Hurin

Just for the record, I never said that she would be jealous. Rather, I just expected her to wake up, go out into the living room, say: "My god, you are the biggest geek I've ever known". . . and then walk out the door. H

She'd like you to PM me a picture. H

Nah! Remember, there is more to MW than the forums. Glad you guys like it. It's vaguely embarassing to have in my living room. But I'm gonna leave it this way for a while. H

So, I just got a new printer. My gf just got a new kick-ass digital camera. And I had some photo paper and picked up a few frames. So, I decided to spruce up my 1/48 display shelf. So. . . is this going too far? I realize that this is incredibly geeky of me. And I think my girlfriend is going to probably bail on me when she wakes up in the morning and sees this. . . but hey. . . I like it! An uncompressed, huge (2272 x 1704) image is available here. My inspiration was this cover of Macross Hobby Handbook. I've had this book since I was a kid. Now all I need is a Macross helmet. But I ain't crazy enough to buy Yamato's! Anyways, I think it looks sorta cool. I also made a display for Max's Super 1J. But I don't have any room on the shelf for him anymore! And before anyone asks. . . I chose pictures of Minmay rather than Misa because Minmay is the unrequited love throughout the TV series. Yes, it's his DYRL/movie valk in the picture. . . but I chose to go with the "all appearances of mecha in DYRL are now canon even if the TV series story is still the 'official' story." H

Uh. . . okay. I'm sensing a "tone" here. I wasn't saying that Doom3 supported EAX. Was just sharing with everyone some info that I found interesting and that was related to Doom3, sound, Creative, EAX, and some questionable behavior on the part of Creative. Or, to put it another way: I wasn't saying there wasn't a "difference." Best Regards, H

Unfortunately, id still used techniques that were patented by Creative. Creative came after them for licensing fees. . . but I think they worked something out so that id promoted Creative sound cards for Doom3 and didn't have to give them any cash. Linkage. H

Well, finished it. Thank god! My girlfriend was about to disown me after 4-5 nights in a row. . . Honestly, by the end, I felt like it was a good movie that had just gone on too long and now. . . I just wanna know what happens. When I saw that I probably had three more levels to go. . . bleh. But, it's over. I'm glad I played it. It definitely had a good story and it was fun to figure out just exactly what was going on up there on Mars. BTW, I never had any freaky bathroom mirror experience (except for every morning when I wake up. . . bu-dum-dum). Can someone tell me what level and area this takes place in? Thanks, H

Oh, and I find the machine gun to be good in situations where you can run backwards and just unload on something that rushing towards you. You'll usually get them before they reach you, and you won't waste any ammo from any other weapons. I use it against those things that look like imps but always run on all fours and just tear you up when they reach you. MG is also good against those guys that shoot some tentacle out of their arms. Sorry that I don't know the names. H

That about says it all. . . perfectly. And it ties into what I am saying. Generally, your "better" computer geeks and consultants are the guys who get a charge out of just screwing around with tehcnology, setting up networks, etc. They only know this stuff because they enjoy it. And rather than get pissy at people who refuse to learn it and/or annoy us by asking "mundane" questions, we should be thanking our f'ing stars that we're able to make a living doing something we love for people who are willing to pay us for our enthusiasm and interests. Your well-adjusted, non-socially-awkward geeks (and I consider myself one. . . message board arguments aside) understand this. Further, I feel sorry for places that have a stereotypical computer nerd for their techie. We aren't all skinny guys w/ pocket protectors anymore. Some of us even leave the house! The best group of guys I've worked with were the guys in the tech support pool at our local ISP. We had our punk rock singer, our Macintosh artist guy, our wannabe pilot, our trust-fund preppie guy, and of course, our gay manager. Seriously, it was an eclectic mix. . . but we all knew our sh*t and we were damned good on the phone. Eventually we all moved on when the company was bought by a larger corporation, the service started suffering, and tech support became a living hell (and no flashlight!). But each and every one of these guys is still in IT somewhere. . . and you'd never know by looking at them. Basically, I don't know many IT professionals who are as socially inept as some here have described. Maybe it's where I live. Techies here are just regular guys. H

There was also this poll I commissioned (just wanted to use the word "commission") that asked everyone's opinion about the likelihood of a re-release: Re-Release Poll. Some debate took place there as well. H

I wouldn't know. I never took a tech class in my life. When I consult on hiring tech people for other departments, I actually look for people who haven't been formally schooled. Stay away from people who have taken "business college" classes in computer administration or have "Microsoft Certifications." Generally speaking, these are people who just looked in the paper and said: "Hey, Systems Administration pays well. I'll be one of those." But you can't really teach the sort of mindset that makes a good helpdesk and/or sysadmin. Instead, I look for guys who are just. . . well. . . geeks. Guys that love the stuff and do it in their spare time. . . and who game and get excited about new technologies that make their games better. Basically, if you have a guy who can build a kick-ass gaming computer, install the OS and drivers properly. . . and tweak it for optimum performance. . . you've got a guy who --while he may not know all the answers off the top of his head-- is capable of handing just about anything that comes up. I went from being just a gaming geek who got a job at a local Internet Service Provider. . . to a roaming "consultant" for a local networking company. To being in charge of a large corporate network. Now, I've got a mellow, cushie job as the Network Admin for a small department at a university (it's nice to not have to worry about the CEO screaming if something goes wrong). . . nothing terribly complex. Four Win2003 Servers and about sixty workstations. Anyways, not to toot my own horn. . . but despite what might have seemed like arrogance above where I made fun of "COM Ports". . . I try to remember what it was like before I became a total geek. . . and I'm careful to not make my users (techno-phobic college professors) feel intimidated or talked-down-to when they come to me for help. Heck, I've got one lady professor who actually breaks down in tears every time she can't do something correctly on her computer. Literally. My two predecessors were the types of people you described (by all reports). The funny thing is, I've been told that I'm four times as nice and patient as they are. . . but that I know about ten times as much. Yes, that sounds arrogant and self-promoting. . . but I really do strive to not make my users feel like idiots just because I happen to be a total f'ing geek and they aren't. So, to sum up. . . the more arrogant and annoying your tech person is. . . the more insecure he is about being found out to be just "winging it" and exposed as not knowing as much as he would like. If you can, find a tech guy you trust and like. . . and have him sit in on any interviews you do for any further tech guys you hire. We know how to smell our own. Just my 2 cents. Now, getting back to Doom. Dude, I must have gotten goose-bumps about ten times last night. I think I'm close to finishing it. H P.S. Sorry to drag this so far off topic. If you sensed any arrogance or a-hole-ishness in my earlier post, its source was the embarassment I felt for passing on such flippant advice without any real substance that could be easily misinterpreted. Your post pointed out to me that I was coming off as somewhat of a noob, so I over-compsenated in the other direction. . . and engaged in the "Oh yeah. . . well let me throw some acronyms out there to prove I'm a genius" crap that I hate.

Just to clarify. . . I was in no way stating that ATI cards don't work with Doom3. However, if your computer is having trouble, and it has an ATI video card, you might want to try one of those two tricks if you just want it to work. Personally, though. . . they both seem like stop-gap solutions to me. I'd just wipe the hard drive and reinstall Windows XP. Nothing like a nice fresh computer. BTW, I'm one of those "geeks." I'm a network systems administrator. Your geek mentioned COM ports!?! What is this? 1997? Not that modern computers don't have COM ports. Most do. . . but that's sorta like blaming IRQs nowadays. . . they rarely cause trouble these days (because of ACPI). But back in the day, if you had random reboots or system lock-ups. . . first thing you thought was "IRQ conflict." More often than not, instability in a game will be due to the video card (or motherboard or audio driver, but usually video) drivers being mixed up with older versions of the same driver. In other words, the newest driver only partially overwrote the older stuff. So, all kidding aside, without doing either of those two "tinkering and praying solutions", first thing to do in Max's situation would actually be to uninstall the video drivers using the standard control panel uninstall utility built into the dirvers. Then, for good measure, run driver cleaner or something similar (but driver cleaner is a good one). Then install the newest drivers from ATI or NVIDIA's website. If still causing trouble, get the newest motherboard chipset drivers and/or sound card drivers. If still crapping out, I'd just wipe the hard drive and reinstall XP (or 2000, whatever). H

Ditto. While I think reissuing the Roy would be cool. . . I have a feeling this guy read an old post and/or interpreted some of the threads debating whether it will be re-released as somehow stating such. H

Max, are you using ATI video card? Got that from evilavatar.com

Duct Tape Mod This mod allows you to "duct tape" your flashlight to your machine gun. Haven't tried it. But it seems to be what everyone is asking for. . . H

Yep, that's a classic. The part I don't understand is why the Chinese have a Japanese flag on their wall. H

Well, I thought I had been pretty desensitized to violence. . . but I've been pretty scared sh*tless in a couple of places. There's one room where the lights go out and you're in the middle of one large squarish room with only one dim light over the door. . . You bring up your flashlight. . . and see quickly scan around to see several zombies limping/dragging their way towards you. So you bring up the shotgun (and of course, it goes dark again). . . and you nail one just as it comes into the dim overhead light. You bring up the flashlight again. . . and they're all a bit closer. . . but you don't know which one to take out first. . . Crap! Spin around. . . there's one behind you! Bring up shotgun. . . blam! Wait. . .where are others. . . flashlight. . . OH CRAP! THEY'RE ALL OVER ME! Maybe it's that I'm playing the level right below nightmare or maybe it's that these zombies look damn f'ing freaky at 1600x1200. . . but this game has given more jumps and starts than any other game I've played. In fact, I can't remember the last time a "horror" game actually got me at all worked up. I think the last time that happened was when big white spiders attacked me after I fell into their pit in "Ultima Underworld". . . and that was 15 years ago. H

Going to bite my tongue about the whole: "There's nothing wrong with not paying for a game" thing. Just here to point out two Doom3 tweaking articles that might help some of you squeeze a few more FPS from your rigs: here and here. Played through the first few levels last night. This game is scary as hell. Performance is great. But then again, I spend way too much money on my computer. H

For some reason, I think it's pretty unlikely that they will mix Macross TV and DYRL uniforms/appearances. I could be very, very wrong. But it just seems "messy" to me. H

PM SENT! j/k

My recollection of the arguments regarding Bandai's Macross license is probably a bit fuzzy. I thought there were some reasonably compelling arguments for Bandai having let the license lapse. I was one of the people arguing/hoping for the other side. . . that Bandai was just letting it "hibernate." You're correct though, Bandai's lack of further 1/55 re-releases doesn't prove anything one way or the other. I guess I should have just said that, to me, this tends to swing the pendulum a little farther towards the "expired license" side. Best Regards, H

Some of us were holding out hope for Bandai to re-release them for the DYRL (movie) anniversary. But, it looks like those who pointed out that Bandai let their Macross license lapse were correct. Because. . . well. . . nothing happened. Your best bet is to regularly scout eBay and/or MW's own For Sale Section for the originals. Best Regards, H

Regarding getting the arms right in fighter mode. See this post. Good Luck! H

I think comparing LotR and Star Wars is apples and oranges. The whole point with the Star Wars DVD releases is that we no longer have a choice regarding which version of the films we are allowed to watch (at least on non-decaying DVD). In the case of the LotR, we are given the choice of viewing the original theatrical release, or (several months later) purchasing the extended edition with as much as 30-60 minutes of new footage each. In my book, more choices are a good thing. H

What is said in the MP3 is open to interpretation: "as he joins the force he is able to retain his original identity. It's because of Obi-Wan and Yoda who learn how to do that. How to join the force at will and then retain your identity. But it was his identity as it was when he died, as Anakin Skywalker." For the record, this could apply to either scene, changed or not. Personally, I still think he's still referring to him dying at the end of ROTJ. . . as Anakin Skywalker. "I've got to save you." "You already have, Luke. You were right about me. . ." H