NotStyro's Blog - 2old2play

Well...

The first pass at CoD:WaW is complete. T'was just a scouting expedition. Now to try the vets pass. With the three-hits-and-your-dead rule strictly enforced, this means I'll be doing alot of staying prone and letting the NPCs take lead. Can't go in guns blazing and expect to get to the end of the level.

"I was about to feel sorry for myself, until NotStyro showed up and made my day with a little gaming! Our gamerscore stands at 6,340 and counting! That is a profit of 135 points over last time! He opened up CoD: World at War gaining an amazing 8 achievements, and did it while marvelling at the framerates and stellar particle effects."

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So far...

"When NotStyro was walking by I pretended to be off. I think it tricked him into turning me on for a few games. Gamer score stands at 6,205. That is a gain of 25 points over last time! He rocked out to CoD: World at War finishing 2 achievements, and loved every minute of it in high definition glory!"

A good Beginning, I think. I just need to review the achievements since CoD gives points for doing something other than completing a level/map/episode. That makes it very easy to miss opportunities for points.

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CoD:W@W...

Gamefly sent me some goodness - CoD: World at War. Just in time since I've been jonesing for something to kill. I just hope my sister bought Red Alert 3 for my b-day (next Monday).

In other actions, over the past week I've rebuilt my main PC into a quad-cored over-clocked minor-diety box. Got a Q6600 quad-core that runs stock at 2.4 ghz and pumped it up to 3.33 ghz (it'll do 3.5, but it then gets too hot). Four gigs memory (3.4 usable), a kick-ass 9800 gtx video card and created a hardware striped raid array for my boot and applications (games) drive. To top it off, I also bought a 24" panel. The rig & panel run like champs and should make me very happy over the next four years.

Anybody else noticing the slacking-off of whomever is supposed to be updating the 'currently playing' lists? A scroll through the list would find many games missing.

Well, I've got C&C 3: Tiberium Wars and UT2004 on the PC. Soon to be joined by SimCity 4 and maybe Red Alert 3. Too bad there isn't a PC blogging site like 360voice...

Was that it? I'm sure there is something else. Maybe next time...

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Just play...

So I returned GOW2 after trying and failing to get anywhere on Hardcore. Just got stuck on Rolling Thunder. I could avoid the guided mortars, but that damned Reaver that comes up beside the drilling rig just wouldn't die no matter how many rounds to the face I gave it (and the damed turret over-heating didn't help).

"I thought NotStyro just wanted to listen to music or watch a DVD. Turns out he was there to game. With a gamer score of 6,180, I should have known that was the case. He rocked out to Duke Nukem 3D, and yeah... wow... my processor hurts..."

So now while I wait for Gamefly to send the next disc...Duke Nukem 3D. I guess things could be worse, I could be playing Halo 1...

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...and so it goes.

Well, finished Gears 2 on Normal. Another few achievements worth 135 points brings my total up to 6,170. Now, should I go onto the next game or try playing through casual and maybe hardcore...?

Apparently the update to 360 dashboard has created some difficulties with live.xbox.com and the 360 blog. The blog isn't updating and live.xbox isn't serving up pages. Well, maybe they will get to normal after I update, or maybe sometime in the future. Ah, well, off to go update...

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Weekly recap...

"Ok, here it is... your weekly recap of gaming: So yeah... Last week NotStyro showed up 5 days total and logged some serious gaming. We added 135 points of gamerscore which ain't too shabby. Getting 14 achievements can do that to you. I was there. I saw it!"

"In the 'new game' category, I only have one to talk about... Gears of War 2. I wasn't even going to mention it, but I figured my readers might get mad. So there it is. Also, I think NotStyro's favorite game last week was Gears of War 2. He played it on 5 of the days."

Nice.

Any systems builders on here? I'm thinking of upgrading/rebuilding my winbox. Here are some specs...

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
Asus P5Q-E
4GB RAM
Antec True Power Trio 650W
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
Antec P-160 case (re-use if possible)
2x 80GB HD for RAID, re-use all other drives

Can't wait to get the parts and build this beast.

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More, more, more...

"NotStyro seemed really excited to play yesterday. Our current gamerscore is 6,025 . That is a boost of 30 points over last time! That was enough to cross the 6,000 mark! Good stuff! He rocked out to Gears of War 2 gaining 3 achievements, and then the lightweight went to bed. Freakin' wuss."

Hell, yeah, I went to bed! It was, like, 1:30am...on a work night. Fortunately it was too cold to cycle this morning (under 60 F) or I would have had a really hard time keeping myself wake and lucid.

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Up, up and away...

"NotStyro showed up yesterday and we were like a superhero team together. I make a great sidekick! Gamerscore stands at 5,995. Up up and away right? That is an improvement of 40 points over last time! He made some progress on Gears of War 2 winning 4 achievements, and almost cried with joy. I have that effect on people."

I'm loving Gears 2.

To answer the question from the last entry...I've been trying to fix various parts of my life, watching too much tv & movies, working and exercising too much to fit playing games into the mix. But I had to start playing again for Gears 2.

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Still around...

From the blog...

"I thought maybe the power was out yesterday... imagine my surprise when NotStyro hit the switches! Gamerscore stands at 5,955. That is a boost of 55 points over last time! He played Gears of War 2 picking up an amazing 6 achievements, and then I came out of my trance and realized it was all over."

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TS Fay redux...

But first the 360 must speaketh...

"My power supply almost exploded! NotStyro turned on the juice and we did some serious gaming! 5,725 points of total gamerscore is pretty good. Admit it. That is a profit of 30 points over last time! He made some progress on Unreal Tournament® 3 winning 1 achievement, and oh... don't tell NotStyro this, but I have been getting in a little video chat in the off-hours. Booyah!"

Awesome.

Now then, TS Fay has been raging off-n-on all damn night. Wind, rain, wind-n-rain, lightening, etc. Just like a really bad and really long thunderstorm. Wind is currently moving at an average of 20 mph. Yesterday we received 2.8 inches of rain, and today we already got 3.6 inches with more on the way.

TS Fay is supposedly heading to the NNE. From the current 'eye' to the label for 'Merritt Island'. She's going to go give NASA some wind up at the Kennedy Space Center/Cape Canaveral (they are already making changes to protect the shuttle & Oct-8 launch window).

Update: Duke Nukem 3D for the 360! Ok, not Duke Nukem Forever, but still awesome!

(image removed - use your imagination)

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Fun with TS Fay...

Knock, knock...

Floridians: Who's there?

Tropical Storm Fay...

Floridians: Arrrrggggh!

Another fun day, or two, in paradise...

(image removed - use your imagination)

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Keeps on playin'...

From da blog...

"Oh man, NotStyro was totally in the gaming zone yesterday when he fired me up to play. 5,695 points of total gamerscore doesn't do his skills justice. That is a gain of 60 points over last time! He made some progress on Unreal Tournament® 3 adding 2 achievements, as well as basked in the glow of my great blade navigation interface!"

Alrighty! Finally making some progress. I got a bit stuck at the end of chapter 2 (or was it 3?) due to needing a high degree of teamwork, and expecting the bots to deliver. Yeah, right. The bots get stuck doing the usual things that NCPs do - running into walls, guarding while facing walls, trying to drive tanks into impassable areas and just generally being unhelpful.

It probably helped when I found the way to send a command to the team and they somewhat did what was asked. There was still a high degree of chaos and stupidity in the bots actions, but I guess I have to expect that.

Still, playing UT3 on the big monitor/tv is a blast. If I thought the developers will put out more maps, mutators, mods and bot upgrades I would be inclined to purchase the game. Add some more content and it might just push Crackdown off the top of the 'dumb & fun shooter' category.

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'Sup...?

So, I've been away for awhile, missed me? Anybody? Hmm...?

Had family visiting from out of town so that took some time while waiting for Gamefly to send something good my way. GF certainly threw some gaming lovin' my way...

I'm playing UT3! On the 360! Woot!

UT2004 is one of my favorite games on the PC. It is among the first apps to be installed after reinstalling windows and a criteria for successful tinkering with the winbox. If UT2004 doesn't work, the whole thing gets done again.

I was so excited to start playing UT3 the other day it was almost like losing my virginity all over again. Slap the disc in the box, sign-on, load, goto instant action and...die...respawn...instagib...respawn...splat!...WTF?!? It seems the default controls have some issues. Namely the developers dialed-up the sensitivity to max and the usual 'what does this button do'. Took me some testing with Crackdown & COD4 before I believed the sticks weren't completely screwed-up.

Now that I've got the controls squared away (for now), I started the SP campaign. Funny thing, I don't even remember if UT2004 has an SP campaign. At any rate, the UT3 SP is just a bunch of deathmatches, CTF, team play and control matches strung together around some rather loose 'story'. I figure I'll work through this getting the achievements and then maybe play with MP and Instant Action.

OK, getting back to the family visiting. My niece, her son and BF came down from Georgia to visit for a week. Stayed at my sisters place and I did the paparazzi thing following them around taking pictures.

Here are some...

The rest are on my photostream at Flickr.

Oh yeah, we had a blast. An active 4 yo, beaches, waterparks, zoos, beaches, sleep-overs at my place, the kid had a great vacation before starting pre-school. I plan to try next year to bring him down for a couple weeks without his mother. I figure we can hit the Orlando theme parks (Disney, Universal & Aquatica) and then head down here. His mother can then drive down and pickup her well-spoiled son. Probably be some type of summercamp/babyborrowers thing that I think he'll really like.

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Finished...

Well, finished BF:BC. Nice game, some issues, but overall still a good rental.

"NotStyro must have heard my calling... I was practically startled when his greasy finger pounded my power button. I mean come on... be a little gentle... I am fragile. Just some helpful advice for someone with a 5,625 gamerscore. That is an improvement of 85 points over last time! He rocked out to BF: Bad Company adding 4 achievements, and then I came out of my trance and realized it was all over."

So the game goes back to GF and I await the next rental...

I heard from my sister that my neice will be driving down and staying for seven days (!). She'll be doing some night driving with her longtime BF doing navigator duty. I just hope they pack the emergency gear and know what they are geting into. They'll get in sometime on Saturday morning and my sister and her hubby will have to sit with the 4.5 yo while the drivers get some shut-eye.

Funny thing, the BIL said he isn't watching the kid and my sister is kinda put-off by the idea also, so I said I'll watch him. Yeah, the single guy that hasnt raised any kids will step-up. At least until I have to go to work and then maybe see if he likes to color or draw with crayons or somesuch. The kid is pretty active so I dunno if that'll work, but it is something for a few hours.

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Gettin' it on...

From da blog....

"Pick it, pack it fire it up, come along, lets get NotStyro's gaming on! Gamer score is 5,540. That is an increase of 105 points over last time! He played BF: Bad Company adding an amazing 6 achievements, and oh... don't tell NotStyro this, but I have been dumbing down the AI lately... I am hoping it keeps him coming back for more! MUHAHAHA!"

Last night was a fun night! Watched Nightwatch (Nochnoy Dozor) and that just put me in the mood for kicking some russki and merc ass!

I've got Daywatch (Dnevnoy Dozor) for tonight, so maybe I'll blast through some more of this game.

Fwiw, it'll be 2009 before Twilightwatch (Sumerechnyy Dozor) is released in the US.

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