Messages

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General Chat / NTSC-J game on american PS2.

« on: February 08, 2015, 02:33:02 PM »

Will it work, or do you require a mod chip?

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General Chat / Re: Merry Christmas!

« on: December 26, 2014, 12:45:42 AM »

Merry Christmas everyone! All the best for the new year!

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Discussion / Re: DLC X: Back to the Bay

« on: December 14, 2014, 08:01:29 PM »

Just coming in to say that there's an 80% chance of my black out date being the weekend of July 2nd.  It's not confirmed but there's a high possibility that's going to be the date.  Any weekend other than that is good, so yeah, if doing July 30th to August 2nd, I should be good.

Also, yeah, ES, if you want to go, by all means!  Speaking of Smash, cannot be emphasized enough how much DLCon needs to play 8 Player Smash, especially with Captain Falcon only!

FALCONE.. PUUUUNCH!!!!

Ah man, the good ol' days of Melee.. haha!

If I can go, I will, it would be a tremendous pleasure to finally meet all of you!

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Discussion / Re: DLC X: Back to the Bay

« on: December 13, 2014, 02:21:18 PM »

Don't worry, some of us were there for the first DLCon, wherein nobody ACTUALLY knew each other really either.  What got the introverted ubernerds through?  Why, Smash Bros.!  And as luck would have it, a new one came out recently that everyone will be eager to play.

Haha. Count on Smash Bros. or Mario Kart to start a party! I played Melee and Brawl to death! Well, more Melee than Brawl..

I'll definitely see what I can do and let you guys know if I can come much closer to the date!

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Discussion / Re: DLC X: Back to the Bay

« on: December 12, 2014, 11:24:10 PM »

This sounds like something I'd love to attend, if I can! It would be wonderful to meet all you guys.

That said, I don't know if I'll be able to afford to go at this time, and whether or not you guys are cool with me being there given you guys don't know me all that well for the most part.

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General Chat / Re: So I've got this PS2 and a whole bunch of games..

« on: December 12, 2014, 10:45:43 PM »

I've edited the OP with pics + games!

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General Chat / Re: So I've got this PS2 and a whole bunch of games..

« on: December 12, 2014, 07:48:22 PM »

Custom painted like what? And how professional does it look?

I have pictures! I will show them later. Off to the gym!

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General Chat / Re: So I've got this PS2 and a whole bunch of games..

« on: December 12, 2014, 05:27:48 PM »

At risk of pointing out the obvious, modding & painting the PS2 is just as likely to reduce value as to increase it.  Gamestop will sell used PS2s for 50-60 bucks, but you get a warranty & replacement for a time there; "buy from some random guy on the Internet" price is more like 20-30 bucks since the buyer is taking the risk that it doesn't work / doesn't work well.

That's certainly true. I'm not looking for a pay day, just looking to unload what I've got. I no longer have a use for it and would rather it be in the hands of someone who does.

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General Chat / Re: So I've got this PS2 and a whole bunch of games..

« on: December 12, 2014, 02:51:52 PM »

You'll probably have more luck if you post at least part of the list so if there's something that strikes someone's interest, they'll know.

Sure, I'll compile a list of everything I have with my prices (always open to negotiation, of course), and post that a bit later. Probably later today.

Thanks for the feedback!

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General Chat / Re: What games are you playing 2014?

« on: December 11, 2014, 04:16:18 AM »

Then, in the next room, where I didn't bother to save for some damn reason, I dig up a random loot pile and the entire party explodes for like 5x PCHP for no obvious reason.

LOL, this sounds like my brother's experience with FF12:

"What's this random chest here?"

*chest explodes*

...

*never plays game again*

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General Chat / So I've got this PS2 and a whole bunch of games..

« on: December 10, 2014, 04:35:26 PM »

.. and I'm wondering if there is anyone here who would be willing to work with me to appraise what I have? There's about 40 games, and the PS2 itself is modded and custom painted.

This stuff is also for sale to anyone here if you're interested. PM me if so.

EDIT: I have attached my list of games as well as what I'm looking for. It's in Excel format.

Note that with my games, the games that are highlighted with colors I am willing to bundle together if they are all bought together for a discounted price.

Here is the PS2:

12

Discussion / Re: Question about my major

« on: December 10, 2014, 01:41:13 PM »

Hey guys, forgive me for resurrecting this thread but I feel I have something to contribute to this conversation and not sure that a new thread is really appropriate for it.

little_shadow, before I say anything else, I just want you to know that I REALLY admire the drive and passion you seem to have with respect to CS. I used to work in video game development, and let me tell you, it is quite demanding mentally and time-wise, so good on you!

I will preface all of this by saying I only worked in the industry for about 2 years as a programmer.

That said, I feel the most important piece of advice anyone can give you is to keep up that passion you have. That passion, that drive to learn and hunger for more information is what will set you apart from everyone else in the industry. As has been noted, there are SO many people in this field competing for jobs, and they almost all have impressive educations, but not everyone has the willpower to do what it takes to win. You're on the right track with respect to participating in open source projects and whatnot, and getting involved in more of those things will further show your passion to prospective employers.

You also mentioned about a portfolio, and I'm going to expand on that by saying having a strong portfolio is CRITICAL. It can and will make or break you. I can only speak to this from the video games industry perspective, but everyone asked me either what I have been doing lately, or for a website where I could showcase what I've done. Nothing can replace being able to prove your skills through a portfolio (in many cases, this will be all employers will have to go by), and equally as important, your portfolio will also showcase how passionate you are about what you do as well. Make sure your highest quality work is on there.

Another piece that may be important to you (it certainly was for me) is having a strong LinkedIn profile. More and more employers and recruiters are using LinkedIn as a resource to prospect for employees, and there are tons of jobs listed on there as well. It is also a very easy way to expand your professional network, and something like 95% of jobs (please don't quote me on this!), at least in this industry, are filled though personal contacts. There is an old saying that goes "it's not what you know, but who you know", but there really is a lot of truth to it. If you're unfamiliar with LinkedIn, feel free to shoot me a message and I can try to help as best as I can.

The last thing I'll touch on before continuing is the point that was made earlier about being able to read other peoples' code. This is crucial!!!! Nothing wastes time in a team environment like programmers not being able to understand what their coworkers have done. I encourage you to look at complex pieces of code that you can find and try to break down how they work. You can make yourself indispensable wherever you go if you can demonstrate an ability to work efficiently, and this is just one aspect of it.

I'd also like to touch on some of the questions you had in your previous post, since it's been a while since you asked. To the original posters that said questions were directed to: if I have made a misrepresentation of a statement you have made, please forgive me! I will do my best to answer the questions as best as I can.

Could you go into greater depth on "real use cases"?

When it comes to creating small programs that you can show off to people that you do on your own time, it often is best to look at a real world problem and try to solve it.

If you're a genius, you can take a stab at some of these: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unsolved_problems_in_computer_science

Otherwise, for me, the best way to describe what a "real use case" would be is to create a snippet of code that you could reasonably expect to use in a bigger, more relevant coding project. Let's say you were making a video game, and needed an algorithm to efficiently sort items in an inventory. That sorting system would fall under a real use case, at least to me.

There are tons of small example problems available on the internet as well that you can take a stab at, but unfortunately I am failing at Google today.

From what I've experienced so far, learning the "right" way to do something isn't as important as having a method for finding tolerably good ways to do things.  Workaround, in short, but ones which make it as easy, quick, and painless to do things.

It's amazing that you understand this now. A very wise man once told me (actually, he's just my former boss, but still an AMAZING programmer) that there is such a thing as "good enough". He told me that in previous jobs, there were programmers that spent hours or days figuring out the best way to do something, when a "good enough" solution that took 10% of the time to plan and implement would have virtually the same result for the end user. Remember that at the end of the day, it's end users that are using what you create, and they're not going to care how wonderful your pathfinding algorithm is, all they will care about is, does it work, and does it run at an acceptable speed.

I'd rather learn to use a C library for mucking about with HTML and CSS than use PHP.  I have never heard a good thing about PHP, except for the dubious, "everyone uses it."  If I see everyone else is doing something, that's reason enough not to do it.

I understand the point you're trying to make, but I can turn around and say virtually everyone uses C++ at AAA game studios. Everyone using something does not mean it's bad. In the case of PHP, it is, as far as I know, the easiest and fastest way to integrate a web front-end with a database. I would encourage you to analyze the merits of each technology you consider on its own and determine that way whether it's worth using or not. Remember that the best tool for the job is the most appropriate tool available to you, and if that means using a technology that everyone uses, so be it.

If they want a good grade, I do all the work and come up with a plausible story and I feed them their parts of the story for the teacher.

It's hard for me to talk about this without sounding arrogant or like a jerk, so if that's how I come off, I do apologize. That said, I'd like to ask you, as a leader, is doing all the work for people helping that person grow and develop? If they are just there for a good grade, that doesn't necessarily mean they aren't willing to work or learn, and doing the work for them means you will never find out. You may be surprised by how good some people are, but I think it's important to give them a chance to show that. If they are dragging the project down because of a lack of work ethic, I would inform the supervisor and let them fail - that will be a good life lesson for them.

Again, if I sounded like a jerk with that, I do apologize.

Italicized Portion: What should I do when I come up with an idea that I think can make the company more money?  I don't think it's ever a good idea to tell my bosses about exciting new ways to lay off half their workforce (especially me), so my guess is that I should file that idea away for later and find a way to automate it.  From there I can use it to do my work for me, freeing up time for my own business or I can start another business on the side and compete with my employer until I'm caught or they buy me out.

If you're THAT good, then I think you're probably good enough to start your own business and put everyone else out of business. When companies compete like that for a better quality product, the end user wins. That said, I wouldn't try to screw over an employer unless you're prepared to pay the hefty lawyer fees to deal with the lawsuit if they find out what you've been doing. This is not me advocating such practices, just to be clear!!

Underlined Portion: How to do things with people?

I think the idea was that a lesson you may learn from other people may simply be, how to better deal with people.

Underlined: Is it better for everyone to work on everything, for everyone to specialize in their one thing, or somewhere in between?  Bear in mind that I'm very familiar with SaGa Frontier and I have seen what happens when programmers don't communicate.  I can go into greater detail if you want.

I was a team lead on a project a couple of times, once with like 3 other programmers, and my best advice here is to determine what the strengths are of your team members and assign them a position that will put them in the best position to succeed. I don't mean that in the sense of putting that person in the best position for them to succeed to inflate their ego, but to put them in the best position to reach end of project successfully. If everyone succeeds, the team wins. You win or lose as a team.

That's about all I have. Good luck with your career and I hope that you achieve great success in your life!

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General Chat / Re: Hey guys!

« on: December 10, 2014, 12:44:55 PM »

BTW

The Duck = Gourry
Makkotah = Zenthor
Luther = Ciato

But they're new & improved

Some familiar names.. sweet!

I think I vaguely recall you? The name rings a bell, at least.

Oh it's OK, I don't think I was all that relevant anyways, haha! The only thing I really did of note was create that laughing contest bonus match one week for the DL.. which, admittedly, was really, really hilarious.

Welcome back dude!

Thanks man! Good to see you!

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General Chat / Re: Hey guys!

« on: December 10, 2014, 03:13:53 AM »

Hi. Welcome back. Things are basically as you left them. Only now there is less DL and more Game Community with a JRPG resume.

What happened that made you leave? I just assumed you got bored and/or busy.

Honestly, I don't remember, and it seems that it probably doesn't matter.

I think I talked to ID (I THINK it was ID, but it might have been Meeple) a long time ago about the DL, and I was told that the actual DL was discontinued and it's mostly just a discussion forum now. Which is fine by me.

Meeple is around, he is easy to find on IRC and making posts of about 10k words in What Game Are You Playing.

Word.

Meeple? Writing novels for posts? You don't say...

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General Chat / Re: Hey guys!

« on: December 09, 2014, 10:38:32 PM »

I have no recollection of the circumstances in which you left so therefore cannot hold them against you. Though that probably holds true whatever they were, unless you killed someone or something (you didn't, right?)

The Meeple is untiring and inescapable.

Is that a fancy way of saying that he's still here? Haha.

Yeah, pretty sure I didn't kill anyone, though I may have unintentionally led someone to end themselves.. maybe.. hopefully not. My conscience wouldn't be able to handle that!

So what kind of stuff goes on around here these days? I noticed something about a DLCon in the discussion forum. I attended AGDQ one year (I believe 2012), and I had a blast, so I imagine the DLCon would be a pretty awesome time as well. And it's the 9th one! It's pretty sweet how long this community has been around for.

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General Chat / Re: Hey guys!

« on: December 09, 2014, 06:52:00 PM »

I can move it to general chat.

And hi, yep, I do recognize you.  I'm...actually not sure how long you've been gone.  5 years?  10 years?

I checked my registration date on these forums, and it was mid-2008. So.. probably around 4-5 years now.

Just out of curiosity, does Meeple Lard still hang around here?

I'm only here for the free food, so I don't really know much about the, you know, DL part of the DL.

So hello for probably the first time!

Hello there! Also, where's this free food!? That didn't exist back in the day! :O

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General Chat / Re: Hey guys!

« on: December 09, 2014, 03:29:27 PM »

Yo!

I really don't remember what happened when you left at all!
Did you say that Charizard beats Squall?? BECAUSE, LIKE, NO WAY

To be quite honest, I don't remember a whole lot about it either, just that quite a few people were not too happy.

Charizard beating Squall? Uhh, I don't think so, and since I have no idea what a Squall is, I'll just agree with whatever you have to say about it!

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General Chat / Hey guys!

« on: December 09, 2014, 11:59:12 AM »

I'm sure there are many new faces around here since last I visited, but for everyone who remembers me.. 'sup! I felt inspired for some reason to re-introduce myself and see how everyone is doing.

I still remember a lot from before, all the glorious RPGmon duels, the heated debates that we'd have over whether a character was average or below average at things, but most importantly, I also remember that I didn't leave here on the greatest of terms. I wanted to apologize for that and hope that time has softened any bitterness that may have been left over. I'm not sure how often I'll post here, but I'm rather excited to get re-acquainted with some old friends.

EDIT: It also just occurred to me that this probably should have been posted in general chat. Whoops, sorry about that!

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Discussion / Re: Speed running Tales of the Abyss

« on: October 01, 2008, 07:09:45 PM »

That ... is kind of weird.  Check out the Chrono Cross speed run.  That thing is save state abused to an obscene level.  I think the policy is fairly flexible anyway.

I suppose it would be like doing an FF7 speed run using the open the tray keep hitting the enemy till its dead thing or something... but blah.  Oh well.  There is a site that specialises in tool assisted runs, could always do one there if you wanted.

No to both.

I am currently watching the Chrono Cross speed run, and there is no save state abuse, just lots of resetting to get desired results.

And I am not really interested in a TAS.

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Discussion / Re: Speed running Tales of the Abyss

« on: October 01, 2008, 02:48:09 PM »

Can't really get down to the nitty gritty technical stuff of the run, but Glitched runs are pretty common on SDA as was stated.  No reason they won't host it.

As I stated, they don't allow glitches that require console modification. That includes opening the tray.

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Discussion / Re: Speed running Tales of the Abyss

« on: October 01, 2008, 04:48:30 AM »

Also, what do you mean by FoF chaining on Sync and Legretta? Tear will be near useless in those fights

I should probably have clarified. Sorry. Basically, all I meant was just using a FOF'd version of Tear's spell to remove the Light attribute; this way at least she can do something. I'm not sure if that's applicable though since a) I don't know what Eclaire D'larmes/Holy Lance's FOF'd spell becomes and what they require (banking them as Flamme Rouge and Cluster Raid, which requires Infernal Prison/Ground Dasher) and b) If Jade will need to switch elements to compensate for that and they result in far worse DPS/positioning), then its probably not worth it.

I'll take a look through the PM. I'm doing a restesting of WA4 since there's something Snow brought to my attention. I just need to get enough luck to keep it trucking along.

I will look into it for sure.

And can I at least speak with you on MSN? I am actually looking forward to a WA4 speed run, and have some ideas for it.

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Discussion / Re: Speed running Tales of the Abyss

« on: October 01, 2008, 04:45:20 AM »

Ah, separate categories? That makes sense.

If getting friends for the 4-player is your only concern, why not just aim for the fastest possible single-player speedrun? I'd think that is a pretty impressive accomplishment (honestly I'd say multiplayer deserves its own category), and due to the issues of finding three friends to help as you noted, it may well stand as the record even including multiplayer if you're good enough.

The soft limit on a speed run is 7 hours. I can probably push a run to 10 hours or so if I really had to. My thinking is, if I can get a single player NG+ run <7 hours or so, then I can easily go <10 hours on a new game run. Anything longer than that would give me a resounding rejection from SDA, and I imagine lots of boss fights will last a very loooonggg time at low levels. I can foresee a decent amount of leveling up in a new game run.

Also, I have full red FSC on all my relevant artes, that was taken care of in my unknown mode game.

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Discussion / Re: Speed running Tales of the Abyss

« on: October 01, 2008, 04:41:42 AM »

Crescent Strike allows for the best DPS of any of his base Artes (Tiger Blade has positioning and animation time problems, Demon Fang does similar DPS to CS but it's less reliable), and Moonlight Demon is the only one of his Arcane Artes that I can get to consistently get every hit in.

That's fair. I figured it was likely due to damage per second/frames that made the difference. Moonlight Demon is listed as the strongest arcane from our stat topics; just someone in the topic later hyped Beast's multiplier.

As for Thunder Blade/Infernal Prison, I guess that works. I've had more problems with Thunder Blade being reliable, and you can certainly try catching enemies as they are launched upwards by jumping and attacking. Although I do agree that there are probably some positioning concerns in there. As for boss resistances, Legretta resists Light, so does Sync. It might help if you can FOF chain there? Part of it is also probably going to be related to how much damage you're already dealing and if the FOF change is even needed. Hmm...is it possible to completely blast past their MA ranges? This probably sounds silly, but it definitely seems like you have the power to get that going. I don't know, the prospect of sitting there for 6-8 seconds while not doing anything is irritating.

Fair point on Tear's pendant. I was thinking it could help again due to the damage boost. But yeah, if its not going to save enough time in battle, it would be pointless. On that note, what about FSCs? Have you experimented with those? I'm guessing the gimme ones are used on the spellcasters.

Don't have anything additional to add, but certainly best of luck to you. TotA isn't really a game I know too well, so I'm not sure if there's anything else I can add without updates/details.

You make some good points. Jumping to catch a lifted enemy will take away Guy's DPS potential, so I'm not really interested in that. Also, what do you mean by FoF chaining on Sync and Legretta? Tear will be near useless in those fights, but I can always switch the spell Jade uses. And yes, it is possible to blast through MA ranges. I got Van 1 down before he used his second MA.

Btw, I sent you a PM and added you to MSN. Hoping to talk with ya regarding a potential WA4 speed run.

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Discussion / Re: Speed running Tales of the Abyss

« on: October 01, 2008, 04:34:42 AM »

10x experience? Is that a NG+ thing?

Personally I find the idea of NG+ being legal for speedruns just bizarre (lol CT speedrun with that) since you're really tacking on more time to work you already did in whatever the first playthrough was, but I guess I'm not the one that makes the rules. I've always been a stickler for stricter challenges than most, anyway.

Good luck.

Yep, it's a NG+ thing. Also, there are separate categories for games that have NG+. There is the new game mode, and NG+ mode. I fully intend to at least attempt a new game mode for ToA some time in the future, since it just wouldn't be right to have a NG+ mode and not a new game mode. The problem is, I don't know 1-3 people who would be committed enough to it to actually do it. It would simply not be possible to get a good time without 4 people.

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Discussion / Re: Speed running Tales of the Abyss

« on: October 01, 2008, 04:08:36 AM »

The idea behind a speed run, obviously, is speed. 3-hit combo, then CS -> MD -> CS, from my calculations, does more DPS than any other combo of Guy's. Every hit in his physical reduces damage by ~10% per hit, so after the third hit, the DPS starts going down the drain. Beyond that, Crescent Strike allows for the best DPS of any of his base Artes (Tiger Blade has positioning and animation time problems, Demon Fang does similar DPS to CS but it's less reliable), and Moonlight Demon is the only one of his Arcane Artes that I can get to consistently get every hit in. The rest either take too long (Final Cross, pretty much all the Tiger Blade ones), create positioning issues (any Arcane Arte with Void Tempest), or knock the enemy down, causing DPS to plummet (Beast, and its associated Arcane Artes). As much as I appreciate the input, I've tested this fairly thoroughly in my game, so unless someone can come up with something better, it's probably what I'm gonna go with.

Thunder Blade is used for a simple reason - reliability and speed. Infernal Prison does indeed do comparable, if not more damage, but causes lifting, which totally screws over Guy's DPS, and if it fails to lift the target, the final hit may miss sometimes. Some of Jade's other spells, like Blessed Drops and Ground Dasher, are unreliable for damage because some of the potential hits could miss. Prism Sword takes too long, as does Meteor Storm (never mind the reliability issues). And others, like Absolute, flat out suck. The weaknesses/resistances thing is a fair point though, and I'll have to take that into account as I play the game.

As for FoFs.. just no, at least not for Guy. Bloody Howling for Anise works well enough (8 hits, lots of chances to crit, rarely misses), and Limited w/o FoF sucks. Just so I know, though, can someone figure out how much Limited's FoF change does?

Juggling - waste of Guy's time. His DPS w/o juggling will more than compensate for time lost due to enemy MAs. Besides, I expect most fights to end in under a minute with 10x experience (God General battle on Mt. Roneal lasted like 20 seconds, as a reference).

Also, Tear's Pendant is also a waste of time. There are some scenes involved which waste time, and I have to go out of my way to get it. By the time I do get it, there's not enough game left to justify it.

Just so people know, I'm not planning on picking up ANY chests, other than a few weapon upgrades for Jade (because he doesn't get a broken Chesedonia weapon). If it's not directly in my way, I'm not getting it.

As for the world map glitch - SDA says it's a form of hardware modification, so it's not allowed.

I hope I covered most peoples' concerns, and hopefully this leads to some good dialogue. Thanks everyone.