To Build a gaming PC or Buy one?

September 26, 2007 :: Posted by - Gnar :: Category - Gaming

            These two gaming systems are very similar in the main components but with the build system I chose to upgrade to a gigabit Ethernet card with the NPU on board to off load some of the networking cycles off the CPU. I choose WIN XP Professional on both machines since Vista is a ‘Hog’ when it comes to memory. The buy system from Alienware.com was a grand total of $2781.00 while the build system from NewEgg.com came in at $2541.35 with some nicer components over all I might add. The power supply is bigger and also the networking capabilities come in a lot beefier. The savings was a mere $239.65 but over all I tend to enjoy building my own systems so I know what is in them. Also there is $207.50 more in rebates from NewEgg.com that I would have to mail-in and wait for the savings. I could have also saved a bit more by ordering from several computer sites of the Pricewatch.com page but for ease of ordering from one place I just chose the NewEgg.com option for all the components. 

 BUY – ALIENWARE.COM Aurora™ 7500

Alienware P2 Chassis: Alienware® P2 Chassis with AlienIce™ 3.0 Video Cooling - Space Black
System Lighting: Alienware® Standard System Lighting - Astral Blue
High-Performance Liquid Cooling: Alienware® Standard System Cooling
Power Supply: Alienware® 700 Watt Multi-GPU Approved Power Supply
Graphics Processor: Single Graphics Processors - 768MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8800 GTX
Processor: AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 4600+ Processor w/ HyperTransport and Dual Core Technology
Memory: 2GB DDR2 Performance SDRAM at 800MHz - 2 x 1024MB
Motherboard: Alienware® Approved NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Motherboard
Operating System (Office software not included): Genuine Windows® XP Professional
Desktop Tuners and Remotes: Media Center upgrade options are not available with Windows XP Professional.
System Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s 7,200 RPM w/ 16MB Cache
Optical Drives : Dual Drive Configuration - Drive 1: 20X Dual-Layer DVD±RW
Drive 2:20X Dual-Layer DVD±RW w/ LightScribe
Enthusiast Essentials: Dual High Performance Gigabit Ethernet Ports
Sound Card: High-Definition 7.1 Performance Audio - Standard
Monitor: 24″ Dell 1920 x 1200 UltraSharp Widescreen Flat Panel
Speakers: Logitech® Z-5300e 5.1 280-Watt Speakers
Keyboard: Logitech® G15 Gaming Keyboard
Mouse : Logitech® G5 Laser Gaming Mouse
Warranty: 1-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support w/ Onsite Service
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mesh Cap
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mousepad
Alienware Extras: Internal Wire Management
Avatar: Alienhead 3D
Window Style: Silver Window Style
Mouse Pointers: Standard Mouse Pointers
Power Plan: Standard Power Plan

$2,781.00 

Razer. For Gamers. By Gamers.  

Click Here for Newegg.com Clearance Items.

BUILD – NEWEGG.COM

 LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model LH-20A1L-06 - Retail Item #: N82E16827106072Return Policy: Standard Return Policy            $75.98 2@($37.99 each)  

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail Item #: N82E16811129021Return Policy: Standard Return Policy            $129.99    Seagate Barracuda ES ST3250620NS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM Item #: N82E16822148155Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy            $79.99  

 SAMSUNG 245BW Black High Glossy 24″ 5ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor with Height Adjustment - Retail Item #: N82E16824001234Return Policy: [LCD] Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy            $499.99  

ECS AMD690GM-M2 AM2 AMD 690G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail Item #: N82E16813135049Return Policy: Standard Return Policy             $64.99   Bigfoot Networks K1(w/ FNA promo) 10/ 100/ 1000Mbps PCI Game Network Adapter - Retail Item #: N82E16833342002Return Policy: Standard Return Policy            $179.99  

 Leadtek WinFast PX8800 GTX TDH GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail Item #: N82E16814122017Return Policy: Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy             $529.99   Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail Item #: N82E16829102006Return Policy: Standard Return Policy             $79.99   Antec TPQ-850 ATX12V / EPS12V 850W Power Supply - Retail Item #: N82E16817371009Return Policy: Standard Return Policy            $219.00   Logitech THX Z-5300e 280 Watts RMS 5.1 Speaker - Retail Item #: N82E16836121121Return Policy: Standard Return Policy            $124.99

  Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard - Retail Item #: N82E16823126179  Return Policy: Standard Return Policy            $69.99   

Logitech G5 2-Tone 7 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB Laser Mouse - Retail Item #: N82E16826104076Return Policy: Standard Return Policy             $59.99   

GeIL Value Series 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory Model GX22GB6400PXK - Retail Item #: N82E16820144067Return Policy: Memory (Modules, USB) Return Policy             $139.99   

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+  Windsor 2.4GHz Socket AM2 Processor Model ADA4600CUBOX - Retail Item #: N82E16819103751Return Policy: Processors (CPUs) Return Policy             $96.50   

Is your computer running slow? Come to Newegg for your CPU upgrades.


Microsoft Windows XP Professional With SP2C - OEM Item #: N82E16832116400Return Policy: Software Return Policy            $139.99  

 COOLER MASTER AQUAGATE VIVA RL-M4A-E7E1-GP Liquid Cooling System - Retail Item #: N82E16835103017Return Policy: Standard Return Policy            $49.99

                                                                                    Subtotal:           $2,541.35

Not sure where to start? You can check out my Basic computer terms site here or here is an online guide written by another computer techie.

How The “Beginners Computer Tutorial” Can Help YOU Build A PC

 

Once You Know, You Newegg

Dungeon of Gnarnia—Tunnels and Trolls for dummies

September 23, 2007 :: Posted by - Gnar :: Category - Gaming

 

Can you handle the depths of the dungeon Gnarnia? Are your wits as sharp as your sword—Step into our fantasy world and immerse yourself in your quest fortune and fame. Or are you too weak to survive?

 

Description – This game concept in loosely modeled after the RPG rule set from the game Tunnels and Trolls. Way back in the early 80’s I was mesmerized by this games simplicity and ease of making solo adventures for this game. This is my best recreation of the events I remembered about the game. I will not be using the full rule set from the game but the majority of combat system and character generation will be used. In the prototype of this game I will only have one working class, the warrior class. Eventually we will add more levels and monsters as well as races and other classes that will allow the player to immerse himself into our fantasy world.

Dungeons’ of Gnarnia purpose is to show off my creativity to future employers and to entertain.

Dungeon of Gnarnia is set in the typical RPG/Real time dungeon.

Dungeon of Gnarnia will be modeled on the PC platform but eventually can be ported to XBOX, and PS3.

Target market is the stereotypical audience the coveted male market from the ages of 18-34.

ESRB for this game is at the very minimum TEEN, I would like to make an influence on this generation much the way the way I was mesmerized by gaming in the early stages of my life.

Dungeon of Gnarnia is single player in the early stages eventually I would like to expand it so more than one person can enjoy the game at the same time.

A few characters from our story include:

    1. Lord Gnar—This character is our DM or dungeon master. The players will interact with Gnar to get new quests and rewards. He is omnipresent all DM’s are aren’t they? He looks like a regular Joe but is you mess with him you are in for a world of hurt—He packs a mean punch and even meaner uppercut so to speak. Rule #1 in RPG’s especially table top type games never mess with the DM!
    2. Another, character from our Dungeon is the mean old troll, Her broad shoulders and green skin should tell you from a distance not to mess with her but that’s parts of the fun of the game right? Figuring out what you can and can’t get away with. Her breathe stinks of dwarfs. But maybe she is hiding an item or two under her bridge.
    3. The Crown, The crown is more of an item than a character but the crown has lore about it. This crown was forged from the fires of Dei by the master dwarf smith Haki.

Three different games on the market for our game include the famed Diablo from Blizzard. This is one of the first games in my eyes that defined Dungeon crawl and took it to a new level.

Another series that I loosely based some of my items in this game on are the Heroes on Might and magic series, this game had a lot of cool concepts for a turn based strategy series. Very cool heroes and different Item though out the game.

The last game I based some of my elements on are the board game Tunnels and Trolls—This RPG rule set was a much simpler model than the original D&D rules and seemed like it would be easier to incorporate into the GM platform.          

The advantages I have on all three of these games are mine is free to play right now.

Here are some screen shots from the game as you can see there are some typos and such this is my title screen.

TITLE 

Once you select a class you proceed to the random dice generator. Here you will be allowed to re-roll you character before you continue onto the dungeon.

DICE ROLLER

Once we have selected the die rolls we are happy with we will continue onto the dungeon screen. This is where all the fun begins.

And the last page the character progression screen.

CHARACTER SHEET 

Every good RPG must have a character sheet to track the progression of the player.

The rules for my game as I mentioned before are based loosely on the Tunnels and Troll RPG game from the early 80’s. The rule where quiet simple and where based on a series of die rolls after an event happen in the Adventure. This will allow me to control the game though scripts with pop up windows and having a fairly basic combat system. Right now this game is a single player game with the hopes of learning more multiplayer functions in the future on GM software. The target audience is Teens and young males.

            The approximate length of the game I am shooting for right now in 30 minutes. But hopefully once I get all the scripting set up it will be easy to adapt to more powerful levels and ad more content and quests. In the prototype phase you will win by killing the troll and returning some item to Lord Gnar. You will be given XP and progress in levels as you continue the game.

            Dungeon of Gnarnia—A 3rd person adventure aerial game that allows the player to interact with the game environment though quests and NPC’s. Most of these quests will be static in nature but I may add some dynamic content as I build on this game. The UI is labeled with names of what each button does as well as the sprites chosen for the related user interface buttons have relevance to the actions they provide for the player.

            Strategies in Dungeons of Gnarnia will include collecting items, resource management and exploration.

            Some game balance ideas may be level caps, limited resources that allow the played to gain XP.

Challenges will include puzzles, quests and items. Leveling in this game will be limited to a few levels just to allow the player the test of for what the future versions will incorporate into this game. Dungeon of Gnarnia is more based on random events than skill after all it is a RPG. The dice element will allow for some different outcomes with out having to load this game with content.

Conclusion—My game is based on T&T RPG rule set from the early 80’s in the few rooms I have created uniquely for my game I have come to realize that you truly can make a decent game with GM software it just takes time and patience and a lot of creativity. Future updates for this game will add more quests and monster types as well as items, eventually I have plans to learn the multiplayer functions on GM and expand this game to that realm as well and eventually I would like to try a MMO version of this game just to see how GM handles these features. Over all I am happy with the progress on my game so far and look forward to presenting a more polished version in class next week.

YoYoGames

Char

Dungeon of Gnarnia
Added: 02 October 2007
By: Gnummy

Net Neutrality and what it means to you!

September 13, 2007 :: Posted by - Gnar :: Category - Net Neutrality

        How Net Neutrality (NN) will affect the average Joe: NN will affect you by trying to restrict the amount of traffic and the destination to and from certain sites but allow full access to other sites without restrictions or tolls. Well in laymen’s terms just think of a Highway. Ok, now on this Highway—you can only drive on it if you own a Lexus; if you drive a Ford you are basically, charged exorbitant amount of fees and tolls for traveling the same road.

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