It has been a really long time since my last website update. I was thinking over and over and wanted to spark Senseless Stories section. This post isn’t going to be a big one. More of an announcement really.
I finally sat down, busted grey matter in hand with my keyboard. Some senselessness should do good, right? Isn’t it what the world desires? Needs even? What’s the point in learning only from matter that makes sense. Why not otherwise? Everyone is entitled to waste their time! One way or another… it must happen and should happen to every single soul on this planet.
Without further whatnot, I forcefully invite you to just go ahead and read one of the first senseless pulp from my side – A Random Encounter?
It was around 2 weeks back when me and many of my colleagues started playing this little game called “Flappy Bird” on iOS. We were having fun with the game trying to beat score. We all kind of played it for few hours then moved on to some other game on iOS.
Just few days later, we came across news on the internet mentioning the game’s sudden rise on the AppStore. We were all like… what?! I’m pretty sure many of you must’ve already experience the game recently on your iPad/ iPhone and some of you might’ve even played it months back when it was originally released! In my opinion, the sudden rise of this game was mainly due to virality and word-of-mouth tactics. It worked. It actually worked wonders for the developer. The game started making tons of monies. Which is both a good and a bad thing.
Few things about Flappy Bird:
It presents a classic game appeal
Addictive, fun game meant to be played in quick bursts
Inspired by retro/ other classics
Absolutely no gameplay variation
No enhancements in core mechanics as the player progresses
No variation in level design
The game still raked hundreds of thousands of dollars. It clearly goes on to show how marketing, virality can work wonders + climb of simplicity.
Due to its sudden rise, the developer gained huge amount of fame and negative press at the same time. Negativity mainly emerged due to aforementioned reasons. I’m sure you’ll find the news about what all happened in detail on various news sites. Eventually, the developer could not take all the press and hatred and decided to remove the app from the AppStore.
Then, soon there was this event that popped up –> Flappy Jam! Hundreds of developers came forth in support and for passion’s sake!
Today is the last day of submission at –> http://itch.io/jam/flappyjam
And… here is my entry (Inspired by Space Invaders) 🙂
Pentium MMX 166MHz. Matrox Manipulation Extensions. MultiMedia Extensions. What have you. Neither is correct though. That’s another story and is completely out of the scope here. This article is about GPUs. Yes. The meat. The bones. The love. Raw processing power in drawing tris/s and accelerating games by lowering burden on CPUs.
My first foray into gaming like a crazy addict on PC started with my first purchase (above). Of course, I ain’t counting playing games for countless hours on classic x86 (286, 386, 486 and Pentium Class 1) in my school/ cousin’s/ friend’s place. My personal relationship with computers started in my home with Pentium 166 MHz MMX. During that time, 1996 I did not have a dedicated 3D-accelerator (so it was called then). What was available for me was on-board Cirrus Logic (if I remember it correctly). It had a mightly 1MB of memory size. Yes. That is 0.1% of Video RAM that is currently installed in my PC.
For me, getting into graphics accelerators started when Quake II arrived. I was having super-fun playing the game in software mode. But, then I came across OpenGL setting for the game. Well, that was it. I turned it on and somehow got it working in Quake II. Immediately, the graphics smoothed out, green filter all over the screen and the game portrayed a fun ride with approx 2-5 FPS (or I think so). That was it. I had to buy myself a new graphics card. That’s when I started researching and knowing more about accelerators available in market.
Let’s begin with my first purchase. It was the year of enlightenment, 1998.
Disclaimer: All the years associated with GPUs in my blog is “Year of purchase”
1. Diamond Viper V330 [1998]
This card immediately boosted my performance in games from almost-nothingness to spectacular (by standards of ’98). Major boost was with the increase in memory size to 4MB.
2. Asus AGP-V7700 Nvidia GeForce GTS 32MB [2000]
The major selling point of this card was Transform & Lighting (T&L). It was all woohoo at the moment. I absolutely loved this graphics card. Particularly, this card blew Giants: Citizen Kabuto. One of the first games that used this card to the limit.
3. Sapphire ATI Radeon 9600 SE [2003]
To this day, I still consider this card to be a filler. Getting this was more of a mistake. I was supposed to get 9600, SE was a real low when it came to performance. Very unsatisfactory. Mainly, as it had a measly 64-bit memory bus. It just couldn’t handle games of that generation well.
4. Nvidia GeForce 6600 GT [2005]
After the love that was GeForce 2 GTS, 6600 GT blew me again. This is one of the most famous cards of the decade. I am pretty sure countless PC gamers had an affair with this video card by Nvidia. Effective memory clock frequency of 1000 MHz! DDR all the way! Yeah!
5. Sapphire ATI Radeon x1950 Pro [2007]
x1950 Pro
This was another of my favorite GPU. It faithfully allowed hordes of games to run smoothly at pretty high settings. Plus, it boasted a killer 44.2GB/s memory bandwidth. Yes!
6. Palit AMD Radeon 4870 Dual Sonic Edition [2009]
Palit 4870 Dual Sonic Ed. 1024MB
It has been 4.5 years now since I bought this card. I must say, this has been one of the best performer. Ever. Even after 4 years, this card performs admirably in current gen games like Metro: Last Light and Far Cry 3. Most games are still playable at 1080p. Love it. Guess, I’ll wait for awhile before I upgrade next. The time has not yet come. 4870 still rocks and has enough juice to satisfy me. At least for a while.
And… I finally gave in to this marvelous new GPU from AMD. R9 280x is a notch above everyone in competition and very close to mighty Nvidia Geforce GTX 770! For the price, this is certainly one of the best value. 3D performance in current-gen games is mindblowing! Not sure how this might handle 4K resolutions… but that is for next year!
I thought of making some interesting analysis (high level) on specifications of all these cards that I owned.
Just shows how the chipsets have evolved since 17 years (or more closely 13 years). Presented here in graph format. I’ve considered some of the major criteria that defines a GPU at a high level. Let’s begin!
Transistor Count
Increase in the count of Transistors on chip
Memory Size
Increase in (raw) Memory Size (technology not taken into account here)
Memory Bus
Memory Bus size
Memory Bandwidth
Rise in Memory bandwidth through the years
Core Clock
Increase in Core processing clock frequency
Memory Clock
Increase in Memory clock frequency
Fabrication
Decrease in the Fabrication process
That’s about it folks. For now. Might post some mid-level details soon.
The name intrigued me. Van Helsing. Adventures? Incredible Adventures? That too for $15? Well, I bought this game to experience and relive classic ARPGs like Diablo. I mean the first one. The one which I consider is better than two and way ahead of 3.
Adventuring Party? Marvelous reference!
I haven’t played a lot of this game yet. I’m just level 8 and my companion, Lady Katarina is 7. She’s like my pet Ghost. I mean like the pet you have in Torchlight II.
Dolby flame surround.
Characters in this game are very likable and display a peculiar sense of humor. Okay, I wanted to write more about this game… but guess I’ll do that next time. Soon. I’ll go back to hacking, slashing and having some more fun while the rain drops outside. Good times.
Finally! It gives me immense pleasure to say that I have beaten the final level of Super Hexagon!!!
My best timing
And, mind you all… this was no easy task. I have clocked approximately 50 hours in the game! Of course, this doesn’t mean that others do not possess higher scores than mine! There are thousands of better players 😉
I do have a secret to finishing the game. Brace for the truth. At least, the truth as I see it. Idea is, to be as calm and patient as possible while playing Super Hexagon. Experiencing uber-trip with mindnumbing frenetic-action is a given while playing the game. However, what is actually needed is “mind devoid of thoughts”. Remember what Morpheus was talking about? Well, guess it was all for something like this.
It goes without saying… this game is genius design by Terry Cavanagh. Hats off to him! The whole feeling of gameplay is supported by an extremely addictive soundtrack done by Chipzel.
I finally watched Les Misérables today! I must say, it is a very beautifully made movie. Definitely, the best movie of 2012. Stellar cast delivers stellar performances.
What am I doing, this is not a review! I felt like writing about a very interesting aspect presented in the movie… and that is:
Hugh Jackman – as the Load bearer. Throughout the movie, he is shown to lift, carry and transpose one thing/ person from A to B. Well, there is deep meaning here.
*SPOILERS WARNING*
Hugh Jackman lifts and carries the flag. – This is his first role as a Load bearer.
Why? –> To obey a direct command, to honor, act with his place as a slave/ prisoner
Consequence –> Utter hate and distrust in the eyes of Javert
Lifts a fallen carriage bar to save on old man. – Second role as a Load bearer
Why? –> Every moment he makes sure to save any soul in need that surround him, he doesn’t believe in inequality and remembers his own place
Consequence –> Subtle memory recall of Hugh’s true self by Javert
Lifts and carries Fantine (Anne Hathaway) – Third role as a Load bearer
Why? –> To help the lady who has fallen from grace, for he must right everything and help her save Cosette, live with the guilt of not helping Fantine earlier.
Consequence –> Leads his journey forward and establises a strong quest
Lifts and carries young Cosette – Fourth role as a Load bearer
Why? –> Fulfilling his promise to Fantine, mercy and kindness
Consequence –> Understands what love is.
Lifts and carries Marius (Eddie) – Fifth role as a Load bearer
Why? –> To save and bring Cosette’s love at any cost
Consequence –> Causes Javert to realize life, Reunites Cosette with Marius, understands love is to be shared
Lifts and carries himself – Sixth role as a Load bearer
Why? –> Does not want to live/ face Cosette with his past as an escaped prisoner
Consequence –> Frees himself and returns to lost souls in heaven
The last and sixth role is true metaphorical in presentation.
Oh I have become a HUGE fan of this game. Got countless hours to prove it! Now, the only thing that is bugging me… is the hardest difficulty setting… I know I can do it! I must. I will. I shall.
I finally started playing Eador: Masters of the Broken world yesterday! I had pre-ordered this on off steam and got Eador: Genesis free. My love of fantasy, role-playing games and strategy has brought me to this one. Plus, being a fan of Heroes of Might and Magic series since years, I wanted to check what this game was all about.
I am already few hours into this game and started fighting bandits, goblins, orcs and shit. I’m loving this game right now and believe it captures the beautiful era of HoMM with thrilling adventures :] And, that makes me happy. Love the graphics, hex combat and game design. Coming from a small studio, this game is pure marvel.
My Hero (Unseen) reached level 4 and my first building in provinces is everyone’s beloved granary. Yes. Food and income. Isn’t that what we all care about? Food, money and games?
Well, I’ll keep posting more about this game as my hours sink in. Till then, enjoy some of my screen captures. Fantasy calls me.
Jitesh's Domain 