Did I Win?

First, a short story: A few years ago I was dining at a restaurant and I ordered a special salad. When I received it, I found out that one of the more ‘exotic’ ingredients (listed in the menu) was missing. When I asked the waiter why the salad was missing that ingredient, he told me that they were out of it. ‘Why didn’t you tell me that when I ordered?’ I asked. In reply I was told something that until today I keep encountering at many of the services in my country: ‘We did not think you would notice’.

This story is only a sample of the many times I have encountered this phenomena in a wide range of services. From restaurants to electronic stores, many of them first assume that the client is an idiot who doesn’t really know what he wants. It’s only when the client finds the service faulty that the service ‘patches up’ the problem. Sometimes people call this the ‘successful’ method, which means that the service provider attempts to bill the customer for something that they did not provide for extra money, and if the client picks up on it, only then the service provider removes the bogus item from the bill.

Today I once again dodged the ‘successful’ method. Long story short: My PSU was faulty, I handed it over for repairs, after which I had received a ‘new’ PSU. After that running complex applications (games, mostly) made my PC crash, which was horrific, because it was difficult for me to pinpoint the problem, especially since the PSU I had received was brand ‘new’.

It took me a few days to come up with a test to make it certain that the problem was either the PSU or my Motherboard. Given that the PSU was just replaced, the odds of the problem lying else ware were small. So today, after wasting days trying to figure out the cause of the problem (with the tests to back it up) , I returned to the store and once again requested that my PSU be replaced. The lab guy first checked the PSU with his equipment asserting that it is perfectly functional. Doubts formed and grew in my mind, but I have not given up yet. I have elaborated about my agonizing journey for recreating the problem and finding the cause. Luckily for me, the lab guy listened and called the importing company. After a long conversation he finally came up to me and told me that I was right. They have sent me a PSU that was returned by another customer because of the exact same problem and was tagged as ‘new’. I could see how the lab guy felt bad about it, even though it wasn’t his or the store’s fault. The importing company had decided to send this to another customer in the hopes that the customer is stupid enough to order a powerful PSU without the hardware to fully utilize it. Were I just surfing the web and reading my mail I might have never find out that the PSU is faulty.

So now I am to receive a new PSU. Even if everything turns out OK and my computer will run flawlessly for another year or two… what next? What if another hardware component fails? Would I have to go through this cat and mouse ordeal again? Did I win?

2D or not 2D?

I find it rather astounding how some of the old styles of gaming are still appealing t me (and apparently others) even after all these years. I guess that even after games have developed to the level of sophistication they are at now, sometimes what we want is something fast and colorful. That's where indie games usually come in.

Yesterday I have bumped (on Gamasutra) onto the game Ivory Springs, which is an unfinished game. However, what little there is can be downloaded freely and is quite lovely. It's an old-style 2D platformer with anime style characters. The graphics are colorful, vibrant and pleasing to the eye. The gameplay is fast and simple, with a few easy platforming puzzles and fast-paced battles. Too bad the project was discontinued, but if you have some spare time, give it a try, its small to download (about 4MB) and is easy on the resources.



Will I ever get tired of anime style?

You can get it here:
http://www.konjak.org/section.php?section=ivory

Another fun platformer which I knew for some time is Knytt Stories. It is an atmospheric game with emphasis on exploration rather than puzzling or fighting. There are several 'quests' that were released by the author of the game, as well as several other quests released by the community. I especially enjoyed the music in the game, which is a relaxing blend of guitar and some new-age music, which sets the atmosphere in a very nice way. The graphics are simple, but convey exactly what I think the game is all about: mood.



The environments are relaxing and beautiful in their own way.

You can get it here:
http://nifflas.ni2.se/index.php?main=02Knytt_Stories

Both games are simple, compact and easy to play. If you have some extra time, you should give them a try. Maybe the influence of nostaligia talking, but I believe that it doesn't matter how old this style of gameplay is - these games are enjoyable.

Game-less weekend

My PSU (Power Supply Unit) is dying. It was in repair and was returned to me as busted as it was when I handed it in. Warranty in my country doesn’t mean shit and it shows every single time. Now I’m stuck until next week to be able to use my PC for anything other than surfing.  I cannot fully convey the frustration to be completely powerless (pun definitely intended) to do anything for a few days before the holiday and weekend are over, while bottling the rage induced by the knowledge that I was scammed again. Will there never be a PC retailer that doesn’t try to scam you every single time?

Team Fortress 2 Updated Again

Oh, Valve, the amount of fun I get from just a single product…

Another update for the beloved Team Fortress 2 game, this time both the Spy and the Sniper got an update, which includes new weapons, achievements and voice lines for both the classes.

As usual, Valve had delivered the update after a week of funny mock articles and advertises on the update site, giving the fans a lot of laughs and mystery as the Spy update snuck up on the Sniper update and stabbed it (and the Sniper) in the back. Good times. As usual, Valve included a new animated short, presenting the Spy in an entertaining manner.

Meet the Spy!

I still find it quite amazing how much attention Valve is willing to put into each of their games years after they have been released. I am not deluding myself to think that a company does that simply out of the goodness of their hearts, but it is quite rare to find such quality products with so much attention to details in today’s gaming market.

Video Shames

Sorry for not posting for a while, been busy with work, you know how it is.

Anyway, today I was at a computer graphics mini-conference-gathering of some sorts with a few lectures and yes, there was cake, so it wasn’t a lie this time. Some of the talks were interesting, some less, but it was a very short affair that went by fast and mostly painless.

I was happy to see that a few lectures were targeted at video games. One lecture in particular that got my attention was about an algorithm for deforming 3D models in a smart and symmetrical way, such that you could create dozens of different models by deforming a single model, such as furniture. The team even provided an easy interface, so creating tons of different models for a video game scene seems to be very easy with the framework they provided.

The thing is, not once did the speaker mention that their algorithm was targeted at creating video games. It was only after he was asked about possible applications that he said that the main focus of his paper was about creating models for video games and the like. He further exclaimed that the models could not be used for anything other than virtualization, given that the algorithm is not accurate enough to allow for physical reconstruction of the models by 3D printers or similar methods.

So basically I am asking: Why not to officially target your work at video games? I would think that a billions-of-dollars industry is something that should be taken more seriously by the academia, even if some backwards places still consider video games as children’s toys.

In any case, I had a good time at the conference and I believe there’s a thing or two that stuck with me.