This Month’s Picks (Sep. 2008) Part 3 - Mahita & Python September 10, 2008
Posted by mitchfrizzell in Digimon, Geeks, PC, Python, Update.add a comment
This time around we’ve got some junk about my site and my programming. I’m really focusing on Python, trying to learn it really well, and hopefully, it’ll help me get a decent job some day. As for Mahita, it doesn’t really help me do anything, I just really enjoy sharing very insignificant stuff with a very small group of people. So, without further… never mind, just read.
Tag Cloud: As I posted a while back, I made my own little tag cloud to cover up the fact that the old one didn’t work like it was supposed to. The only real problem is that it looks like crap. I’m planning on making one more like the official one, but I just haven’t gotten around to it. I’m planning on making a small Python script that scrapes the categories and number of posts on my blog (most likely from my dashboard) and makes a nice little list of tuples. It’ll then calculate the amount of increase in font neccessary for each one and print out the correspoding HTML. Now that I have a little more free time, I’m going to work on this. The hardest part is thinking up the formula…
Banner: Back in January of 2007 I got my current banner (which is still awesome). But, it was my original plan to cahnge the baby out every year. I desperately need one now, and I’m in the process of thnking whether I want Gundam, Macross, Mospeada, or Digimon. I’m leaning towards Macross or Mospeada; I guess I’ll let fate decide as I look for a nice render.
DigiFind: As I stated in an earlier post, I found a new love in the newest Digimon game, Digimon World Championship. One of the main goals is to collect all 200+ Digimon. However, this is harder than it sounds as some you have to evolve these monsters, and the requirements vary from type to type. So, borrowing the info from the Evolutions Guide from the GF board (Thanks so much BitZero!!) I threw together this program. You simply enter in any Digimon’s name and it compiles a list (a wx TreeCtrl) of all the Digimon’s possible descendants. It works like a charm, and if I can get some permission from BitZero, I’ll be posting the source and the binary in the future.
FireFox Add-Ons: I’ve always been interested in Add-Ons, and since my RSLF didn’t really work out, I’m planning to trying to convert the idea into an Add-On. The basic idea is to search a text for any RS, MU, FU, etc. URLs, and add them to a list in the sidebar from which the user can then open them up in tabs. This saves us the hassle of having to drag the links to the tabbar (or whatever it’s called) when the people are too lazy to make <a> tags. I know there’s probably a similar addon out, or one that makes URLs into <a>’s, but I still want to get into addon designing. More on this if I ever even get around to it.
Well, that’s it for this month, tune in tomorrow for a Gundam 00 Review, and Friday for a Castlevania: DoS review.
This Month’s Picks (Sep. 2008) Part 1 - Games September 5, 2008
Posted by mitchfrizzell in DS, PC, Update, Video Games.add a comment
Each month I plan on reviewing the stuff I’m spending time with, including games, anime and my site. This helps me out to not only push myself to work on the last area, but it also gives me three free posts a month 
Anyways, here we go.
Digimon World Championship (DS): This game supposedly returns to the “roots” of Digimon. Some supposed this to mean World for PS1, and in part they were right. However, we have more of a return to the roots of the Digimon as in the V-Pets. Basically, you’ll train your Digimon all day then do some fights that you have no control in. Don’t get me wrong: I love the V-Pets and I had the first three that came out. I love this game, but you just have to take your time and don’t feel pressured, otherwise you’ll constantly get killed. Also, if you happen to pick up the game, print out the Evolution FAQ found on the GameFAQs board, it’ll really help you out. In fact, I even wrote up a quick and dirty Python script to help me out in this area (more on this Sunday).
Castlevania: DoS (DS): I really love AoS, and DoS is everything I wanted in a sequel, and more. I’ve beaten the game twice on easy, once with 100% souls. Right now I’m working on the Julius mode, then Boss Rush mode, and finally one last playthrough on Hard. I don’t know what it is about Castlevania games, but I just love them. After this, I’m going to look into Portrait of Ruin (or Sortrait, as some say and definitely… the new one, can’t remember how to spell the name.
Hitman: Codename 47 (PC): Playing through it again. Find myself not wanting to be stealthy, and instead just kill people… If I find I really like the game, I might check out the sequel, but I doubt it.
The Shouboutai (DS): One of the newer games in the Simple DS series, we have the Shouboutai. And for those of us that don’t speak any Japanese, that’s Firefighter (I guess). We have a third-person game that pits our characters against fires, hazards, etc. All the while trying to save the people trapped. It’s a really good game, I’ve just placed it on the back burner for now until I finish Castlevania.
That’s all I have planned for this month. If I finish DoS, I might go ahead and pick of Portrait, but I want to take a small brake so I won’t get sick of the games. I’ve also tried Gundam 00 (missing something for me), and Bangai-O Spirits (suck at this type of game) for the DS, but decided not to get them.
Tomorrow is Anime.
My First Python Program June 28, 2008
Posted by mitchfrizzell in PC, Python.add a comment
After roughly two hours of hard work, I’ve finished my first program ever. It’s nothing I’m going to release, and it’s not a big money maker, but I’m very satisfied. I’ve learned a lot about programming, and a lot about my personal limits
What it really taught me about programming on the large scale is that I really needed to start with something small, and work my way up. I knew what I wanted the program to do, and I knew what the eventual upgrades I wanted would be. Mentally, I prepared a list of steps, and little by little, I crossed them off my list, until I got to the first working stage. From there I perfected the code and even wrote an optional module to work side by side with the program. The second thing I learned was that I really love Python. I feel a lot more productive in it, and I seem to have gotten farther faster, and I’m better all around with it than I ever was with C++.
The program itself was pretty simple in theory. I’m a premium user at rapidshare.com, and I download a lot. The problem is that RS has a 100mb file limit. So any real file is broken into parts (I hate parts!). So, normally I search through a bunch of garbled, escaped and unformatted HTML to get the links, and one by one copy the URLs into FireFox. What I wanted was a program that would open all the links from a file. So, I made the .txt file, and wrote the program. It has now evolved to take that bunch of code, and transform it into a neat little .txt file, automatically load the links, and open them in tabs in FireFox (the number of links is specified by the user).
So, it’s not much, but I’m really proud. I never thought I would be able to do it, but I did. Maybe now I’ll have the confidence to move onto something bigger. We’ll see.
Python is Sloppy… June 19, 2008
Posted by mitchfrizzell in C++, PC, Python.2 comments
After really giving up on C++, I’ve moved onto Python. Why did I give up on the mother of all languages (you know what I mean)? I guess I felt - and still feel - that after spending so much time on C++, I was really getting no where. I’ve read around 5 tutorials and 2 full books, and I still feel that there’s something missing. Something I’m missing. C++ has a lot of extra junk that’s not covered in most tutorials, and there’s no real “basin” or other location where I can find a link to these tutorials.
So what I really wanted was something… young (I know that sounds gay). Not in terms of age, but something that’s a little more appropriate for me. It’s not that I’m not willing to spend a lot of time on my programming. In fact, I spend almost 3-4 hours a day messing around with it. It’s just that I needed a real change of pace. Especially after feeling so confident in JavaScript.
That’s where Python comes in. Sure, at a very superficial level it’s sloppy. There are hardly any brackets (used only - as far as I have seen - in lists, tuples and dictionaries: essentially fancy arrays), statements don’t end with a semicolon, and functions, classes, loops, etc are contained with only indentation! That’s right, indentation now has a function other than keeping your code neat. But underneath the surface, this lack of mostly aesthetic punctuation really cuts down on time, and makes spotting your errors easier.
To make myself proficient in Python, I’ve taken it upon myself to go through each and every resource at this awesome site. There’s over 300, but I’m willing to take the trip. Wish me luck, and if you’re taking the same road, let me in on some of your thoughts on Python.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (PC) Review April 8, 2008
Posted by mitchfrizzell in PC, Reviews, Star Wars.2 comments
Well, I’m back with another review, this time for the PC game, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. As the name suggests, the game takes place long before the original trilogy (or most other media we know for that matter). It’s an epic game, taking you across the galaxy, forcing you to make the decision to be good or evil (or should I say many decisions?), and it features one of the biggest plot twists I’ve ever seen in a game to date. Read on to find out how the game itself was.
Graphically the game is nice. It’ll never really wow you, but it does look pretty great. The cinemas are short and far in between, and generally nothing to write home about. However, character design is really nice, and although you do tend to see some faces many times, there are a lot of models, and it all looks pretty nice. The soundtrack is typical Star Wars style, but there’s not really anything that will stick in your mind. The voice acting, however, is really great, and everything is dubbed (even random NPCs are dubbed). That’s not to say that they all have unique voices, but there are a number of languages present in the game (Twi’lek, Huttese, Ithorian, etc), and each sounds great.
The gameplay is rather hard to describe. The action is seen from a third-person view, and you may switch between your main character and two other characters at any time. However, unlike almost every Star Wars game before it, the game is an RPG. Everything is done in real time, even combat, but you’re allowed to pause the game at any time to review your skills, items, combat choices, etc. It’s a really unique system, that you really have to play to understand. Speaking of combat, it’s real time and turn-based at the same time. It’s also somewhat based on a D20 system, so expect some classic random damage. During battle, you can use your two partners and, like out of combat, take control of them at any time. Another huge part of the gameplay, as mentioned above, is the choice between evil and good. Being good is harder in some aspects, and most of the time you walk away with only the satisfaction of having done the right thing. Being evil, is a little easier in the short term, and definitely opens up the path to bigger rewards. The choices you make also affect your items, force powers and the story. After a certain point in the game, you are allowed to travel the galaxy in any order you want, and there are a few mini-games (pazak and Ebon Hawk turret game), but neither are really exceptional in my opinion. There is no multiplayer option for KOTOR.
The game took me right at 25 hours to beat, and it was really worth it. I never really felt bored, and with an evil playthrough about half way done right now, we’re looking at around 45-50 hours overall gameplay time. Seeing as you can get the game for around $20 or less for now, it’s really worth the buy, whether you’re a SW fan or not. I really enjoyed the game as it gave us a few look and feel on the overdone action genre present in almost every Star Wars game ever.
My Quest for a C++ Compiler February 11, 2008
Posted by mitchfrizzell in C++, PC.2 comments
Well, one of my New Year’s resolutions was to write and complete (at least a working version of) my roguelike. I also stated that it was the one resolution that might not come to be. However, I took it upon myself to multi-class in XUL and C++ (a little D&D humor, if you know what I mean). I began last Wednesday, and I had a great time learning. However, when compiling my code one day, I ran into a problem. The compiler I was using didn’t support one of the libraries I wanted to use. So, I thought I could just go online and grab a newer compiler. So I thought…
The compiler I was using was the same one I used a while back when I wanted to learn C (I’m still not sure why I wanted to learn C, but it doesn’t really matter any more), Dev C++. So I unsinstalled that and grabbed the next one on the list; it was a command line compiler, named Borland C++ Compiler. I don’t really enjoy using command line programs, so I moved to the next one on the list. Out of 13 compilers I tried, 7 were command line, 3 were outdated (I mean Windows 95 outdated), 2 were either huge programs or shareware, and one was Microsoft.
Ah, the joy of using Microsoft products. The “compiler” is called Visual C++ 2008. I downloaded the program (at only 2mb or so I was very content that Microsoft had a small program). However, when I ran it, it started a download for an 87mb program. The download went at a blazing 10kbps, and after about three hours I had my program. I loaded up my source (remember, the one that couldn’t compile on Dev C++?) and I looked for the “compile” button. It was nowhere to be found. So, I gladly dived into the help files, and found something more worthless than a non-grounded anti-static wristband. Each section had a “helpful” link to another section. This ended up being me clicking on over 15 links, and never actually finding any help at all! I also looked online, but no one else seemed to have any trouble. I looked for a forum, but found none, and the online help files were about more complicated topics than what I was looking for (compiling PHP, etc.). I promptly uninstalled the 100+mb crap from my computer.
About this time I remembered asking about a good C compiler on the Agora. Turns out that’s where I found out about Dev C++ (also a C compiler). However, I found a very helpful tip from Cidolfas: Edit Plus. Edit Plus is a text editor constructed for HTML, C/C++, Perl, etc. However, you can add your own User Tool (up to 10, I believe), which can include a command line compiler! Once you configure it (took me a while) all you have to do is press Ctrl+1 and it compiles. The best part, however, is that Edit Plus captures the output from the compiler, so any error messages are displayed in the Editor itself. I redownloaded Borland C++, configured it, and now I’m compiling like a madman. I’ve also added another user tool that let’s me run the .exe of the source I’m editing by pressing Ctrl+2.
All in all, finding a decent Windows-based compiler was a huge deal. However, Edit Plus solved that problem for me. If you don’t have it, grab it now, you’ll be glad you did later (also for those HTMLers out there, EP has a browser function that allows you to preview your files while you’re working on them). I know this might sound like a commercial for Edit Plus, and it really is. The program is great, the support is even better (they wrote me back within 12 hours), and it’s better than any Microsoft crap. If you’re looking for a good C++ compiler, grab Borland C++ and Edit Plus, it’s so very easy.
Flash Game of the Week #2: Boxhead: More Rooms September 29, 2007
Posted by mitchfrizzell in Flash, PC, Video Games.Tags: Zombies
4 comments
This week, we take on the awesome Action game, Boxhead: More Rooms.
Flash Game of the Week #1 ArmorPicross September 15, 2007
Posted by mitchfrizzell in Flash, PC, Video Games.add a comment
In this new feature, we’ll be looking at the best flash games out there. This week’s game is ArmorPicross and this week’s category is Puzzle.
Hitman: Codename 47 (PC) Review September 3, 2007
Posted by mitchfrizzell in PC, Reviews, Video Games.add a comment
While many games focus on killing, few games before Hitman actually focused on professionally killing. How does this game play, and will it make you a killer before you get to the end? Well, read on to find out.
This game is somewhat old, so the graphics might not look picture perfect like some newer titles. But then again, who cares about graphics that look real? That would be gross. Anyway, the graphics are old, but in no way bad, or low quality. The weapons look nice, and exceptionally real. The character skins are also nice, and besides a few reused ones, mostly original. Where the game stands out, however, is the size of the levels. They’re huge, and you can spot enemies from far away (on some levels) and each element looks great, from huge warehouses to a dense jungle, the game simply looks great.
The gameplay is somewhat like a walk-wherever-you-want-as-long-as-you’re-disguised Splinter Cell. This brings into play the more important element: stealth. However, stealth is handled a little differently than in other games. You simply grab a uniform from one of the soldiers, and you’re good to go. Should one of the other soldiers find the naked body, though, you’re stuck in a suspicious suit. The hits are nicely laid out with a background story and everything. The levels can be tackled in a number of ways, depending on your style of play.
I really loved the game, but I doubt I’ll grab any other ones in the series. Just the thought of being a paid killer is very disturbing. Pick it up if you’re not really bothered by that, but otherwise, stay away from this game. Oh, and you might want to keep children from playing this too
Deus Ex: Initial Impressions August 13, 2007
Posted by mitchfrizzell in PC, Video Games.add a comment
In my search for a good PC FPS and a good first-person RPG, I was recommended Deus Ex by a fellow RPGCer. Deus Ex is a very expansive RPG in the vein of Elder Scrolls, but with a huge twist. What would that be? It’s an FPS. A very futuristic FPS. This is one of the greatest ideas I have in recent games, read the rest to find out more about this awesome game.
