Category Archives: computer games

MangoHud

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A Vulkan and OpenGL overlay for monitoring FPS, temperatures, CPU/GPU load and more.

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vram
ram
swap
gpu_temp
cpu_temp
gpu_power
cpu_power

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— Me@2023-03-07 09:14:51 AM

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2023.03.07 Tuesday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK

FF7R

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Crucial MX500 1TB 3D NAND SATA SSD

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Final Fantasy 7 Remake Steam version testing result:

1. With GTX 1050 Ti as the GPU, the bottleneck is the GPU, not the CPU, even though my CPU itself was weak.

2. However, once the GPU got upgraded, the CPU became the bottleneck.

The following settings can make the game smoother:

3. Set the Texture to Low. However, I do not recommend that.

4. Set the Shadow to Low.

5. Set the number of background people to be zero.

6. Set the resolution to 720p.

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The following are the less obvious steps to release some CPU pressure:

7. Turn Steam into offline mode.

8. Turn off as many as other programs as possible.

9. In the controller setting, change the controller from the default “XInput” to “XBox 360“. However, I do not recommend that because that would disable the game’s rumble function.

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After these settings, the game should be able to load Cloud’s headache memory cinematic scenes.

— Me@2023-01-11 12:39:59 AM

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10. If not, start to repeat pressing the pause button every one second when a scene starts to load.

— Me@2023.01.23 05:17:38 PM

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2023.01.24 Tuesday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK

Factorio

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Factorio is a construction and management simulation game developed by the Czech studio Wube Software.

— Wikipedia on Factorio

— Me@2016-03-13 07:43:04 AM

— Me@2023-01-10 09:28:18 AM

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2023.01.10 Tuesday ACHK

Final Fantasy X

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深淵 4

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Shortly before arriving, Tidus learns that he, Jecht, and the Zanarkand they hail from are summoned entities akin to aeons based on the original Zanarkand and its people. Long ago, the original Zanarkand battled Bevelle in a machina war, in which the former was defeated. Zanarkand’s survivors became “fayth” so that they could use their memories of Zanarkand to create a new city in their image, removed from the reality of Spira. Once they reach Zanarkand, Yunalesca—the first summoner to defeat Sin and unsent ever since—tells the group that the Final Aeon is created from the fayth of one close to the summoner. After defeating Sin, the Final Aeon kills the summoner and transforms into a new Sin, which has caused its cycle of rebirth to continue. The group decides against using the Final Aeon, due to the futile sacrifices it carries and the fact that Sin would still be reborn. Yunalesca tries to kill Tidus’ group, but she is defeated and vanishes, ending hope of ever attaining the Final Aeon.

— Wikipedia on Final Fantasy X

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2022.02.04 Friday ACHK

Fall of Cybertron

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Transformers: Fall of Cybertron is a third-person shooter video game based on the Transformers franchise, developed by High Moon Studios and published by Activision. It is the sequel to the 2010 video game Transformers: War for Cybertron, and directly follows the events of that game, as the Autobots struggle to defeat their Decepticon foes in a civil war for their home planet of Cybertron.

The game tells the story of the Transformers, fictional robotic life forms, and the final days of conflict on their home planet of Cybertron. An origins subplot for the Dinobots is also told, reimagined from the Transformers: Generation 1 continuity. Other subplots also tell an adapted story for several characters. Some of the voice cast from the 1984 series The Transformers return to reprise their roles, including Peter Cullen as Autobot leader Optimus Prime and Gregg Berger as Grimlock. Other actors return to reprise their roles from Transformers: War for Cybertron.

— Wikipedia on Transformers: Fall of Cybertron

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2022.01.12 Wednesday ACHK

一萬個小時 2.4

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機遇創生論 1.6.6 | 十年 3.4

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通用的極致，就是專業。而通用發展成極致的方法，有很多種。每種極致，就自成一門專業。通用是樹幹；專業是樹支。一支樹支的強壯與否，並不能保證，另一支樹支的健康。

那是否就代表，學生時代以後，就毋須再發展，通用知識或通用技能呢？

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學生時代以後，工作時代中，仍然需要發展，通用知識或通用技能，從而維持自己的智能和體能，以防退化。例如，剛才所講的智力遊戲，我認為可以，避免老人家的腦部退化。

我那樣認為，是因為我看過一些老人家的訪問。有一位九十歲的女仕說，她透過玩手提遊戲機，保持頭腦的清醒靈活。

即使還未老年，只是步入中年，也應該多加留意，智能或體能上的退化。玩適當類型的電腦遊戲，可以保持反應的靈敏。什麼類型呢？

電腦遊戲有很多類型，主要有「建構」、「解謎」和「戰鬥任務」三種。「戰鬥任務」就可用來鍛鍊反應。那些遊戲會放你於，危險和緊急的處境。你當時必須有，敏捷和精準的身手，才可以完成任務，然後脫險。換句話說，那些遊戲亦同時訓練你，控制自己的心理，駕馭自己的恐懼。

同理，雖然一般的運動本身，例如掌上壓，並沒有什麼所謂的「用途」，但是，你正正需要這些「無用」的運動，去維持體能。

無論是體能和智能，如果沒有強大而穩定的主幹，就不會有健康的分支和茂盛的樹葉。

— Me@2020-11-16 04:55:18 PM

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2020.11.20 Friday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK

Tenet

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Christopher Nolan, 2 | 時空幻境 4 | Braid 4

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1998 Following
2000 Memento
2002 Insomnia
2005 Batman Begins
2006 The Prestige
2008 The Dark Knight

2010 Inception
2012 The Dark Knight Rises
2014 Interstellar
2017 Dunkirk
2020 Tenet

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香港譯名：

1998 《Following》

2000 《凶心人》

取「空心人」同音。「心」，是指「記憶」。所以，電影譯名的意思是，沒有記憶的人。

2002 《白夜追兇》

2005 《俠影之謎》

2006 《死亡魔法》

此電影的主題為魔術，所以導演把電影本身，化成一個魔術。

2008 《黑夜之神》

2010 《潛行凶間》

此電影的主題為夢境，所以導演把電影本身，化成一個夢境。

2012 《夜神起義》

2014 《星際啓示錄》

「啓示」，即是「來自未來的訊息」。

2017 《鄧寇克大行動》

2020 《天能》

A lot of Nolan’s movies are about some kinds of time travel.

For those movies, each has a unique time logic. Each is like a stage of the computer game Braid.

In Braid, there are 6 stages. Each stage has a unique time mechanics.

— Me@2020-09-20 10:36:54 AM

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2020.09.25 Friday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK

太極滅世戰 2.1

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似水流年 2.2

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還記得童年時不太開心，好像沒有太多事情，令我快樂。換句話說，即是過得沉悶。一方面喜歡讀書，另一方面卻緊張成績，終日惶恐。

近乎唯一娛樂就是看電視。那時，我還沒有電腦，更加沒有互聯網。那時，沒有什麼金錢買玩具。就算有新玩具，我有時會想：「怎麼辦呢？ 很快又會厭倦。」

中二開始，發覺對數學幾有興趣。

中途又有些所謂的嗜好，例如集郵，其實沒有意義。相對沒有那麼無聊的，有電腦遊戲。我的摯愛有 Simcity 2000 和 Chrono Trigger 等。但那也只是暫時的快樂，仍未能為我生活，帶來意義；遊戲完結時，感到額外的空虛。

中四上物理時，不知何故，精神上，有一點清涼暢快的感覺。那就代表著，疑似喜歡物理。但是，不知何故，幾乎凡是需要物理思考的題目，我都不懂得做。

一九九六年，逛書店時，看到有一本書叫《時間簡史》。我同學說：「這書（內容）就是你最喜愛的那些東西。」那時，我尚未有觸動心靈的感覺，所以不以為意，沒有購買。

那年暑假，看了香港太空館天象廳的《輪椅中的宇宙》，十分震撼。我大概記得，那是我自己一個去看，沒有朋友一起。

dsc025651

從紀錄片中，我認識了霍金，知道了《時間簡史》的來源。不久之後，我買了《時間簡史》，企圖一口氣讀完它。過程中，我有惶恐不安的感覺。原因不是書中內容，而是我沒有閱讀的習慣。換句話說，《時間簡史》令我開始了，培養閱讀的習慣。

《輪椅中的宇宙》和《時間簡史》令我發現，我的人生目標是物理。

但是，我自中三開始，那些物理題目，真是不太懂做呀。空有目標，沒有執行之道。

其實，我那時沒有也辦法，因為，我日校物理教師，講物理講得十分有趣，而我又有留心聽講。如果在這個情況下，我仍然不懂的話，那大概是我的智力問題。

幸好，後來發現，那不是事實。至起碼，中五會考物理，並不需要高智力，也可以奪得 A 級成績。十多年後，在自己有足夠的讀書和教學經驗後，我發現，我當年不懂做題目，主因是日校物理教師，只談理論，不會教題目細節。甚至，有些課題，例如電學，連他自己也根本不太認識。

一九九六年的那個暑假，我開始參加 Ken Chan 的物理補習班，開始一步一步的，解決了「空有目標，沒有執行之道」這問題。

有了「做物理學家」這長遠目標後，我感到人生不再一樣，雖然，我讀書的日常生活，仍然十分混亂，

— Me@2020-07-27 07:33:45 AM

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2020.08.03 Monday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK

Simcity, 2

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d_2019_12_29__15_35_29_PM_

I bought this SimCity 2000 box in 1995. It was the first time I went to a big computer centre (mall).

At the first glance, I thought that it was sold at the price 800 HKD, which I could not afford. Luckily, the price label was actually NT800, which meant 800 New Taiwan Dollars.

So I could buy it at 200 Hong Kong Dollars.

— Me@2019-12-29 03:42:26 PM

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2019.12.29 Sunday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK

點石成金 8

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The Metagame, 2

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無謂的事務，如果不可避免，你可試試加一個有謂的情境。

For a boring but unavoidable task, add an amazing context.

For an interesting but useless activity, add a meaningful context.

For example, I use video games to train my courage.

— Me@2011.08.24

— Me@2019-12-12

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2019.12.12 Thursday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK

Donkey Kong Country

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d_2018_04_13__16_12_59_PM_

Donkey Kong Country is a 1994 platform game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). The game centres on Donkey Kong and his friend Diddy Kong, who are on a quest to recover Donkey Kong’s stolen banana hoard from King K. Rool and the Kremlings.

— Wikipedia on Donkey Kong Country

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2018.04.13 Friday ACHK

Intellectual Headaches

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Game design

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They got the key, and then some other stuff happened, and then they reached the door, and were able to open it; but “acquiring the key” and “opening the door” were stored as two separate, disconnected events in the player’s mind.

If the player had encountered the locked door first, tried to open it, been unable to, and then found the key and used it to open the door, the causal link would be unmistakable. You use the key to open the locked door, because you can’t open the locked door without the key.

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Math education

I’ve drawn parallels between game design and education before, but it still took me a while to realize that problem-solution ordering issues crop up just as often in the classroom as they do in games.

Remember how, in high school math class, a lot of the work you were doing felt really, really pointless?

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Consider Dan Meyer’s question for math educators: if math is the aspirin, then how do you create the headache?

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In other words: if you introduce the solution (in this case, a new kind of math) before introducing the kind of problems that it’s meant to solve, the solution is likely to come across as pointless and arbitrary. But if you first let students try to tackle these problems with the math they already understand, they’re likely to come away with a kind of intellectual “headache” – and, therefore, to better understand the purpose of the “aspirin” you’re trying to sell.

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Functional programming

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— Locked doors, headaches, and intellectual need

— 27 October 2015

— Affording Play

Here are some excerpts of an elegant essay. Please go to the author’s website to read the whole.

— Me@2015-11-03 03:46:41 PM

2015.11.03 Tuesday ACHK

Dear Esther, 4

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cease to exist

~ cannot be found in the original region,

but is still possible to be found in the meta-region

For example, at the end of the video game Dear Esther, the character dies, computer screen turns black, you cease to exist there,

but you wake up and continue to exist outside that video game, outside that computer screen.  

— Me@2012.10.27

2014.06.01 Sunday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK

A writer reading books

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chris_mahan 24 minutes ago | link

I don’t watch TV (at all) and I game maybe 4 hours a week, usually in 2 sittings.

(I will occasionally watch a DVD, but maybe 2 hours a month, max.)

When people give me grief that I play the games, I tell them I’m a software developer: it’s like a writer reading books.

— Hacker News

2014.04.20 Sunday ACHK

L.A. Noire

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The case that makes you and the case that breaks you…

The one you never solve, the one that keeps you awake at night.

The case that gnaws at your guts and ruins your marriage.

The case that keeps you propping up a bar as you relive the what-ifs, the might-have-beens, the half-leads and half-truths.

The case that other cops murmur about whenever you walk past.

The case you never… ever… discuss.

— Herschel Biggs

— L.A. Noire

— Me@2014-03-17 05:27:25 PM

2014.03.19 Wednesday ACHK