Random thoughts of Josh Dye | Josh Dye's Site | Josh Dye

New Blog

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:05:06 -0800

One of my favorite Open-Source games...

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 14:22:34 -0700

More and more I find myself playing bzflag. BZflag is a free open-source online multipler game. There are basically 3 game modes: Free-style, which is just a shoot 'em up; Rabbit hunt, the object is to destroy one rabbit tank; & my favorite CTF, you shoot the other team while trying to steal their team flag [and bring it back to your base. When you choose a server (there a hundreds of servers available through an in-game menu) You must choose a callsign (the name you go by in-game) & a team. The available teams are: red, blue, green, purple, & rouge (rouge is a team of your own); you can also join as an observer. Once in game, you can pick up various superflags (white) to give your tank special weapons or abilities. The superflags on the map is set by the personn who runs the server. On most servers, you die if you shoot someone on your own team; unless your rouge, if you are rouge you should shoot anyone and everyone.

If you are at a location with out access to the internet, you can play bzflag with as many bots as your CPU can handle. You can generate a random map to play on or you can download a map from the bzflag forum.

BZFlag can be downloaded for free, binaries are available for: Windoze, Mac, and most distributions of linux. The source is also available if you need to compile it yourself. Official Website

Before I finish up here, I'd like to recommend a few maps-

• Cloudy Castles by jpenguin

• INCOMING! by ah3

• The Castles by jpenguin

• Mini CTF by Ha You Got Shot By Me

• Missile War by ducatiwannabe

There are many other great maps out there, so if you find one you like; remember to check the other maps out.

See you on the battle field!

SuperTuxKart 0.5

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 12:00:00 -0700

SuperTuxKart is a free cross-platform, kart racing game.

The 0.5 release of SuperTuxKart is out! Like 0.4, this release uses bullet physics instead of the original PLIB based physics. This release also has a skidding preview.

To get certain tracks, & gamemodes-- you must unlock them, by beating certain challenges; the challenges are fairly easy, but if you get stuck and just can't beet one, it is fairly easy to cheat- it just takes a ;little snooping around the config file.

You have more tracks to choose from, and some old ones have been improved. Various options around the menu have been condensed and rearranged.

Some poeple complain about the multiplayer mode, the complain about there not beind network support and haviing 4 players on a single keyboard; but STK alows using USB gamepads for input, also if you find your kart drifting to one side because the joystick sticks to oneside- you can customize the dead-zone values, this can't be accessed via the GUI yet, but it is still simple to do. You simple open the config file in a text ediitor of your choice, (if your on a mac, just open the "Open Config File" script that cam with the game; for other unix-based systems, the config file is at "~/.supertuxkart/config"~) and go down to a section that looks like this--

(stick-configs

(count 4)

(stick-1

(id "Saitek P990 Dual Analog Pad")

(preferredIndex 0)

; 0 means that the default deadzone value is used.

(deadzone 20000)

)

You can now adjust the dead-zone value; try number like: 15000 & 40000.

The game can now also remember your gamepads controls if you plug gamepad into a different port than you when you originally set it up.

SuperTuxKart's source and binaries for Mac, Windows & Linux can be downloaded at the game website.

SuperTuxKart 0.5rc1!

Sun, 04 May 2008 15:45:21 -0700

A release caniddate of version 0.5 is out! This version has new tracks, a fallow tthe leader mode, challenges that have to be beet to unlock certain tracks, a skidding preview andd so much mor I can't list all the new features here. It still lacks networked MultiPlayer, and still supports splis-screen MultiPlayer for up to 4 players; the advanced joystick set-up lets you use joystick for this.

SuperTuxKart 0.4!

Sun, 09 Mar 2008 18:15:16 -0700

A new version of SuperTuxKart! This version has a completely new physics engine and some new menu options. Because of the new physics engine, you no longer stop when you hit something; so starting with 5 other karts is no longer annoying, you don't stop when you hit the kart in front of you. You can also flip your kart if you hit to many karts at once, go down a steep incline… There is also no slowdown when you leave the track, but shortcut detection is still there; when you take a shortcut, you automatically rescued and return to the main track.

You also choose the number of karts you want to be in a race. In another menu you can change the resolution and fullscreen/windowed.

There are more improvements in this version, but I will not tell you what they are. You have to download it to see what they are. It is available for Windows, Mac & Linux; and the source is available, so you can compile it yourself if you us another OS. Although this game has mad great improvements since the last release, it could still use improvements. If you find a bug or can contribute in any other way, please contact the STK-developers.

Home-Page

ET Racer coures

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 12:48:44 -0800

It's not spectacular, but it's better than rapidshare! It's just my SMF forum.

http://jpenguin.110mb.com/forum.main/index.php?board=22.0

Remember, unless you donate, I will not be able to keep this site running. So, please donate here

http://jpenguin.110mb.com/

It would also be nice if someone could develop an ETRacer-like them for my forum. My forum is a standard SMF forum.

My most recent review of ETRacer is at http://jpenguin.110mb.com/random_thoughts_of_josh_dye/extremetuxracer.html

You can now comment...

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 18:31:05 -0800

That's right, I'm trying a new feature that should allow you to comment on entries to this blog.

Another item to add to MacOS X

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 14:32:15 -0800

In MacOS 9, there was a control panel that synced 2 folder, being a student I used it to sync a floppy (Yes, I was still using floppy disks) to a folder on my computer, because floppies were easily lost or damaged.

Now that I am in college, I use a 1 GB USB flash drive to carry all my data on. I am currently using a free utility to sync my data, but it is painfully slow when I have only change 1 or 2 files. I do not want to pay for a application to sync.

A few things Apple should add to MacOS X...

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 11:16:13 -0800

I am a loyal mac user and I hate MicroSoft, but nothing is perfect. There are a few things Apple has taken out of the MacOS that I want back in.

• A theme selector built into MacOS X--

Kinda like ApperanceManager in 8.1-9.2.2, all themes and skins should have to be approved by Apple and distributed at one site and downloadable through a PreferencePane. I don't like the brushed metal look or the new unity look and would much rather have the original aqua with pinstripes look us in 10.0 and an option to switch to the platinum look of OS 9. What I would really like is a them resembling each version of the MacOS, not just OS X but OS 1-OS 9. One size does not fit all.

• I don't like the fact that the new iLife apps (08) are designed for ease of use and have no options for as much control as previous versions

• I can't stand the interface of iChat--

I wish it were more like Adium, why should contacts from different networks have to be in separate list? I also want the buddies list to be more like the aadium screenshot to the side. This is another app that needs more customization options. After all the mac is supposed to be about "Thinking Different"

• Customizable apple menu

• App switcher back in the top-right hand corner of the menu bar

• An option to put the trash-ccan back on the desktop

• An option to make additional Spotlight searches in the menu bar that only look in certain folders

Don't think that I don't love my mac and most of the additions apple has made to the OS. I love the transition to a UNIX core. Apple hasn't made any changes that made me even think about dumping my mac. I still have MacOS 10.4.10 and haven't upgraded to leopard yet, but love how some of the new features sound.

Run windows games on your mac, without windows!

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 15:29:54 -0700

Actually, this has only been tested with one game, but in theory this should work for more games!

Instructions

A Few Products, I think Apple should Produce

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 13:55:56 -0700

Even if you use Windows, I'll bet you have an iPod or maybe an iPhone. Here are a few more products I'd like to see-

• A digital photo frame that communicates directly with iPhoto

• A Mac PDA that allows third party code to be run

• A basic CellPhone from Apple (not a smart-phone)

• A LCD calendar that gets its info from iCal, and has Inkwell

• A PDA-like device with a lid that only runs a modified version of this free bible

• A remote that has all the functions of the existing Apple Remote, but can control 3 other devices, has a rechargeable battery and a docking station to charge

If you can think of any more products you would like to see, put them in the guest-book!

***I do not have any inside info about Apples plans and do not know if the company will ever produce any of these products

MacAlly BTMOUSE

Wed, 17 Oct 2007 14:45:12 -0700

The bluetooth mouse I bouught a few days ago is a full size desktop mouse for my iMac. When I first set it up it would work about half of the time, but I figured out the problem; it was the NiMH batteries that came with it. They were 750mAH AAA NexCell. Thes batteries mustt have been sitting in th warehouse a long time, they wouldn't hold a charge long, and after a day the charger couln't neven charge them! Because I neeeded a mouse, I sent my dad to a local RadioShack, he bought some of theire brand AAA 750mAH. After installing them, the mouse worked great; it took about 3 1/2 hours to charge them. If you get this bluetooth mouse (or any wireless mouse) buy some good batteries, if you buy rechargable: try to get ones with high mAH (AAA: 800, AA: 2500). If you don't/can't get/use rechargeable batteries, try to get lithium ones.

Paralells VM

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 11:30:23 -0700

Today I received a bluetooth mouse and a copy of Paralells Desktop. The mouse s a BTMOUSE from MacAlley. I ordered them from MacMall, they seem to be a good company.

A lot of mac users used Virtual PC on thier PPC macs, and thind that all virtualization/emulation is slow. I am running Windows XP under Parells, once in full screen mode- you can hardly notice any differences than if you ran it on a Dell™. What really suprised me was haw well it ran DX8 & OpenGL 3D games, they run at near-native speeds!

Once you install the tools package, you can also share your mac desktop and it can map shared folders as network drivess. It even has a 'coherence' mode where your XP windows will float on the Mac desktop

Donations…

Mon, 15 Oct 2007 18:02:53 -0700

In case you were wondering, here is what any donated money will be used for:

• If I start to get a lot of traffic, I will buy more bandwidth.

• I need a laptop for school.

• I need to catch-up for the services I've already bought.

• I do pay for my e-mail account.

• I am wondering if I should get a domain name (www.something.tk). If you think I should, email me your idea for a domain name and enter "domain" in the comment field of your donation.

I will respect anyones personal request of how the money they donate is spent.

If there are any other thing that I see as worthwhile, I will post them to this blog.

Even if you can't afford to donate, pleas read the ads. Don't click on them unless you are interested in what the ad is.

The donation link is on the Home Page.

ExtremeTuxRacer

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:53:58 -0700

I will start by telling how tuxracer has evolved, When it was anounced that tuxracer was going commercial, 3 different projects continued the opensource version of tuxracer: ppracer, openracer, & penguin-racer. Penguinracer never got started, AFAIK. OpenRacer is still going, but has only released multimedia packs to be applied to the original game. PPRacer released 2 working version of the game with many enhancements (0.31 & 0.5a), but it to has ceased to excist.

A new group of developers has started to work on ppracers sourcecode, and has recently released the first version of ExtremeTuxRacer, it looks very promising, and is fully playable. Multiplayer is still in the works and is not available. The game can be configured from the menu to be controlled by the keyboard or an HID, a gamepad oor joystick. The menu is a mouse driven GUI. The joystick button setup requires a bit of guesework, it is easier if you have a gamepad with numbers on the buttons (logitech cordless rumblepad is good) if you do have numbers, remmber that button #3 is probably #2.

Even though I am on a mac, I am running the windoze version of ET Racer with parralels. The source is available along with linux and windows binaries. The source probaably compiles under MacOS X. The 0.5a source of ppracer comppiled cleanly on MacOS X, and ET Racer is based off ppracer.

Unlike the 1.0 version of tuxracer, all the coarses are available to play on without wining an race against an AI player.There are 5 or 6 different types of collectables and many dfferent terrain types ranging from ice and snow to lava and rock. There are no moving object or caves in the tracks.

No, I'm not dead

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 11:15:42 -0700

I've just been pretty busy with school…

About a week ago, my HD got wiped

Fortunatly had a back-up of my home directory

MySQL?

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 20:46:16 -0700

I can't figure out what the deal is with the MySQL service I ordered. Hopefully I'll get this figured out.

MySQL Woes

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 16:58:45 -0700

As you may have noticed, the forum has been down for a while. This is because my web host has stopped giving free users MySQL. I have paid to get this service back, and the forum should be back up in 24 Hrs, but this payment has left a hole in my wallet. So, if you haven't already, please use the link on my home-page to donate a dollar or so to help me out.

Open-Source

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 11:53:24 -0700

As you have noticed, I haven't posted anything new for a while; I still do not have any ideas, so I will just make a list of some of the open-source applications I use everyday:

• MAME

• Seashore

• GIMP

• NeoOffice (Win and Lin versions are OpenOffice)

• Jin

• XimpleMOD

• vDrift

• GCC

• TuxType

• Adium (GAIM)

• Audacity

• MacSword

• CocoModX

• CyberDuck (FTPzilla)

• Delineate

• 7zX

• Camino

• Fink

• NicePlayer

• SuperTux

MarioKart 64

Sat, 28 Jul 2007 11:42:32 -0700

Around the house you may find an old "MrioKart 64" cartridge, but you may say "my N64 is broken". You are in luck, if you own the cartridge, you can legally download the ROM for that game & an N64 emulator. For Mac, sixtyforce is the best one out there, but even this free one should do the job and is available for most OS's.

The game dosen't have FFB, and because the emulator handles controllers, it dosen't make much sense to discuss them here. The game has 8 characters, as you can see in the screenshot. 4 cups with 4 races each. Multiplayer, for up to 4 people. Has 3 skill levels. A Time trial mode; and a Battle mode.

In a race, if the kart leaves the track, it dosen't slow down as much as in SuperTuxKart. The collectables are in transparent, colored boxes, with ? on them.

Even though this game is a bit dated, it is still fun to play.

SuperTuxKart

Fri, 27 Jul 2007 10:24:31 -0700

One of my favorite ways to waste time, is to play SuperTuxKart. It has no support for game-pads )yet), so I set the controls with a utility called Gamepad Companion, the keyboard controls are configurable; and since the controls are digital, it is fun to play with the keyboard. The game is available for Mac, Windows, Linux & and the source-code is available. The developers are implementing a new physics engine, but currently you stop if you are hit. If you drive into a banana, you might get a bomb that will go off unless you rear-end another player.

I have an SVN version with the new physics engine, you can flip over the kart, you don't stop if you hit another player, and in one track you can move around traffic cones. Their are still many problems with the new physics engine.

The menus are laid out nicely and you can navigate them with the mouse or keyboard.. You can select "Gran Prix,""Quick Race," or "time trial. There is also multiplayer for up to four players,

I play the game with a game-pad, although the game currently has poor game-pad support. I use an extension called gamepad companion to map each button to the correct keys, I have 3 gamepads configured this way. A: MacAlly iShock 2, a Logitech cordless rumblepad 2, & a MS Sideinder.

This game is fun, addictive, non-violent and free. It has a lot of potential, on rare occasions it may crash and require a restart. But don't let that stop you.

Racer Vs. vDrift

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 12:24:48 -0700

Because I use a mac I will only discuss mac compatible things; a lot of applications I discuss are open-source, so often Windows & Linux versions exist. If you can make a review of any of these programs, please email them to me, I will try to include them in the next week's blog.

This is my comparison of 2 free racing simulators: vDrift & Racer. Overall I prefer Racer, if you can get it set up. vDrift is much easier to set up and configure, but lacks a rear-view mirror and only has a handful of tracks, witch I might add, have all been converted from Racer. Because vDrift comes with a few track and doesn’t have add-ons, it has good network multiplayer potential. And because Racer has so many add-on cars & tracks mismatch of data files are common. With both games, multiplayer is incomplete; Racer has done it best but is hard to set up, I have never set up vDrift to play with anyone else, an it only has a capacity for 2 players. Some cars for Racer have headlights, non on vDrift do. Both games have AI. Both Games have ABS & TCS, but if you use this feature in Racer, you are limited to around 65 KMPH. Most tracks in Racer have MINIMAPS & AI, vDrift has these in every track. Both have manual transmissions and auto or manual clutch. vDrift has automatic joystick recognition and graphical configuration, in Racer you have to tell the game where to find your joystick.And finally vDrift is a universal application, but Racer is a PPC build that has not been updated in years. I recommend you keep both on your computer, because they both have different strong points.

For either game, I strongly you invest in a wheel. a MOMO wheel from Logitech, it’s even supposed to have new FFB driver in Leopard! Currently FFB only works with PPC applications.

Browsers

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 11:34:21 -0700

I've downloaded updates for all my web browsers; here are short reviews for them all.

• Camino – Very nice browser for those who don't need the extra features

• Firefox – Can be a bit slow to start, depending on how many extentions you have. There are hundreds of free extentions, themes, and other haxies available for Firefox

• Opera – My favorite has a very fast rendering engine and a widget manager. Very customizable. It even has a button which you can set to "load images," "show cached images" or "no images"

• Safari – Simple, like Camino. Only browser that displays this blog correctly, and the new beta prints header info, and is available for Windows too!