Hahahahaha! Ok, ok, I'll bite.

Hope you dont bite hard.....

I've always been a dinosaur, resisting new things, doing things the old way when everyone else is doing something else etc. A teenage dinosaur even.

Im in my 40's and im the same...... Ill be clinging onto my dumb phone and desktop pc for as long as possible......

I've always been a dinosaur, resisting new things, doing things the old way when everyone else is doing something else etc. A teenage dinosaur even.

Im in my 40's and im the same...... Ill be clinging onto my dumb phone and desktop pc for as long as possible......

I've been both embracing and resisting. Gaming is still a desktop thing for me. Never even owned a console and the few games I tried on phones and tablets were gone quickly. Just a bit of Steam Deck time now.

Wanted to play something this weekend, but didn't want to wear headphones due to the heat. Also didn't want to make my PC burn several hundred watts extra and add to the heat problem, so I tried the almost 25 year old Half-Life: Opposing Force. Of course I embraced the modern by editing the config file to make it render 3440x1440 ultrawide and with increased FOV. It's actually surprising that this ancient game just allows you to do that while so many modern games are a pain in that regard. Finished it last night and had a good time. Aside from a few frustrations due to floaty platforming, the gameplay still feels good. Maybe Blue Shift next and then see if I can get HL2VR to run properly on Linux now.

Last edited by Ehvis on 20 Jun 2023 at 11:50 am UTC

I tried the almost 25 year old Half-Life: Opposing Force

I really liked Opposing Force...... Thought it was a fantastic expansion pack.....

Maybe Blue Shift next

Blue Shift is really really short *insert Randy Pitchford penis joke*...... Was really disappointed with it..... Its not terrible but its nowhere near as good as Half Life and Opposing Force.......

Blue Shift is really really short

Yes, it is. But I still think that it has the right length. It's a plus if you think that a game is too short.


Opposing Force feels a bit too long. And some of the enemies are too bullet spongy.

It's actually surprising that this ancient game just allows you to do that while so many modern games are a pain in that regard.

(Almost) all Quake engine games (and derivatives) can do that.

When I was a kid, arcades were all pinball machines and back then they had clickety clack digit counters.

Electromechanical ones? I haven't gotten to see very many of those, sadly (some, but not many; Back when I played a couple of video games competitively in my early 30s, I'd see machines being brought to some conventions, though), though the excellent Zaccaria Pinball does replicate a bunch of the ones that were made by that company.

Asteroids though, that was a cool game. Here, it was a sit down table top screen. I got pissed off and smashed the glass on one though (I was a savage back then lol). The guy who ran the place (not the amusements co. that actually owned the machines) "didn't see" who did it :-)

Ohh man, haha!

When I started high school, they had one computer. They called it Ike, and it was the size of a small room, and was programmed with Hollerith interface cards. It was stupid. (and I remember people dropping their stacks of computer cards all over the place and spending their time putting them in order again rofl! No way was I taking THAT class)

Some older relatives of mine had to deal with those things in some workplaces, so I'm somewhat familiar with such mishaps - and the Centre for Computing History over here used to sell old punchcards in its online museum gift-shop.

I do like the name "Ike" for it, though. I'm fond of having naming-schemes for my own computers, so I love that sort of thing. Mine're all named after locations in video games, though.

My father's pharmacy switched over to using computers in the dispensary. My parents got one at home. I think it was DOS 3.0 back then. They had Word Perfect and I learned to use it to type resumes and stuff.

WordPerfect! That was bundled with my family's first x86/Windows box, so that was where I started to learn typing, too (I skipped the typewriter, though we did have one).

The mere mention of it reminds me of how good PC-shop software bundles were, for some reason. A product of their time for sure, but anybody else miss those?

I hated that stupid Windows, but it was a multi-OS network boot environment at that school and I could avoid it.

Ohhhhhh man, tell me about it... I couldn't avoid it, unfortunately, since x86 hardware only really caught on in UK homes around 1996, and I was forced to use it out of necessity for several years. From the very beginning, I found it to be a mess of bugs, crashes, and hugely unintuitive and inconsistent interface design, and that was the hallmark of all of my interactions with Windows from beginning to end.

When I first used Microsoft Windows 95, I wanted to print a tiled image onto a sheet of paper, so I created an image in Microsoft Paint, and looked for an option to print a tiled version - something that surely had to be easy on hardware and software that I'd been told were SO advanced compared to the Commodore 64 that I had moved over from.

The menus mostly weren't all that intuitive, but I soon found an option labelled "Set as wallpaper". Surely that had to be it, since that's a logical name to give to a setting that tiles your image for printing onto paper, and this was a program designed for use with the printer that the machine came with! I clicked it, but nothing happened. I waited a bit in case it was taking some time to process the option. Still nothing happened, so I clicked it again. Nothing. Perhaps it didn't show the result on-screen, and now all I had to do was print it? I chose to print the image, waited, and was left with a mostly-blank sheet of paper with the image that I wanted to tile just sitting in the middle, not tiled in any way. What a frustrating experience for the option to set an image as wallpaper to not print the image like wallpaper!

Annoyed, I closed Microsoft Paint, and found my image sitting in the middle of the desktop, much as it had been sitting in the middle of my sheet of paper. What?! The desktop, I'd been told, was a graphical element that was supposed to simulate an abstracted real-world desk on which one might have arranged their old computer and the physical media for the programs that they wanted to run, and so on. Nobody puts wallpaper on a desk! But people might regard a tiled pattern on a desk as a background, of sorts.

And that was how I learned that, in Microsoft Windows, desktop-backgrounds are unintuitively called "desktop wallpaper", and that the "Set as wallpaper" option in the included drawing software does not in fact pertain to printing a tiled image onto paper in the same fashion as wallpaper, but to setting a background on the desktop. When I moved away from it several years later I discovered that all other operating-systems just call these sorts of images what they are - desktop backgrounds. And that's much more intuitive. As for Microsoft Paint, to the best of my knowledge it never included an option to automatically tile an image for you, even though this is a logical use of a computerised drawing program - it expected you to tile the image manually, which is just as unintuitive as the notion of putting wallpaper on a desk!

I was bloody glad to leave it behind. Some years after that, having followed the SCO lawsuit and all that surrounded it, and no longer having to stick with Windows as had been the case before, I was already looking into switching to Linux because I'd never gotten on with Windows in the first place. Then awareness began to rise about the telemetry in Windows XP, and I noped out of there pretty quickly. Linux laptop support unfortunately wasn't quite there yet, so I took a detour over to Macintoshes at the time of Mac OS X 10.3 to wait it out (it was a pretty nice Unix-based consumer OS at the time, nothing like what it later became - it was lightweight and stayed out of my way, which is what I want out of an OS). I switched to Linux in 2007, in the end; The Asus Eee PC came along and showed me that laptop support was now where I wanted it to be, then I installed Kubuntu on a ThinkPad that I had at the time, before moving to Xubuntu a year later, which is what's worked best for me ever since.

You couldn't pry my old style scientific calculator from my stiff dead hands either, while other students were using those fancy pants programmable graphing calculators with equation-like input.

But can it run Doom?!

so he cared more about the fancy computer presentation than the actual content

ARGH! Not those types!

It consumed me. Soon, it was enough of all that other bollocks, computers now lol

I think that's been me ever since I first encountered a computer.

(oh yeah, I'm a Microsoft Certified Solitaire Engineer, by the way lol)

Haha, great name!

I had to learn to compile a kernel if I wanted my parallel port zip drive working.

I KNEW I wasn't the only one who bought into Zip Disks!

I've babbled too much here, but that's my computer story. I spend a lot of time playing games at night now :-)

Awesome stuff, seriously. I'm a biiiig fan of portables, so gaming-time is more-or-less any time I have one to hand, for me - and I intend to add a Steam Deck to the fleet at some point, too.

Ill be clinging onto my dumb phone and desktop pc for as long as possible......

It's turned out that I use so few of the "smart" features on modern phones, that I'll definitely be getting a dumbphone next time around. You can get them with cameras and WiFi hotspot capability* now, and that's really all that I need aside from calls/texts.

*I usually have my palmtop on me when I'm out anyway, so if I need to check something, I could just tether to the phone and use a proper Linux box to do it, which is what I prefer to do already anyway.

Yes, it is. But I still think that it has the right length. It's a plus if you think that a game is too short.

This is my preference too - I prefer more concise games that I can enjoy revisiting a number of times, over lengthier ones that run the risk of outstaying their welcome.

Last edited by Pengling on 21 Jun 2023 at 4:52 am UTC

It's turned out that I use so few of the "smart" features on modern phones, that I'll definitely be getting a dumbphone next time around. You can get them with cameras and WiFi hotspot capability* now, and that's really all that I need aside from calls/texts.

*I usually have my palmtop on me when I'm out anyway, so if I need to check something, I could just tether to the phone and use a proper Linux box to do it, which is what I prefer to do already anyway.

I have never had a smart phone and I dont ever want one......

There are a few people at work that complain they are contactable 24/7........ And when I suggest they leave their phones in another room or just go out somewhere without their phones..... They look at me like im some sort of alien.....

Meanwhile I hardly ever take my phone out this room...... Let alone take it out of the house...... If I miss a call or a text I just call or text back when im ready...... Just like the good old days......

...

THAT is what I like in pinball games, when they try to simulate real pinball tables. I had one in DOS that used VESA graphics and simulated a Bally "Mata Hari" machine. I used to play that, it was one of the early ones with electronic LED digits and they were everywhere. That wasn't my favourite table by any stretch, but I appreciated the authenticity of the game. The electronic table sucked just as much as the real one lol

I'm going to see about Zaccaria Pinball, that looks good. I have this stupid "Pinball FX3" that kind of goes off table, with 3D effects and stuff. I don't really like it. I bought a lot of tables for it too, but they are all variations of the same thing with different movie themes and stuff. It was a royal burn, presented as a "free to play" game, but they only gave you one trial table with a 2 minute time limit before it ended your match. Each table pack was about $10 and I ended up spending over 100 bucks on that "free to play" game because I kept chasing the tables, hoping for one I liked better. I've always been a spaz that way. I haven't even had it installed for years.

I liked my Zip drive, I used to bring it with me to take the files I was going to need when I'd go home for a week or something, and also to share files with other people. I had made a DOS bootdisk that loaded the SCSI miniport drivers I needed to access the ppt zip drive so I wouldn't have to install shit to their computer, just boot with the floppy and copy data. Back then 100 Mb was decent and if not, I could span an archive or something. The disks were expensive though, and they did wear out relatively quickly. Steve Gibson had a good program for analyzing, detecting faults and relocating sectors and the data on them, called Tip ("trouble in paradise" lol) specifically for zip drives.

As for computer names, I always use the hostname "getstuffed" for my main rig. It's a throw back from IRC days, when they could get your hostname through identd. Some servers I connected to required identd, so instead of using a client with a fake identd server, I just set it up and used no information I didn't want it sharing. So if they queried me, they could go and get stuffed :-)

Oh yeah, and I took the name Grogan from this newsgroup I used to frequent around 1994, alt.tasteless and it's been my pseudonym ever since. I'm not sure of the origins (Australia I think?) but a grogan is a pet name for a turd, usually a big one. Just thought we should clear that up, it's not really my name or emulating anyone. I take delight in explaining that heheh

I had (well, still have) an Acer Aspire One, which is the same Atom processor and chipset as the EE PC. Mine had a larger capacity battery though (6 cell). I haven't even charged it in a few years since COVID (stopped doing on-site service) but I used it mostly for configuring routers and networking gear in closets and stuff. I've got some *buntu distro on there now with a custom kernel for Atom, possibly Xubuntu but I can't remember. The network managers in those "silly distros" (what I collectively called such things back then) make switching network connections easy.

Finally, Smart Phones. I do have one, but it annoys. I have it for making emergency calls mostly, occasional SMS texts, and for a convenient device for quickly looking things up. (I use mobile Vivaldi for a browser since they ruined mobile Firefox, taking away everything I liked about it vs. other mobile browsers. Google OWNS their asses now). I keep a smart phone for 4 to 5 years, newer Android loads are NEVER better.

I've got the silly thing sitting right beside me, it's convenient for looking at walkthroughs if I get stuck in some silly Amnesia-like game or something.

Pinball FX3

We were talking about that last week.

Maybe Blue Shift next

Blue Shift is really really short *insert Randy Pitchford penis joke*...... Was really disappointed with it..... Its not terrible but its nowhere near as good as Half Life and Opposing Force.......

Accurate assessment. It's short and more importantly, it's easy. With the base game and HL:OF you rarely kept on to 100 health, but here that was almost trivial to manage. Still a few bits of info, so not a waste of time.

Pinball FX3

We were talking about that last week.

I would guess that you feel similarly about it :-)

I would guess that you feel similarly about it :-)

What I don't like about is that you have to scroll over all the unowned tables. Also the sequel with the re-buying tables situation (they claim that that they are forced to do it that way), the name reboot and the Epic deal. On the other hand even the two free tables are good. The sequel probably has one free table at the moment. I haven't gotten around to trying that since I've read that you have one day to try other tables as previews after starting the game – don't know if that's correct.

The alternatives don't look too good:

Pinball Arcade is basically dead since 2018 when they couldn't renew the license for most of the tables. Game seems abandoned.

Zaccaria Pinball is mostly abandoned at the moment (but there is promise of news in two months) since they are only making AtGames exclusive tables that they are not allowed to release on Steam. The game is still classified as EA, but no update is announced as has not been for some time. I've read about unfixed bugs, but don't know anything about the specifics.

Edit: Forgot to mention that the Zaccaria situation is made worse by the “will leave EA in 2019 Q1” statement.

Last edited by Klaas on 21 Jun 2023 at 9:57 pm UTC

The alternatives don't look so good... Zaccaria Pinball

It's a shame about that, then. I tested the free Zaccaria Pinball base game (one table, Time Machine) but could not get far enough to load a table.

My first try was the Linux version of course. It looked promising, the game loaded and I selected the free table and got a load screen, then it crashed out or otherwise aborted. Same spot, every time, so I'll assume that's b0rked at least for me.

I then switched it over to Proton and let it switch out the game and got further, it let me select the table but as I was poking around on the menu reading "Rules" it crashed and aborted.

The second try I didn't fool around, I went right to Play and the game froze as I chose the game mode (Simulator)

There was no third try, I'm not about to throw more good recreational time at this until or unless it gets a modern rebuild or something.

The simulated mode sounds just like what I want, in a pinball game. I was only testing the free, I'd have bought tables on the spot if it would have worked.

P.S. I should also say that I'm a bit past "bleeding edge" on my system, it's more like on the bloody edge. So it could be something like Mesa du jour for me.

Last edited by Grogan on 22 Jun 2023 at 2:05 am UTC

THAT is what I like in pinball games, when they try to simulate real pinball tables. I had one in DOS that used VESA graphics and simulated a Bally "Mata Hari" machine. I used to play that, it was one of the early ones with electronic LED digits and they were everywhere. That wasn't my favourite table by any stretch, but I appreciated the authenticity of the game. The electronic table sucked just as much as the real one lol

Honestly I like both approaches (I started off with 3D Pinball: Pinball Power for the Commodore 64), but it's always extra-special to see real tables faithfully replicated - so great to have them in your own home or on the road, but in a much more compact way*!

*I owned a JAMMA arcade cabinet once, and they're big, noisy, maintenance nightmares. After that, I never wanted to deal with the even greater hassle of having a real pinball machine around - though I certainly looked into it.

I have this stupid "Pinball FX3" that kind of goes off table, with 3D effects and stuff. I don't really like it. I bought a lot of tables for it too, but they are all variations of the same thing with different movie themes and stuff. It was a royal burn, presented as a "free to play" game, but they only gave you one trial table with a 2 minute time limit before it ended your match. Each table pack was about $10 and I ended up spending over 100 bucks on that "free to play" game because I kept chasing the tables, hoping for one I liked better. I've always been a spaz that way. I haven't even had it installed for years.

I like Pinball FX3 for what it is (or was, apparently, since it's being superseded now), but I went in knowing that it was never aiming for realism, which probably helped.

As for computer names, I always use the hostname "getstuffed" for my main rig. It's a throw back from IRC days, when they could get your hostname through identd. Some servers I connected to required identd, so instead of using a client with a fake identd server, I just set it up and used no information I didn't want it sharing. So if they queried me, they could go and get stuffed :-)

HAHAHAHAHA!

Oh yeah, and I took the name Grogan from this newsgroup I used to frequent around 1994, alt.tasteless and it's been my pseudonym ever since. I'm not sure of the origins (Australia I think?) but a grogan is a pet name for a turd, usually a big one. Just thought we should clear that up, it's not really my name or emulating anyone. I take delight in explaining that heheh

Oh, that is brilliant. My username comes from actor Benedict Cumberbatch's inability to say "penguin".

I had (well, still have) an Acer Aspire One, which is the same Atom processor and chipset as the EE PC. Mine had a larger capacity battery though (6 cell).

I got an Acer Aspire One for a knockdown price in a supermarket at one point (it ended up going to a relative, but I did set it up). Nice hardware, those.

I've said this in many news-threads, but I really do miss netbooks. Unfortunately, the idea of getting a Chromebook and then installing something else (which is very much workable and a good idea) just isn't quite as appealing to me as being able to just buy an affordable and capable little pre-installed x86 Linux box off-the-shelf.

Finally, Smart Phones. I do have one, but it annoys. I have it for making emergency calls mostly, occasional SMS texts, and for a convenient device for quickly looking things up. (I use mobile Vivaldi for a browser since they ruined mobile Firefox, taking away everything I liked about it vs. other mobile browsers. Google OWNS their asses now). I keep a smart phone for 4 to 5 years, newer Android loads are NEVER better.

I've got the silly thing sitting right beside me, it's convenient for looking at walkthroughs if I get stuck in some silly Amnesia-like game or something.

That's how it is with me, as well, though my previous smartphone (an LG one) lasted me a whopping NINE years, and I only moved on from it because the battery could no longer last even one day.

My current one is a Motorola and it's dreadful - very badly-built and designed from the ground up for forced obsolescence (first thing to go is the power-switch, which is clearly made out of Play-Doh; Got it fixed at a good local place who used a better replacement part, but I just don't see it lasting as long as my previous phone because the build-quality is clearly so much worse), and, alongside my findings that I just don't use any smart features anymore, has put me off of bothering in the future.

Zaccaria Pinball is mostly abandoned at the moment

so I'll assume that's b0rked at least for me.

Gragh, damnit - I didn't realise it had effectively been abandoned! Last time I used it, it was really rather good. Really sorry for the duff info there, guys!

Also the sequel with the re-buying tables situation (they claim that that they are forced to do it that way), the name reboot and the Epic deal.

Thanks SO much for the heads-up on this, by the way, Klaas! You saved me from re-buying the few tables I had for Pinball FX3 back before I moved on from the Nintendo Switch, and from picking up new ones. I'll cautiously wait and see what happens with the rebooted Pinball FX, now.

Thanks SO much for the heads-up on this, by the way, Klaas!

I did mention that last week, btw.

https://www.gamingonlinux.com/forum/topic/5699/post_id=38629

Edit: What I forgot to mention is that Zaccaria Pinball works out of the box on the SD. I would not write it off before the announcement in two months.

Last edited by Klaas on 22 Jun 2023 at 7:02 am UTC

I did mention that last week, btw.

Aye, I know; I just managed to forget to make a note of it - oops!

Edit: What I forgot to mention is that Zaccaria Pinball works out of the box on the SD. I would not write it off before the announcement in two months.

Ooh, it's still not out of the running yet? Interesting! Really hoping this turns out alright - I really like their tables.

Last edited by Pengling on 22 Jun 2023 at 8:47 am UTC