a hack whose only purpose is to remove "Charlotte! Jonathan! Charlotte! Jonathan! Charlotte! Jonathan! ..."

Bluesy_Cowgirl · 2017-10-05 04:47:27

aw, but that's the best part!

Stormtroper · 2017-10-06 02:42:45

I just learned that the video one sees at the beginning of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn showing the backstory's cataclysm, is the ending of the original Final Fantasy XIV, as in, the video you saw if you were connected at the time the servers were shut off and the game became unplayable.

glennmagusharvey · 2017-10-06 07:15:20

Been (re)playing Island of Dr. Brain this evening.

The last puzzle is about logic gates. This one can be a real stumper. It has four inputs and you can have at most three gates in it I think. You have to replicate a given logic pattern.

Here's the two patterns I've been trying...and failing...to replicate. (Incidentally I actually solved this puzzle when it was accidentally easier, due to having a different pattern, and then came back for a "real" challenge by re-generating the puzzle.)

ABC => result1..result 2
000 => 1...........1
001 => 1...........1
010 => 1...........1
011 => 0...........1
100 => 1...........1
101 => 0...........1
110 => 1...........0
111 => 1...........1

What combination of at most three logic gates can produce each set of results?

Stormtroper · 2017-10-06 07:42:31

You mean, it has a three bit input and a two bit output? (so an input of 011 has an output of 01?)

Sounds interesting, I'll try it tomorrow. I wonder if it's NP-hard for an arbitrarily large number of inputs.

Edit: Wait nvm it obviously isn't, not without doing something about the amount of outputs and logic gates.

glennmagusharvey · 2017-10-06 08:56:37

Stormtroper wrote: »

You mean, it has a three bit input and a two bit output? (so an input of 011 has an output of 01?)

No, it's two separate versions of the puzzle that I haven't been able to figure out. One arrangement of logic gates produces output set 1, and another arrangement produces output set 2.

Stormtroper · 2017-10-06 21:58:13

Alright, next question. Is one allowed to use all logic gates, including the unusual ones? (e.g. the "implies" one, where the output is 0 iff input a is 1 and input b is 0).

If true, I think I have 2 done and I don't think 1 should be too hard.

glennmagusharvey · 2017-10-06 22:13:24

I'm curious to see solutions using unusual logic gates, but they should be solvable using only at most three logic gates of the standard kinds: NOT, AND, OR, XOR, NAND, NOR, XNOR.

Here's what the puzzle looks like:

The old chip's pattern is shown in the red column. You have to design a combination of logic gates and program the new chip to match it.

They let you use no gates at all (which for some reason outputs 1 when all inputs are 0 but 0 otherwise), or fewer gates or fewer inputs.

Stormtroper · 2017-10-08 23:04:30

Alright, I finally got around to think about this with a piece of paper at hand. I'm done, it's much easier once you make truth value tables with several connections filled in (AND in this case). Let a, b and c be the first, second and third bit.

In the first puzzle let d = a AND c, let e = b AND c and finally the output = d XNOR e. Or ¬((a ∧ c) ⇔ (b ∧ c)) (TIL no dashed equivalent/implies arrow symbols exist). Or this. (Note: replace the XOR gate with a XNOR gate, the software did not have it available.)

In the second one, let d = a AND b and let e = d AND c and finally the output = d XNOR e. Or ¬(((a ∧ b) ∧ c) ⇔ (a ∧ b)) . Or this. (Similar disclaimer.)

Stormtroper · 2017-10-09 14:23:19

I just found out about Cuphead (tl;dw: game in the style of early XXth century cartoons). Looks pretty cool, they clearly put loads of effort in getting the feel right.

glennmagusharvey · 2017-10-09 19:15:56

Stormtroper wrote: »

Alright, I finally got around to think about this with a piece of paper at hand. I'm done, it's much easier once you make truth value tables with several connections filled in (AND in this case). Let a, b and c be the first, second and third bit.

In the first puzzle let d = a AND c, let e = b AND c and finally the output = d XNOR e. Or ¬((a ∧ c) ⇔ (b ∧ c)) (TIL no dashed equivalent/implies arrow symbols exist). Or this. (Note: replace the XOR gate with a XNOR gate, the software did not have it available.)

In the second one, let d = a AND b and let e = d AND c and finally the output = d XNOR e. Or ¬(((a ∧ b) ∧ c) ⇔ (a ∧ b)) . Or this. (Similar disclaimer.)

First one is correct.
Second one seems like a more complex structure than can be input into the game...basically I don't think you can route the output of the top-left AND gate into another gate that's not the last.

And in case you're really dying to do these, here's a third one that stumped me last night, while I was attempting to stream this game and embarrassing myself. Go ask UE; he was watching. lol

Bluesy_Cowgirl · 2017-10-09 23:51:08

Stormtroper wrote: »

I just found out about Cuphead (tl;dw: game in the style of early XXth century cartoons). Looks pretty cool, they clearly put loads of effort in getting the feel right.

there's a thread over on HH where everyone is drooling over this game

I am impressed by its animation but I don't really feel like playing it, personally

glennmagusharvey · 2017-10-10 00:01:09

Cuphead appears to be a combination of Gunstar Heroes run-and-gun action, Parodius-style absurdist humor, and 1930s cartoons.

It seems interesting to me.

glennmagusharvey · 2017-10-12 06:32:53

http://www.cracked.com/blog/in-response-to-game-companies-gamers-eula/

Stormtroper · 2017-10-13 08:24:14

I've begun following Unity tutorials (again), it'd been a while since I'd put what little I knew about programming in practice so I thought I'd go with that.

Stormtroper · 2017-10-16 14:07:53

I'm really digging this channel.

glennmagusharvey · 2017-10-19 08:01:26

http://www.techradar.com/news/sonys-ps4-mini-wired-gamepad-looks-to-win-with-kids-this-christmas-season

oh hey look

Sony's bringing back the SNES gamepad!

hey at least it doesn't suck to play MMX games on it like the PS1 controller

It's even wired, leading some folks on Sony's announcement page to question the wisdom of releasing a device aimed at kids with a 10-foot-long, permanently-attached cable.

"Conveniently wired so your kids can trip on it and drop your PS4 Pro on the floor," says a commenter named LeMatster.

clearly those of us who are in our twenties and thirties wrecked all our game consoles as kids because we tripped over the controller wires

clearly

Stormtroper · 2017-10-19 19:22:53

Civ III for free here, take it while you can!

glennmagusharvey · 2017-10-20 02:19:00

Thanks!

So I've been playing Mini Metro lately. Really interesting puzzle/sim game (surprising for me to like a puzzle game).

Basically, city transit stations appear on a map. Passengers appear at each station and want to go to another station. You have to manage a transit system to accommodate them. Build different-colored lines and add upgrades to them (e.g. adding carriages to locomotives, giving them more passenger capacity, or turning stations into interchanges, accommodating more waiting passengers). Cities also have rivers which you can only cross if you have an adequate supply of bridges or tunnels. (Maps are vaguely based on real-world locations, e.g. London, Paris, Mumbai, Sao Paulo, Washington DC, New York City, Montreal, Osaka, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Cairo, Istanbul, San Francisco, Shanghai, St. Petersburg).

In Normal mode, your score is the number of passengers you can get to their desired destinations before you have a station that gets overcrowded with waiting passengers, and every week you get some upgrades, always an extra locomotive and a choice of another upgrade. In Endless mode, your don't lose from overcrowding but get a limited (albeit high) number of locomotives and upgrades, while your score depends on (I think) how many passengers your system can accommodate at one time. In Extreme mode, it's like Normal mode except you cannot ever redraw tracks (though you're warned before the stations appear, I think).

The different transit stations are indicated by the following symbols. Passengers appear at these stations, with their own shape symbol indicating where they want to go. You can play the game simply by connecting the different shapes with transit lines, by mouse. Some destinations are unique, and may not appear on all maps. Sometimes generic stations may transform into unique stations.

* Circle: These generate many types of passengers, most commonly triangles, squares, and some pluses. Every map has many of these. I think these are residential areas.
* Triangle: Generates mostly circles and a few stars. Every map has many of these, though maybe not as many as circles. I think these are business districts.
* Square: Generates a variety of passenger types, most commonly circles and triangles. Every map has a few of these, leading people to speculate these may represent transport hubs of some other sort (e.g. airports, seaports, long-distance rail and bus stations).
* Plus: A unique station. Generates circles. Based on its shape, speculated to represent a hospital.
* Star: a unique station. Generates triangles and circles. It may represent a government building or conference facility.
* Rhombus (actually more like a square turned on its side, or a “diamondshape”, but there’s also a diamond symbol): A unique station. Generates squares. Based on its shape (resembling a baseball diamond), believed by some to represent a recreational destination like a sports stadium or park.
* Oval (actually more like two quarter circles, resembling an oblong gridiron football): A unique station. I forgot what it generates. Based on its shape, believed by some to represent a recreational destination like a sports stadium.
* Wedge (quarter-wedge with round side facing down, like a teardrop): A unique station. Generates circles. Speculated by some to represent an educational institution or a tourism/travel destination.
* Pentagon (a regular pentagon with a vertex facing up): A unique station. Seems to generate squares and triangles. Good for jokes on the Washington DC map (though the actual Department of Defense "Pentagon" building is located in Arlington County, Virginia). Some imagine this may represent a hotel or an airport, though I think it's probably a government building, e.g. a courthouse.
* Diamond (an irregular symmetric pentagon with vertex facing down): A unique station. Based on its shape, thought to represent a shopping destination or a bank.

glennmagusharvey · 2017-10-21 16:48:01

HOLY CRAP http://www.desura.com/ WORKS AGAIN

I CAN REDOWNLOAD FLYING RED BARREL AND CLOUDPHOBIA AND OTHER STUFF

edit: i spoke too soon; all downloads are still broken

glennmagusharvey · 2017-10-21 19:02:26

clearly this game is Persona 4
(this is a youtube video but you need to go to the page and read the description to see what i mean)

glennmagusharvey · 2017-10-23 08:19:15

fun fact for Ys fans: Chain Chronicle has a protagonist girl with blue hair who appears to be the lead guy's love interest or something and is named Feena.

actually she's named Phoena, but it's pronounced the same way.

She's not a goddess though. I think. Maybe. I haven't watched the entire show.

glennmagusharvey · 2017-10-24 17:40:05

https://www.gog.com/game/polish_giveaway_pack

Stronghold HD and A.D. 2044 for free for just under another two days.

Stormtroper · 2017-10-27 18:02:24

Ahh, thanks!

Also, Guns of Icarus Online for free here: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/guns-of-icarus-online

lrdgck · 2017-10-30 12:31:17

So, my dad bought a game and tells me he's having problems with the installation. I take a look. Fine, it's Steam, dad uninstalled the shit, so I tell him I need to install it again. Updating. Updating. Updating. After like half an hour I look at dad, dad looks at me, and says perhaps we shouldn't bother, and in this very moment it just completes updating as if it could hear us. Fine, I think - except nope, I need to enter the activation code for the computer. Turned out dad gave Steam mum's email address. We go to the next room, tell her to check her email account, write it down, go back. So, I proceed with the installation. Then I reach that point where you enter the key code. It's wrong, so I replace o's with zeros and go on. Wrong again. Try with ALLCAPS and smallcaps, doesn't work. I look again into the box. "Enter this code on the website and it will produce the keycode". I open the browser, type the address. Turns out dad needs to set up a separate account there, to install a game he had to access Steam for, that he frickin' bought in solid material form in a shop. And since it's mentioned in tiny letters at the bottom of the CD box, we can't really do anything with it, 'cept maybe going back to the shop and returning it if that's possible.

At this point I look at my dad and say I'd just pirate it.

fourteenwings · 2017-10-30 13:32:43

that he frickin' bought in solid material form in a shop.

Sorry for the hassle but this is hilarious.

It's like how the DVD version of the Project MC2 movie has every reference to twitter, instagram and snapchat bleeped out in a really sloppy way that means you lose about 2 seconds of dialogue either side (the conveniently pirateable Netflix version presumably does not).

glennmagusharvey · 2017-10-30 16:20:50

lrdgck wrote: »

So, my dad bought a game and tells me he's having problems with the installation. I take a look. Fine, it's Steam, dad uninstalled the shit, so I tell him I need to install it again. Updating. Updating. Updating. After like half an hour I look at dad, dad looks at me, and says perhaps we shouldn't bother, and in this very moment it just completes updating as if it could hear us. Fine, I think - except nope, I need to enter the activation code for the computer. Turned out dad gave Steam mum's email address. We go to the next room, tell her to check her email account, write it down, go back. So, I proceed with the installation. Then I reach that point where you enter the key code. It's wrong, so I replace o's with zeros and go on. Wrong again. Try with ALLCAPS and smallcaps, doesn't work. I look again into the box. "Enter this code on the website and it will produce the keycode". I open the browser, type the address. Turns out dad needs to set up a separate account there, to install a game he had to access Steam for, that he frickin' bought in solid material form in a shop. And since it's mentioned in tiny letters at the bottom of the CD box, we can't really do anything with it, 'cept maybe going back to the shop and returning it if that's possible.

At this point I look at my dad and say I'd just pirate it.

So in order to play this game you need to use an activation code on the publisher's website in order to register a user account there in order to get a Steam key for it?

And why did he wait half an hour updating it?

lrdgck · 2017-10-30 16:34:46

^ Sort of. Steam update was a nuisance, but it needed an update since dad doesn't really have much use for it, so it wasn't an issue beyond that. As for the rest - I don't know if what you mean by Steam key is the same as the key I had to enter to install, and I'm not sure it was literally the publisher's own website, but otherwise you got it.

glennmagusharvey · 2017-10-30 16:37:14

Oh he needed to reinstall Steam itself.

Steam key is the code to enter into Steam to get the game on one's Steam account.

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