Been too long...

Let's start with the easy stuff...

Grabbed the demos for Iron Man and Condemned 2. Iron Man was kinda fun, if simplistic; I'm curious to see how the full game pans out. Condemned 2 is just weird. I wasn't really sure what was going on, couldn't see much, and then Yahtzee's video review of the full game just made me sad... I really dug the first Condemned, and this sequel's just rubbing me the wrong way. I'm sure I'll get around to playing it some day, but I'm suddenly not in any kind of rush to do so.

I did pick up a used copy of Assassin's Creed for XBOX 360, and it's a hell of a lot of fun :) SUPER repetitive, but the fantastic graphics, wonderfully cinematic presentation of a vaguely interesting plot, and freedom to run wild makes it all quite bearable. I like this game like I like Crackdown; it's the freedom that makes it fun.

My main PC is acting up. It's crashing at different points of the start-up process, sometimes with error beeps before POSTing, sometimes during POST, and sometimes while Vista is starting up. I've tested the RAM, hard drive, and CPU extensively, tweaked various settings in the BIOS, checked the motherboard for burst capacitors and the like, and even reseated and rerouted various cables inside the case... Still not doing the trick. The weird thing is that it only does this once after turning the machine on, and then boots fine after a reset... Gonna get going on some external data backup next :\

Now then, the big stuff. Finally got an opportunity to go to town on the server at work. The system is now split over three drives (two RAID 1 arrays and a backup-image drive); e-mail, database, user, and shared data is now organized in a sensible manner; backups include the RAID arrays, the backup drive, tape backups, and a clone of the system drive on another hard drive that's sitting in a fire/waterproof safe. I fixed various bugs during the overhaul process as well, including a few long-standing (from before my time here) Exchange and time synchronization issues that had been affecting things like backups and security audits. Up next is a RAM upgrade (Dell was late shipping it to us; just got here this morning) and some spring cleaning of outdated user profiles and enormous log files (many resulting from those Exchange issues). I was at work for some 20 hours straight getting everything done, but it was actually really interesting and a lot of fun in the end :)

I thought you'd changed!

Ubisoft really aren't doing themselves any favours with Assassin's Creed...

I'm rarely an early adopter, and when I heard there'd be a Windows port of the game, I opted to hold off on the console versions and wait. After hearing about the new gameplay features of the Windows port, I even passed on a sale of the 360 version ($30 off). When I tried my brother's copy of the game on my single-core Windows machine to see if the dual-core requirements were true, I found out that while the game is sluggish, it is artificially so because of the 'phone home' DRM. Disabling my Internet connection worked wonders to improve performance (the game is actually playable now), but the game still isn't super smooth at higher settings and is ugly as sin on lower settings. So I've decided to go back to the 360 version, but I'm tempted to hold off in case there's a re-release with the new PC content...

I think I'm just gonna go and find a used copy of the 360 version and hope for some new downloadable content over Live... That'll be my screw you to Ubisoft; I get to play their pretty game, and they fail to profit from me ;) The StarForce-laden Windows versions of Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory and Prince Of Persia: The Two Thrones hurt me bad, but this one may leave some scars. Bad form, my Canadian brethren... Bad form.

Stuff 'n Junk

Downloaded the Army Of Two and SEGA Superstars Tennis demos for XBOX 360. The former requires two players (which I didn't have at that point in time), and I don't really like the shot controls in the latter... Though that may change with more experience. Hrm, guess I shouldn't've bothered mentioning either yet :)

Anyway, I picked up Assassin's Creed for Windows, and yes, it really does seem to require a dual-core CPU. It actually runs pretty well with decent graphics settings on my single-core CPU, but then starts to chug after maybe a minute. If I change even the refresh rate, the sluggishness disappears... For another minute or so :\ I'm guessing that it's more of a design issue rather than a capability thing. The game was designed for the multi-core processors of the XBOX 360 and PS3, and I'm guess that Ubisoft didn't think it was worth their time to rewrite the engine from scratch just to accommodate li'l old me. Funny thing: Since uninstalling Assassin's Creed, my computer has twice failed to POST and once failed to find an OS on my hard drive. I've run memory and hard drive tests, but have found nothing wrong. Hrmmm...

In other news, I recently discovered that if you have a Seagate or Maxtor hard drive attached to your computer, you are eligible to download and use a Seagate-branded copy of Acronis True Image 10. That's a pretty sweet deal, kids. Also, I'm considering picking up one of these, though I'm not sure if the $22 premium for a FireWire400 port is necessary for my needs.

Business As Usual

Recent developments:

Picked up Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection. Played the first one on Windows, never finished the second on account of the XBOX version's sketchy control scheme, and never played the third because I never finished the second.

Finally made some progress in Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters. Luna wasn't that hard to beat, but it was just so frustrating to have to replay all of those preceding mindless minigames each time that I never wanted to try more than once or twice at a time. The following levels aren't proving to be much more fun, as I'm learning that the game rewards failure... Even if you keep dying, your character and weapon stats (and your bolts, if you're careful) increase, ultimately making things easier the more you fail. It's a clever system, but I'm not sure that I enjoy it a whole lot.

I didn't bother to re-install any of the three latest Need For Speed games after my Vista SP1 upgrade, and I don't seem to be missing them... The later police chases in Most Wanted were getting ridiculous (and time-consuming), ProStreet was fun but wasn't really holding my interest... A little too much seriousness in my Need For Speed :\ I may throw Carbon back on though, just because it's simple, over-the-top ridiculousness.

I did put Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 on though, and that's been fun... Frustrating, starting out with a new golfer, but ultimately pretty fun. I'll probably be picking up the Windows version of Assassin's Creed soon as well, which may or may not run on my single-core PC. Worst-case scenario, it'll run nicely on either of my brother's machines, so they can enjoy it.

Oh, and I hooked an APC Back-UPS 400 up to my downloading/burning/service PC. I got the UPS for free, and figured I might as well put it to use... Though I have no idea how long it'll last under that kind of load; hopefully at least a few minutes :)

Expansion Module #1!

I walked into a local game shop on my way home from work today, and noticed a cardboard box by the front door with an Intellivision, an Atari 7800, and a ColecoVision with the Expansion Module #1 in it. These boxes are usually reserved for crappy Game Boy accessories and 16-bit sports games, so I was a little surprised to see those systems piled in there too. I was mostly curious about the ColecoVision Expansion Module #1, as I'd never seen one before (though I have seen Expansion Module #2) and because it allows you to play Atari 2600 games on your ColecoVision. I gathered up the parts (it also included a power adapter and two controllers) and brought them to the counter where the clerk told me that they were broken, and $1 each. I figured I might be able to use the main console for parts (I already have a ColecoVision), and just show off the Expansion Module #1... Or maybe I'd be able to get them working. Well, I didn't have to do much to get both parts working flawlessly, so I've been playing the likes of Venture, Donkey Kong, and Keystone Kapers all night! Probably the best $2 I've ever spent :)

Suspensions, sleeping, and hibernation...

Suspending (S1) and resuming Vista seems to agree with the FireWire Solo.

Does anyone even use S2?

Putting Vista to sleep (S3) and then waking it up does not agree with the FireWire Solo at all; lights blink continually, system shutdowns stall... It ain't pretty.

Allowing Vista to hibernate (S4) and then rousing it is a little more agreeable with the FireWire Solo, but the interface doesn't seem to want to produce any sound after that.

S1 it is for now, I guess...

More audio stuff...

In non-audio related happenings, I'm still prepping for some major server overhauling at work; currently deciding which disk cloning software to use to get a 12GB non-RAID partition from a SCSI drive onto a new 74GB SCSI RAID 1 array.

In audio-related happenings, I recently slapped together a budget recording rig for my friend's PC (Windows XP on a Celeron D, Creative Sound Blaster Live! Drive I, CoolEdit Pro)... Well, all he really needed was a decent dynamic mic and an XLR-to-1/4" cable, but he doesn't know too much about that kind of stuff so I helped him out.

Back on the FireWire Solo front, I noticed that Pro Tools (M-Powered 7.4cs3) was knocking the interface's sample rate from 96kHz down to 44.1kHz and locking it there... Vista supports 24-bit/96kHz just fine, so this was perplexing... Turns out it's a documented issue. I was able to work around it by re-enabling my motherboard's integrated audio (some C-Media CMI97xx, using Windows XP drivers) and setting it as the default audio device before I load Pro Tools. Annoying, but not too bad.

All of this audio tweaking and research (coupled with a little bit of scandal) has me thinking about the state of sound processors in today's PC realm. Is resource-sharing onboard audio finally good enough? If PCI slots start disappearing en masse, will PCI Express take over, or is an external interface the way to go? If things go external and PCI disappears, will FireWire controllers adapt or is resource-sharing USB good enough? Perhaps digital outs and external receivers will become the norm? Then again, with all those multi-core CPUs becoming commonplace, maybe they'll just take over the grunt work and onboard audio will become nothing more than a pass-through...