Recently in Games Category

Holy crap. I keep meaning to update, but then I get distracted by any one of the million things happening in my life right now.

I attended the 2008 FreeBSD Developers Summit along with BSDCan in Ottawa, Canada. BSDCan is like Christmas for me. I love going, and I look forward to it all year. I get to see a lot of friends that I normally don't get to hang out with, and I miss them a lot. There was some awkwardness, however. A few years ago, I made a rule for myself that I would never, ever date someone affiliated with FreeBSD. It sounds like a good idea in theory, but I knew it would end badly if ever put into practice. Last year, I broke that rule. It was just a fling: nothing serious. He was at Dev Summit and BSDCan though, and it was tense trying to avoid him. Maybe I didn't end the relationship in the best way, but there's not much I can do about it now. I related this story to Leslie, adding my signature phrase "There is no sex at the BSDCan." She then busted out an awesome modified rendition of Chris Rock's "No Sex in the Champagne Room".

I met up with Leslie at BSDCan, which was a huge relief. When I stood up at Dev Summit and looked around the room, there was one other female, Diane Bruce. BSDCan itself usually isn't much better. You don't know the meaning of the term sausagefest until you've been to a BSD convention. When I showed up at BSDCan's opening ceremony, I saw Leslie sitting in the middle of the room. Yay! Another female. She introduced me to her friend, Emma. Very cool chick. We three girls hung out together most of the conference. As much as I love talking about FreeBSD with random people, I'm just a lot more comfortable hanging around girls, especially these girls. No one will ever refer to them as "such-and-such's girlfriend". As a female in tech, I've got to say that's one of the worst things I could be referred to as. Hello? I am not an accessory.

Now, on to the big announcements. I've officially joined the FreeBSD Marketing team. Yep, that's right. I'm now randi at freebsd dot org. Most of my friends know how much I've wanted to find my place in the project. It's been very important to me for a long time. I was so happy that I escaped back to my hotel room to jump up and down and squeal like a girl. Thank god no one saw that. I doubt that anyone else has quite reacted to joining the project like I did.

I've got a few projects in the works right now. Soon, I'll be setting up blog.freebsd.org. Sure, we've got release notes and such, but wouldn't it be great if we had a blog where we could pimp our accomplishments? Talk about what we're currently working on, projects recently completed. ZFS got like a one line mention in the release notes. That's a bunch of crap. How are people supposed to know about it? I know that not everyone bothers reading release notes. I'm even willing to admit that sometimes I don't bother reading the whole thing, either. I guess that's going to have to change, now.

I'm also helping plan MeetBSD California, where we will be celebrating FreeBSD's 15 year anniversary. Setting up a conference is challenging, especially on a tight budget. Know any companies that might be interested in helping sponsor us? Want to get on the mailing list for conference info? Drop me a line at the new email address.

Igor's moving out next weekend, so I'm busy packing all of his crap. I'm trying to prepare for living on my own, something that I haven't done in a very long time. I bought a pink toolset from Amazon, and I think I'm going to get a cat. Isn't that what single girls do? I also bought a PS3 last night. I'm not sure if I'm impressed by it or not. The game selection is a bit lacking. I picked up Heavenly Sword (chick with a sword, how can you go wrong there?), Uncharted, and Guitar Hero III. Any recommendations?

Grand Theft Auto IV came out yesterday, and of course I bought it. I've always been a fan of the GTA series, although I never got into playing it. This was the first in the series that I could see myself wanting to play, and I was really excited to get home and get started. I didn't get all that far since I get home rather late at night (I work in San Bruno, live in Sunnyvale. You do the math), but I definitely see the appeal of the game.

It was obvious that this game was going to be controversial. It's not rocket surgery to draw this conclusion. Just check out the Ladies of Liberty City video. People are already talking about how horrible this game will be for our youth - how it promotes violence. Some fucktard stabbing some other dude in the neck while waiting in line to get this game just gives them more ammo. I doubt we're ever going to convince Jack Thompson that video games aren't the antichrist, but maybe I could find him another cause.

Remember those tickle-me-elmo dolls that came out a few years ago? There were many stories about adults - fine outstanding members of society, mind you, not the ghettoscum that's creating headlines about violence with GTA IV - being violent in their attempt to get a tickle-me-elmo for their kids. If a tickle-me-elmo can take a normally responsible, caring, loving parent and turn them into a foaming at the mouth, violent fucktard, then clearly we have a problem, Mr. Thompson. Sesame street is terrible for children! It's encouraging violence in their parents, their role models, and something must be done.

I don't actually think any of my friends use twitter, but I created an account anyways. I've been so busy lately interviewing, finding a new place to live, and playing WoW that I don't really have the time (or more likely, energy) to blog long updates.

I've got a Blood Elf Hunter on Emerald Dream. It's true what they say - hunters are EZ-mode.

Igor and I are more or less over. There wasn't excessive drama, just irreconcilable differences. Note to self: never date a Russian ever again. Also, only date people that believe in deodorant. I always thought this was implied. Apparently, it's not.

All you guys living in the bay area that don't wear deodorant, this is for you: It's true, it doesn't get hot here. The most strenuous thing you do is type at 100wpm. You change your shirt daily. You might even shower daily. NONE OF THIS MATTERS. You still smell. It's not a manly smell, it's a gross smell. What is the purpose of this? Do you plan on getting the smell horrid enough that you can bury some chicks face in your pits, causing her to pass out so you can drag her home as some sort of fucked up mating ritual? You aren't a caveman. You're in IT. You're like the anti-caveman. You can't club a bear and drag it home for the woman to cook, so the least you can do is smell nice. Wear deodorant. Get some goddamn cologne. This is ridiculous.

I went to NANOG in SJC. Not the actual conference, but the after-parties. Four people played with my hair. It was very strange. Here are some photos.

I'm thinking of getting a miniature poodle, dying her to match my hair, and naming her Organic. I met some chick in Austin that did that for a living. I remember her telling me about a dog she dyed to look like My Little Pony. That's kind of awesome, in a slightly disturbing way.

I've got an X Box 360, but most of my friends don't play consoles, so I have no one in my friends list on X Box Live. If you play on XBL and you've got some of the same games as me, message me.

I seriously miss being able to say "I'm bored". Not that I've even uttered those words more than a few times in the past year.

I turned 26 last Saturday. I don't really feel any older than I did when I was 25. The goods? A new nvidia 8800 gts from Igor. Mmmm. Having a gamer boyfriend is nice - he buys me hardware in lieu of flowers. I always said that I'm not the kind of girl that guys buy flowers for. He gets this.

So what's been keeping me away from my blog? Work, work, work. When I'm not working, I'm packing my stuff. Igor asked me to move in with him. Originally we were looking for a place in San Francisco, but his contract with Yahoo! was extended until the end of this year at least, so instead I'm moving into his tiny dark pit of an apartment in Sunnyvale. No, it's not exactly the best location, and calling this place a pit is probably being a bit kind. I don't think he's ever cleaned it. Ever. I'm not exactly a neat person; I've got way too much stuff for that. Even so, other peoples messes bother me, so I'm working on cleaning it before I move too much of my stuff. I can't complain too much, though. My half of the rent will be $400, and this is unheard of in Northern California. His internet connection is much faster than what I had at my house in Belmont, so that more than makes up for it. Insert perverted joke about his pipe here. I'm too tired to think up one myself. Have fun with that. It's not so much a serious relationship move as it is a lowering my rent move. I'm not all that happy about not having my own bedroom, but I'll deal with it.

The Shuttle PC I bought is working out splendidly. I manage to steal a few moments now and then to play Bioshock and Heroes of Might and Magic V. Ok, not so much Bioshock. Yes, it's a spectacular game. I love cuddling up to Igor and watching him play it. I installed the game (Igor bought it for me, such a good boy!) while azn_jesus was over during one of The L Word marathons, and I managed to swim through the plane wreckage and get in the elevator that took me down to Rapture. Then I saw one of those Splicer chicks, and she started going crazy and trying to get at me. I freaked out and turned the game off. I am such a wuss, I know. My old video card, an NVidia 8500 GT, was all I had at the time, and the game played horribly. If I can't play in 1600x1200 with the video settings turned all the way up, I'm not a happy camper. I still haven't put the 8800 GTS in, as I need to stop by my house and get a Y power splitter. The 8800 is a beast. It takes up two slots (which is all the Shuttle has) with it's massive heatsink and fan and requires *two* power connectors. I really hope the shuttle can handle it. It claims to only need a 400W power supply, which is what the Shuttle came with. If all goes well, this absolutely adorable tiny PC will make a killer gaming box. All it's missing is a window kit and blinking lights.

I keep glancing at Igor's kitchen. I'm dreading having to clean iit, but I guess I should get the worst over with. I'll attempt to update more often in the future, but it may be a few weeks until things get back to some semblance of normal. I can't wait until I get my desk here. I may be buying a car soon, as well. My boss is considering selling me his BMW 323i. It's a totally cute black convertible. Definitely my style, even if I'll only put the top down at night.

Ok, that so obviously didn't happen. As I'm sure you can probably tell.

I'll be doing it at some point... instead I bought a new computer to use at PAX. It's hella sweet. More on that later. I'm about to take off of work to go home and install Windows Vista (heh!) on it so I can game.

FreeBSD isn't a gaming platform. Yes, I play WoW on it - in fact, I prefer using WoW in FreeBSD to using it in Windows, but there are other games out there. I know it's hard to believe; I was shocked when I found out.

I must prepare for PAX. I must train. My game-fu will be strong. Oh, yes. The time of FPS reckoning has begun.

I recommend that you all go out and listen to Kidneythieves at once.

I've had several people ask me if I'll be appearing at DEFCon. Fuck, no.

I was planning on joining the World of Warcraft masses at Blizzcon, but it sold out. Sad.

I will be at PAX. I've always adored the guys over at Penny Arcade. PA is usually how I start my work day, followed by xkcd, Ctrl+Alt+Del, Questionable Content, and a bagel. I love bagels.

Yahoo! is still doing well. I know I've been misquoted by the press a lot lately. Dear press, Fuck you. Learn to read. Love, Randi.

I'm still dating Igor. He also works at Yahoo!, which makes life interesting. At least he's in a different group (Yahoo! Photos). He's a coder, gamer, photographer, and he looks like Harry Potter. Yeah, it's great. I'm the envy of 16 year old girls everywhere.

Due to popular request, here's how I did it. These guidelines assume you've got an nvidia video card. If you don't... well, I can't help you. ;)

FreeBSD tart.freebsdgirl.com 6.2-RELEASE-p2 FreeBSD 6.2-RELEASE-p2 #4: Sun Mar 11 03:36:58 PDT 2007 root@tart.freebsdgirl.com:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/DESKTOP i386

esound 0.2.37_1
nvidia-driver 1.0.9746
wine-0.9.33,1
xorg-clients 6.9.0_3
xorg-libraries 6.9.0_1
xorg-server 6.9.0_6

Enable glx under the Module section of your xorg,conf, and run xdpyinfo from an xterm to verify your configuration. You should see both GLX and NV-GLX in the list of enabled extensions.

After installing wine, run winecfg to bring up the graphical configuration editor. Click to see a screenshot of my Applications Tab, Audio Tab, and Graphics Tab. The audio tab won't display a checkbox for esound unless the daemon is running. It's not required that you use esound, but that was the method I decided on. Use what works for you.

The only way I could install WoW was by copying over the directory from my old windows installation. I had a lot of issues with the installer from the CD, but your mileage may vary. Unless you've got a non-standard wine directory configuration, you'll want to copy/install to ~/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/World of Warcraft.

Using your favorite text editor, open WTF/Config.WTF inside the World of Warcraft directory. This file contains most of the general audio/video configuration options. See WoWWiki: Config.wtf Defaults for more information.

Add/change these variables.

SET gxApi "opengl"
SET gxWindow "1"

Here's some Config.wtf tips from WoWWiKi: Linux/Wine.

If you experience poor performance, graphical glitches, or the game doesn't run at all, then add the following options as well:

SET ffxDeath "0"
SET ffxGlow "0"

If you experience stuttering, bad sound or no sound what so ever, then add the following options as well:

SET SoundOutputSystem "1"
SET SoundBufferSize "150"

Download the Apply to Forehead Addon, and unzip it to Interface/Addons in your World of Warcraft directory. Make sure you keep this addon enabled, as it's unlikely you'll be able to change your Video Options without the game crashing without it.

From the author's page:

This add on makes it possible for Linux users to change the Video Options in-game (except resolution). This is done by killing off the following functions:
    * SetMultisampleFormat
    * SetScreenResolution
    * RestartGx

Ready to play? Cross your fingers, and run:

wine "c:\program files\world of warcraft\wow.exe"

Screen Caps

...despite the rumors to the contrary. I've been working ~20 hour days lately, so I haven't had much time for anything other than catching up on sleep. Hopefully things will be calming down at work soon, so I'll have time for life again.

I did manage to get some time to myself this weekend, despite the DST changes. I used this time to get WoW working under wine in FreeBSD - working well, even. It outperforms my windows install. Bye bye, windows. Getting *anything* working under wine in FreeBSD is a hassle, so I'm quite proud. I ran into some stickiness when trying to get glx to behave nicely (using nvidia xorg driver), so I had to do some fiddling with that and direct3d sound emulation. However, I still hate wine. tlp, fix cedega!

I'll have some screenshots up of said WoW installation as soon as I uh... get time to play it. Hm.