Quick Tip: Fallout 4 - Playing Making You Dizzy? Try adjusting the Field Of View [Tutorial with Explanation]

[Currently, this post is in Text-Only Mode, to speed up the ability to publish it. 
I may return to add some Screenshots and a Video/GIF 'tutorial' for it, sharing it on Twitter after that...Soon™]

I'm having a lot of fun playing Fallout 4 lately - but like many other people (if perusing game forums [forii?] is any indication), this game is one of a handful of games that can produce "Motion Sickness" for me - resulting in dizzyness or a sense of vertigo (a sense that 'the room is moving'). Although since playing Fallout 3 and Oblivion, I have gotten into the habit of changing the FOV (Field Of View) in Bethesda games when I play them, it's not just theirs that cause this issue for me, as it also occurs in many Shooters and Racing games, from Unreal Tournament to Flatout and other games.

Before I ramble on about the mechanics of it in Fallout and get into why this happens to some people in some games (it doesn't happen to everyone and not in all games), I'll give the Quick Tip of the steps on how to change the Field Of View, in Fallout 4:

• With the game running, hit Tilde ("~", the key usually to the left of the number "1" on QWERTY keyboards), which brings up the Command Console.
• Type "fov 90 90" (without the quotation marks) into the Console and hit Enter.
  You should see the Field Of View adjusted dynamically (updated right away in your view).
• Hit the Tilde key again, to close the Command Console.

That's it!

Adjust the FOV range as desired - if you need it to be 'less' (and more like the original FOV), or making it 'higher' (if you want more FOV to feel better for you personally, or more to be seen on the screen at once, on purpose (for Screenshots,etc)).

Happy New Year from The Game Tips And More Blog! [NewYears' Greetings 2017]

"Happy New Year 2017 Greetings"
by The Game Tips And More Blog
(Just Cause 3 capture, Highest Settings and FXAA, with Text and Effects added)


I personally wish you all much better things in 2017!


[To help celebrate the end of a crazy 2016 (for almost everybody, it seems) and the beginning of a hopefully-better 2017, this was simply a fireworks celebration captured in Just Cause 3 (Highest Settings, FXAA). I then added a 'crowd' overlay that had a bit of 'glitter' effects in it (used with License from CyberLink's PowerDirector 12) and put some Just Cause 3 - styled text  on top of it all (using a free font called "Dirty Old Town" which looked somewhat like the JC3 font and another one whose name escapes me at the moment). Lastly, I put a "Text FX" Overlay effect to show the year, an effect that was also in PowerDirector 12. As always, it was seemingly simple to think of, but took longer than expected to complete the composition (almost a day late for NewYear's, heh). 
HAPPY NEW YEAR ! ]


Game Material by Avalanche Game Studios (avalanchestudios.com) and Square Enix (square-enix.com)
Captured and Edited by Troy from The Game Tips And More Blog

A Few Things This Week In Gaming - Saturday, July 11th, 2015 [Some Gaming News Bits]

I've had a lot happen this week [including going to the Hospital!] and haven't been able to finish any of the many posts I am working on at the moment, but I wanted to quickly mention a couple little tidbits of Gaming that have either happened this Week or is going on this very Weekend...

• Trove is out of Beta and was fully Released just two days ago! I was in the Closed Beta after buying a 'starter/support pack' of in-game Credits and was enjoying the Open Beta off and on. Similar to games like Cubeworld, Minecraft or Lego Worlds, it's a fun little game with a large, explorable MMO world that has Monsters and Crafting and Building to do everywhere, with RPG elements ('levelling up' a character, classes to choose from with various abilities, etc). I am working on a First Impressions And Screenshots article for it [that I started in the Beta] and hope to get that done Soon™. Try it out at: http://www.trionworlds.com/trove/2015/07/09/trove-launch-the-adventure-begins/

• Marvel Heroes is having a major giveaway [which is more of a Sweepstakes, in my opinion, since it's not a simple 'here', you have to 'hunt' for it] where playing the game and finding Drops has a chance of winning you $5000 (there are only five prizes available). Check it out at: https://marvelheroes.com/news/news-articles/marvel-heroes-2015-25000-giveaway

• For those that played Battlefield Play4Free, just a reminder that this coming Tuesday is the Last Ever day for BFP4F. I've given away a couple of Play4Free Funds codes here at The Blog [that EA had given out] and also noticed that EA has lowered the 'Deal Again' price for The Daily Draw way down to 99 Funds - super cheap, if you're sitting on leftover Funds in that game. Get over there and get some new gear while you can at: http://battlefield.play4free.com/

• And of course, some Deals and Sales are going on at various companies/websites this Weekend. I sometimes post when some Sales are going on, but not all the time - and this weekend I can see Steam has some Deals going on and Good Old Games [now GOG.com] has a nice Weekend Deal that includes Series' of many games, like Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Thief and Hitman - ooh, I might pick up Urban Chaos for a buck-ninety-nine... See if you find anything you want here: http://www.gog.com/promo/weekend_promo_square_enix_100715

• Oh, I've uploaded a couple more videos at The Game Tips And More Blog's Plays.Tv page, including "Part 2" of a Minecraft Playthrough I call "To The End", where I play 'up to The End' area/stage in Minecraft, but not further - I don't want to 'spoil' the ending [as much as it is an 'ending'] for the game, but I'll play and record completely up to that point - creating a New World every version/update [something I started back in Beta, but lost most of the past videos for, unfortunately]. There are also some Battlefield: Hardline clips (a Tutorial and 'Living The Dream'), Hitman Series clips (some Glitches and Speedruns), a couple of Trove vids (with a short Tutorial one) and more. Check it out sometime, at: http://plays.tv/u/GameTipsAndMore

These are just a few things that are going on... but that's it for me, for now - See You In The Games!

MSI Afterburner and AMD Gaming Evolved (Powered by Raptr) - Working Together In A Tense Harmony [Tutorial Of A Workaround]

I have been using Raptr (the AMD-Sponsored version, called AMD Gaming Evolved) for a while off and on, more dedicatedly since December now and have been having a lot of fun with it. In this article, I'll show my 'Workaround' steps for getting MSI Afterburner and Raptr (G.E.) to work together. It's odd, but it's easy. Enjoy.

There are a bunch of reasons why gamers would want to run MSI Afterburner along with Raptr/GamingEvolved: the added Overclocking capability, Fan Control, Buffered Gameplay Recording, and more.

At first, I noticed that when trying to run MSI Afterburner, together with Raptr/GamingEvolved, they both just looked at each other and said, "Nuh-uh.." and walked away... sometimes taking the game with it. After looking it up online, it seems that many people have wanted this and had this problem. So, I took it upon myself to see if I could find a Solution (or at least a Workaround) for this odd interaction - and I did!

I share it with you now, my dear readers and fellow gamers, so that you can utilize the potential of these two programs together (and mention the steps for the workaround, in hopes that it will help the Developers of these useful applications possibly ease their mutual tension between them, in future updates, perhaps).

Short Version first (for the impatient or those that "just want to know c'mon", and those with ADHD - both parties of which I belong to myself), then a Long Version, explaining the steps further and possible reasons why this entire interaction may be occurring:

Short Version

• Run RAPTR_GE (set the Overlay for any corner but the Upper-Left)
• Run Game (wait a moment to let the Overlays for RAPTR_GE load, if Enabled)
• Run MSI_AB (which Defaults to using the Upper-Left for its Overlay)
• Sit With  Mouth Open For A Moment

Long Version

Here are the steps I found for getting Afterburner and Raptr working together in a tense harmony**, figured out after much testing of settings, and games, and reboots, and re-installations, and more...

Initially, I found it ran much better while running Bandicam (in the background, not 'doing anything' with it); but after updating all three programs and GPU drivers since beginning Testing, it seems that the extra step of running Bandicam (and having it just sit there) is not needed anymore. So, here are the 'New and Improved', simplified steps for getting these two useful programs to work together:

• Run AMD Gaming Evolved / Raptr and Login
• Make sure MSI Afterburner is not running
• Run your game
• Let AMD Gaming Evolved / Raptr load its Overlays
  (I suggest the Lower-Left corner (I used that for testing the below games), but eventually tried the Lower-Right as well, and I believe any will work, as long as it is not the Upper-Left corner [as MSI Afterburner uses that region for its Overlay by Default])
• Run MSI Afterburner and choose/have your settings for Fans, Overclocking, Gameplay Recording,etc
• Go back to your running game and let these programs detect the game and load up fully
  (you should see the MSI Afterburner overlay [by Default, in the Upper-Left] and the Raptr/GE overlay load in its corner you selected - and you should now be running Afterburner and Raptr together!

1. Note that some games can have MSI Afterburner running already (I have noted some below, in a list); but for the most part, it will result in either the GamingEvolved/Raptr GameDVR not loading, or the game simply crashing [at least, it did in my testing].
2. Note also, that you should try not to lose Focus of the game (ie. don't ALT+TAB out of the game or click outside of the window if in a Windowed Mode) or close any of the programs (eg. don't close MSI Afterburner and leave your game and Ratpr/GE running - it will likely crash the game [at least, it did in my tests]).

That's it!


Hopefully, you are now running MSI_AB and RAPTR_GE together, seeing the overlays for both and are able to have the benefits of both; Buffered Game Recording, Game Time Tracking, Fan Control, and even Overclocking.

Note: If running the RAPTR_GE recording buffer and the MSI_AB recording buffer at the same time, game performance will be affected - but it is possible if you wish to do so - I did it in my Testing.

Now, I am not a Programmer, nor am I a Developer for any of these programs or companies; so I am not 100% sure why this 'works'. It seems to be mainly a Workaround [to me], as it should not require running a multiple almost-competitor programs, with seemingly-close functions/overlays/etc all at once [and initially, Bandicam had to be running in Minimized mode]. The only reasoning I can find (in my superficial estimation), is that there are functions/calls that the programs are making that interfere with each other 'just enough' to make this all work together in a 'tense harmony'**. I say this because it does not work near as reliably, if you run MSI Afterburner first, the games first, or other variations of this.

[At least, it did not work those ways on my system, at the time of this writing and testing - I realize that every system configuration is different, and offers differing obstacles to these two programs working together. I feel it is an immense task as it is, to have each of these programs running one at a time on such a multitude of systems and difference of hardware that exists - my compliments go out to the Developers of both of these useful programs, regardless]

To try to be a little more specific, perhaps it is 'working' because there are functions/calls that these programs are doing, that are actually conflicting with each other - but they do so in such a fashion, that the end result is that they each stake out their territory and 'dont mess with each other' - each working in their own little Overlay or Recording areas, each performing their programmed functions, but with a sideways eye held in the direction of the other applications...

Regardless of how this Technomancy is working [remember it was even more 'odd' initially, with having to run Bandicam for some reason, at the same time], I tested it with multiple games now and it appears to be a repeatable process with reliable output (as long as you don't look at your computer too long in the eye region) - thus, I wanted to share it here with you all.

Games The Above Procedure Was Tested With: 

DNW = Did Not Work

AB = can have MSI_AB running already (before game is started)

22 = Error 22 was experienced (intermittently) 

• Minecraft

• Battlefield 4

• Battlefield: Hardline

• Planetside 2

• Just Cause 2

• World Of Warcraft

• Simcity (2013)

• Hitman: Absolution

• Zombies Monsters Robots

• Left 4 Dead

• Left 4 Dead 2 - AB

• Team Fortress 2 - AB

• Counter Strike: Global Offensive - AB

• TESV: Skyrim - AB

• Batman: Arkham City - AB, 22

• Tomb Raider (2013) - AB

• Torchlight - AB

• The Secret World - AB

• Need For Speed World - DNW

• Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 - DNW (reliably)

• Plants Vs Zombies (Steam and Origin) - DNW  

[Edit/Update: I did not initially test Hearthstone at the time of writing this post, but I have played it some since - and felt I must come back here and add that, in my experience with playing Hearthstone while running MSI Afterburner, there have been many occurrences of crashing, both of the game itself and the Blizzard Launcher [have been crashing]... Whether it is something at the moment with Blizzard's software, something with Afterburner, or something with Windows 10 (as I have recently Upgraded to it) I cannot say - but I wanted to make sure to let you know that if this is occurring with you (crashing when running Hearthstone and MSI Afterburner together) that It's Not Just You™]


By the way, if on your system, you just can't get these two to play nice together (but want to make sure and run at least Raptr/GE in order to track your gameplay or use the Optimizer, etc) - don't worry, you can do most of the functions MSI Afterburner offers with similar [also free] programs... If you purchased a video card from some companies recently, you may have gotten a disc with a similar utility on it.

For instance, EVGA has PrecisionX (you may have gotten no disc though and will have to go to their offical website). Club3D (new to North America, but they have been 'across the pond' for a couple of decades now) has RoyalFlush. Both of these examples offer Overclocking, Overvoltage and Fan Control (and PrecisionX offers Screenshot Capturing).

AMD Gaming Evolved (Raptr) of course offers both Screenshot Capturing and Buffered Recording of gameplay [Quality Tests of these GameDVR recordings, in future articles, Coming Soon™!]; but if you want the extra features that MSI Afterburner offers - and want these two programs running at the same time (for whatever reasons you may have) - I hope the above steps work for you. Enjoy... and See You In The Game!

[**Tense Harmony is the phrase I am utilizing in this article, because it is a tentative, fragile working condition: I found that if I ALT+TAB'd out of a game, it could cause this whole house of cards to come crashing down [the game could crash]. If I was running the game in a Windowed Mode, and I clicked outside of it for some reason (to look up something in the Intertubes, etc), it could cause the game to crash. Basically, any sneezing or farting of any type near the computer could cause this Workaround to asplode. Remember, that initiallyin Testing, trying to figure this all out, I had to run Bandicam as well, Minimized and 'not doing anything' - I mean, what the frell? I normally wouldn't even recommend, as a Former IT Professional, running multiple-different-and-for-the-most-part-competing [game recording] programs, each with their own functions and overlays... heck, I could have been called a heretic and forced to do Late-Night Tech Support, if I was still working, for suggesting to run multiple programs that all do the same thing for goodness'sakes, heh... Anyway, thus my phrasing utilized herein. No matter what though, I hope it works for you, as it did for me.]

Quick Tip: Playing Games That Use A Web Browser and The Cataclysmic Chrome Conundrum [Workaround]

Just a quick tip for those playing Browser-based games and other Online games which require a Web Browser to run or authenticate [such as recent Battlefield series games, or browser-based online game websites], where you've probably seen the message that Google's Chrome will no longer support NPAPI plugins - and are wondering what this means:


Without getting into the 1) nitty 2) gritty 3) details, the end result is that games which use a web browser (running a game inside it, or just using it to Authenticate and then Launch a game) will no longer be able to run in Chrome [hence the message being seen]. It actually involves programs that the browser uses to do these things and Support for these is being dropped by Chrome.

There is a workaround that you can do for the next few months, if you want to use Chrome to play/launch the games affected by this, which is fairly easy:

• Open Chrome and type or copy/paste this into the Address Bar:
  chrome://flags/#enable-npapi 
• Then simply click Enable, to allow these Plugins [for now]

That's it!

Here is an image by Google on what this looks like:

Alternatively, you could just use IE (Internet Explorer), which is most likely already installed (if you are using Windows). It will run all of these gaming functions perfectly.

[I have personally tested some online browser-based gaming sites, such as Pogo.com (which has Java games), and have launched games with it, such as Battlefield Play4Free and Battlefield: Hardline - I just copy/paste the URL from Chrome into the Address Bar for IE and then IE launches the games without any problem and without any configuration or adjusting of permissions or settings anywhere]

As long as you have Windows Updates on (which it usually has running by Default), it will automatically keep IE up to date, which makes sure it will have the latest Security Patches and Updates, so that you don't have to worry about anything unwanted happening with IE - especially if all you are doing is launching a game with it.

Remember, later this year, Chrome Version 45 will come out, and you will have to use something other than Chrome anyway [because this workaround may no longer...work]. It's up to you of course, I know there are people out there who "really hate IE" - and for those people I say: just use it to launch games for now, and noone will judge you /wink


See You In The Games!

TestRun, Quick 'End Of The World' Edition Answers: Does SLI Really Make A Difference? and Where Should I Put PhysX for NVIDIA Videocards? (Text-Only Version)

Update: Added more Tests and Results - Hitman: Absolution Benchmark, Unigine: Valley Benchmark, Left 4 Dead 2 Unscripted Gameplay Test, Tribes: Ascend Gameplay Test and Rollercoaster Tycoon 3: Platinum Gameplay Test

Recently becoming the proud owner of another NVIDIA card, I swapped out my trusty AMD/ATi Radeon HD 6870 from ASUS that has served me so well and lovingly joined together two GTX 560 Ti videocards in electric matrimony to try out some SLI. I share now my experiences, the results of many tests and answers to questions I have seen in many places online, including one I had myself.

This is also a 'Quick' Edition, a version of the testing and results that are text-only for now, where I may do a full version as time permits in the future, with screen recordings, graphs and other materials that I would like to share and would help people out.

The Experiment

For this TestRun, with two NVIDIA videocards, I try answer the question: "Does SLI really make a difference?" and also "Where to put PhysX?". Sure, the answer of 'if it makes a difference' is answered other places online, with pretty graphs and numbers; but I am one of those people that, although accepting, don't 'truly believe' things unless I can test it out myself. This is a human stubbornness I know, but it also helps me explore many things I would not have otherwise experienced and allows me to share those results and experiences with others. "Does it really double performance?" is probably a more specific question of what I'm feeling, as of course it should make a difference, after all I am putting another 384 processing cores towards throwing around colorful shapes on my screen. I want to know if it even 'doubles' the awesomeness of games that I play. There are two cards in there now, so what's the difference in performance?

Another aspect I plan to explore is regarding PhysX, NVIDIA's lovechild of bouncing balls and splattering sparks. Does it affect game performance? Which card should run it if I have it on? Is it better to run it on a dedicated card [that only uses it for that] or off of the CPU? These are my own questions as well since finding a second NVIDIA gpu on sale... PhysX is only in a hamfisted-handful of games - and is only going to be found on NVIDIA GPUs, but it is supposed to improve visual/perceived quality in the games that do use it, due to the fancy waving flags, shattering glass and splattering blood [and the like]. I am going to test the options of having it on the first or second SLI card and how PHysX runs off of the CPU, too.

The Test

For this TestRun, I used utilities such as FurMark and FluidMark, Unigine's Heaven Benchmark and a handful of games to benchmark and test with, such as Just Cause 2, Alien Vs. Predator, Lost Planet 2, Battlefield 3, Unreal Tournament 3 and Batman: Arkham City (all but the first two utilize PhysX). I am currently running an AMD 6-Core CPU and two GTX560Ti's in SLI mode on a GIGABYTE 990FXA chipset mainboard.
I assume this is still an average-to-above-average system at the time of this writing (perhaps upper midrange but definitely not top-of-the-line) and it would help out anyone with a similar rig in the future as well with examples of some of the performance difference they will see [if they add a second videocard].

The Data

Here are my benchmarking test results and average framerates, comparing SLI mode with a single GPU:

FurMark: Score (2127), Average Framerate (40fps)
FurMark: Score (3959), Average Framerate (65fps) SLI
Lost Planet 2 - Benchmark B: Average Framerate (44fps)
Lost Planet 2 - Benchmark B: Average Framerate (103fps) SLI
Just Cause 2: Concrete Jungle Benchmark, High Settings, Average Framerate (28fps)
Just Cause 2: Concrete Jungle Benchmark, High Settings, Average Framerate (51fps) SLI
Alien Vs. Predator: Benchmark Run, 1920x1200, x16 Filtering, Average Framerate (44fps)
Alien Vs. Predator: Benchmark Run, 1920x1200, x16 Filtering, Average Framerate (90fps) SLI
Unigine Heaven Benchmark: 1080p, x4x4 Filtering, Score (960), Average Framerate (38fps)
Unigine Heaven Benchmark: 1080p, x4x4 Filtering, Score (1717), Average Framerate (68fps) SLI

Unigine Valley Benchmark: 1080p, Ultra Settings, 8xMSAA - Score (1077), Average Framerate (26fps)

Unigine Valley Benchmark: 1080p, Ultra Settings, 8xMSAA - Score (1741), Average Framerate (42fps) SLI Hitman: Absolution Benchmark: 1080p, Ultra Settings, Average Framerate (32fps) Hitman: Absolution Benchmark: 1080p, Ultra Settings, Average Framerate (33fps) SLI (Hitman: Absolution does not appear to take advantage of SLI and/or is not Optimized for it, despite double-checking that SLI mode is enabled and trying to utilize NVIDIA's 'Custom Game Profile' for it, as well - the following two games also do not appear to take advantage of SLI mode) Tribes: Ascend - 1920x1080, Very High Settings, Average Framerate (51fps) Tribes: Ascend - 1920x1080, Very High Settings, Average Framerate (53fps) SLI Rollercoaster Tycoon 3: Platinum - 1600x900, 8xAA, Reflections and other (17fps) Rollercoaster Tycoon 3: Platinum - 1600x900, 8xAA, Reflections and other (19fps) SLI Here are some unscripted, raw gameplay framerates, averaged: (multiple samples taken of each with FRAPS' built-in benchmarking utility) Alien Vs. Predator: Marine Storyline, Average Framerate (47fps) Alien Vs. Predator: Marine Storyline, Average Framerate (89fps) SLI Battlefield 3 : Multiplayer with 64 Players, Average Framerate (33fps) Battlefield 3 : Multiplayer with 64 Players, Average Framerate (61fps) SLI Left 4 Dead 2 - 1920x1080, Very High Settings, 4xMSAA, 4xAF, Extra Film Grain (128fps) Left 4 Dead 2 - 1920x1080, Very High Settings, 4xMSAA, 4xAF, Extra Film Grain (185fps) SLI *Planetside 2 : Multiplayer with many players, BioLab, Average Framerate (36fps) *Planetside 2 : Multiplayer with many players, BioLab, Average Framerate (37fps) SLI [*Game does not appear to be fully optimized currently, article with more detail here: http://gametipsandmore.blogspot.ca/2012/11/planetside-2-and-ultra-settings-quality.html) Here are the PhysX tests, done with FluidMark: FluidMark: Score (5338) single-card mode, PhysX on the card, Average Framerate (87fps) FluidMark: Score (5449) SLI, PhysX set to (GPU1), Average Framerate (89fps) FluidMark: Score (7512) SLI, PhysX auto-selected (GPU2), Average Framerate (123fps) FluidMark: Score (7379) SLI, PhysX set on (GPU2) Dedicated, Average Framerate (121fps) FluidMark: Score (1291) SLI, PhysX set on (CPU), Average Framerate (21fps) The Conclusion So, does putting in a second videocard practically 'double' your gaming performance? Dang right it does. Now, I have read that it 'should' in many other articles online, but again, I had to test it out for myself. Almost across the board, in every game I threw at it, the performance was almost doubled. Wonderful stuff. For those about to spend money on a second GPU for SLI because now they know it 'will definitely make a difference', I should mention as a Tip here that the more cards you add in (for 3-way or 4x SLI or Crossfire, for instance) the lower the rate-of-return you actually get on the investment. In other words, adding a third card won't 'double the performance again' and adding a fourth card won't 'double that performance yet again' -  it won't even give you 300% and 400% performance [for the third and fourth videocards added]. You will actually see diminishing returns as you add more cards. Still, if you have enough money for only a second GPU that matches your 'old' one, but not enough money to splurge on a new, faster one, clearly SLI/Crossfire is the way to go, it really does make a huge difference. The PhysX tests are interesting, as they answer a question that I myself was wondering: does it matter whether you set PhysX on GPU1, GPU2 or the CPU, and should a GPU be dedicated to it? It seems to make sense, that although a powerful, complex 6-core processor, my CPU is nowhere near the raw number-crunching [if 'simpler'] streamlined data-geyser that the 384-core video card is. The difference can be clearly seen in the results. On the CPU, PhysX calculations [alone/isolated] gave a 23fps output of gushing blood on the screen, while even just one videocard running PhysX by itself put out 87fps of crimson data. Adding another card and telling that GPU instead [of utilizing the first card] to 'calculate the physics if you please' took the framerate up to over 120fps. Clearly, NVIDIA is showing that the videocards were made to handle the floating leaves, sparks and bouncing balls of PhysX ...and ball handle they did. What is interesting is the difference that was made, depending on which card you chose to handle PhysX. When the PhysX was set to GPU2 (the card not plugged directly into the monitor in my case), the highest score was achieved. When the PhysX was set to GPU1 (the card plugged directly into the monitor), it scored almost exactly the same as if there was no second card in the system at all. Now, the utility (FluidMark) does test 'only' PhysX and there isn't much to see on the screen other than some bouncing baubles, but it seems to show that if you put PhysX on the same card that you are using as your display card (that your monitor plugs into), then it might in fact affect performance of that card to display the pretty images on your screen slightly - or at least, to 'deal with PhysX and show pretty colors on your screen' at the same time. Either way, they are both better than utilizing the CPU, as the pitiful performance when on the CPU (at least for 'mainly PhysX only' calculations) is over 500% slower than the performance seen when PhysX calculations are put on the second video card, and still calculated at over 400% slower compared to when PhysX is put on the first video card in an SLI setup. Clearly it is better to have PhysX calculations done on a GPU - and perhaps not put it on the main display card if you can. Testing the ramification of this in actual gameplay, I played some Unreal Tournament 3 and Batman: Arkham City, while juggling the PhysX of both games to be calculated on the CPU, GPU2 and GPU1 (the main display card where the monitor is plugged in). Using FRAPS for collecting benchmark data in Average Frames Per Second, I saw no more than a few frames difference between all modes. That is, playing with PhysX set to GPU2, PhysX set on GPU1 or putting the PhysX onto the CPU, I saw only a few frames of difference in actual gameplay performance. Mind you, it can be argued that I didn't see as many sparks, blood, snow or leaves float across my screen at times; but overall, if you are concerned with only "the game performance ramifications" of where to put PhysX, The Answer Is: playing a game, it doesn't really matter (but the CPU calculates PhysX slower than putting it on any card, as seen in the data). Overall, if you can't afford that fast, newly-released videocard you want, but you can afford to get another GPU of the same type as the one you have now - and your motherboard and powersupply can support it - it's totally worth it to get a second videocard for SLI/Crossfire performance (and if you're going the NVIDIA route, it doesn't really matter where you put PhysX). Have fun upgrading and See You In The Games If The World Doesn't End Soon!

Diablo 2 - Ladder Reset October 2011 - with Wallpapers and Screenshots

For those of you still playing Diablo2 off and on, a new season of Ladder starts next week! I actually didn't even see the March Season. I haven't played for a while and felt like some D2 goodness, installed it, and lookee here, a reset is-a-comin'.

I didn't make this Motivator, but I wholeheartedly agree

Every ladder reset I am both excited and saddened. All my previous efforts for Ladder-Only Runewords are for naught (if I didn't get to them) and now all my Uber Characters are relegated to General Population. I know, I could never survive emotionally if I played Hardcore...I couldn't stand putting in all the effort and excitement to have it all washed away one night in the rain..as the dark blood of my druid pools among the cool grass of the night.. ah well - a chance to make another character - or at least that's I would tell myself!

At one time, I had about 40 'accounts' going [on my own key], some for my own personal use/playing, some for trading (so they couldn't bug my 'regular' characters for items if I didn't trade something they wanted), some for runes and gems (mmm Perfects), some for all the Uniques, a sets collection (of course) and some temp account just to have sitting in a game on the other system, so that I could 'pop in' and drop the treasures of Diablo/Baal/Blood Runz and get right back into the next numbered game without missing a beat and losing track of a nice 8-player crowd that was burning through the levels. Good times.

These characters used to hold tons of gear from Runz, temporarily. Now they hold Off-Ladder Fodder. Time to make new!

Diablo2 is one of those games, for me, where if someone asked me "What is your favorite character?", I wouldn't be able to give one that stands out beyond the rest. I love them all. Most games, like most people I assume, I have a preference for what I want to play, generally. In Battlefield games I play Medic, in MMORPGs I tend to play ranged classes (hunter, mage), but for D2 I don't really have one class that I 'mostly play'. I play all of them and rotate as the feeling for the type of game I want to play changes. Do I want to melee and feel powerful? A Barb or Pally or Bear Druid can handle that. Do I want to stand back and let my minions fight, while I command them and heal and control the mobs? A Summoner Druid or Necro is what I'll load up. In any case, there's always a class and game to have fun with, no matter what mood I'm in, and that's one of the great things about Diablo2.

My Boner Necro vs. WSK Fetishes
[Great now this post may be auto-flagged as "Adult" for that last term... no?]

I was going to call this a Game Tip, as I suggest how to play something, but I think I'll just share this, as everyone plays different and there aren't too many combinations of 'styles' that are so different that one stands out far beyond the rest, in D2. It is how I play a Hammerdin (a Paladin with Blessed Hammers as the main attack, for the newbies). This is short and only one encounter [looped], but it shows the general controls that I use and I'm sure there will be players that match it or have better ideas, out there.

[This Flash Animation appears to no longer work here, sorry. 

I will update with a different animation or create a video, Soon™]

This is one engagement of a small mob with my Merc and here's the steps I take and controls I use:

• Running along with Vigor aura (looking for trouble or getting to where I want to go), I have my auras (passive skills, right side) mapped to the mouse wheel, so I can just spin it to what I want. Blessed Hammers is selected as my Main Attack (active skills, left side) so that it is cast automatically, as below
• Encounter! Switch to Concentration aura (spin the mouse wheel one notch and begin combat sequence). Begin casting Blessed Hammers by: Mouse is held down and pointing to where I want to go, pally is moving in that direction. Tap SHIFT to stop on the spot and cast some Hammers. Drag mouse around in the direction I want to walk in (away from the mobs, towards my Merc if possible) and intermittently tap SHIFT to throw some more Hammies into the sky. Hopefully, mobs get pulled into hammers as I lead them on [not in that way] and towards my merc just in case I need him to take them over. Moving in this manner, casting Hammers off and on, assures that they will hit at least some of the time, as opposed to a mob getting into a nice safe spot in the gap in their trajectories and not getting hit at all. (Yes, there is a 'sweet spot' for hammerin but I prefer this method as it controls the mobs to go where I want, as well)
• When monsters are dead, spin the mouse to Redemption aura to redeem nearby corpses as Health and Mana. Walk away Like A Boss with full health and mana globes. Spin mouse wheel to Vigor aura. Rinse And Repeat.

That's about it, at least how I play, and for a Hammerdin. You can still get into tough spots but you can pretty much wade around Hell without too much trouble as long as you have some resists and keep your Holy Shield up. It's not my favorite class or spec, but it's nice to MF with. I prefer Necromancer, Druid or Assassin, if I was forced to pick a 'Top 3'. I just find their playstyle interesting, more than their abilities being over the top above all the others.

And Now... Some Wallpapers!

(Screenshots to follow)

And Now... Some Screenshots!

Poisonmancer vs Hell Andariel

Not my screenshot, but a good example of what sometimes happens on Battle.Net

Just going through my gear, another example of what sometimes happens on BattleNet
I wish there were more advertisements, sometimes I see way too much of my screen
[I am not affiliated with, in any degree, the website captured in this screenshot]

Hopefully this won't happen to you

This was my Low Rune Holder in the last ladder I played in.

On my Gem Holder, I traded some Perfects for an Occy. Woot!

I've sort of giving away something here, but I made this Tip site to help you guys out after all, so here: On some Boss Runz, ones that seem to be led.. 'automatically' lets say.. the runner sometimes sells things and doesn't realize that his pockets are already full. Hence, the dropped money. If you can stick with a runner like this (being the only one along on the runs is perfect) you can almost refill your bank by the end of the night.

Following another 'automatic' runner, this one does Countess Runz as part of it's travels [and it didn't seem to care about these Runes - good!]

My Summoner Necro Build (Skill Tree and Stats), last ladder on Battle.Net

My Summoner Necro walking through Hell Durance on BattleNet. "Full Contact. No Protection. No Problem".

Oops, some of the crowd was a little too young that night. Sorry, Parents.

Diablo 2 Normal Credits Background

Diablo 2 Expansion Credits Background

You are now aware that these statues look at you
[they turn their heads in the game to face you at all times]

 
Looking forward to gettin' into some more Diab next week! See you in there!