Some of my most "proud" achievements and ones that took up most of my time. I reckon 20% is spent on the "Hard Work", 40% on the "Gaming", and another 40% is spent here...
I did a lot of collecting during these 5 months...
1) My MC Skyrocketed
My MC rised from about 729 in March 2006, to a whopping 1110 (and still increasing as of now). That's almost a 35% increase. I first got my computer during Secondary 2, which is like 6 years ago. That means 6 years of time I collected about 729. But in 5 months I managed to collect 300+! That's godly achievement! Even I cannot believe it. On average I think I add about 10 of them per day. Heh...Now I have a very extensive and wide library. In addition, I manage to dig out a lot of old discs when doing my spring cleaning. I'm gonna place them all into my computer and throw the old discs away. Heh. They include some of the rarest ones that it is almost impossible to find nowadays already. At least they won't be lost forever with the passage of time.
2) Media-Monkey
Best music management software ever. I'm so glad I discovered this during my ITP. Thanks to it I manged to complete the tagging of all my files. Year, rating, artist, title, occassion together with lyrics. Sweet. I don't know how I got the energy to do all of these. I searched through the forums and got the best scripts for the program. Favourite nodes, Startup node, Advanced Report, Detailed Info Panel, Song Preview... I edit the export script (Stupid VB) to replace the lame original one...Now it's freaking cool and I can see everything on one single, neat HTML page. It increased my enjoyment of listening to music immensely.
3) Zhou Xing Xing
My favourite comedian actor! Well well...
All Stephen Chow Movies Rated By Class
Top 10 Stephen Chow Hilarious Scenes
All fo them~All of them. Wasted lot of time but it's definitely worth it. About old dramas, here's a list of ALL old Mediacorp dramas. Their name alone brought back lot of memories...
4) Animes
I re-watched 2 of my favourite animes during the holiday season! Ah My Goddess (Melt when I see Belldandy) and Rave (When is Season 3 coming out!) And...Happy Tree Friends! Yep. Heh Heh...Also watching Card Captor (Ahh......still think it's a super sweet anime)
5) S.H.E Video Clips
Ahh...I've really been lagging behind in my S.H.E Collection over the past 1 year. I recently found out that my niece is a great fan of S.H.E, and what's more, she got a whole bunch of their clips...Haha. Really is 踏破铁鞋无觅处，得来全不费工夫. I spent a lot of time filtering out the clips from hers, so that I do not duplicate ones that I already have. Have to rewatch the clips. Adding her new ones together with my already massive collection, I now got a whole mountain of S.H.E videos. I don't think anyone can finish them even if they watch non-stop for 3 days and 3 nights.
Talking about S.H.E...Haiz...I think they're facing their greatest crisis yet. I never felt they were in any "danger" before. Not even when Ella fell. (Even though a lot of people speculate that's the end of them) This time though is a bit different, but I still have faith in them.
Haiz...don't know what's wrong with Ella...she used to be the most optimistic of the 3. Now she's like so easily depressed. Her problems began as early as Encore when she often cried when she went for show recording. Now it just become more prominent. I think it's largely due to her injuries and the massive workload, not to mention the recent Media rumors. The Taiwan media sucks like hell and do nothing but do harm to the celebrities.
H.I.M (Which really, is a small music company that has no other big stars that can roll in as much money as S.H.E) is really pushing them too hard. Way too hard. I hope H.I.M give them more rest. I don't need them to release albums at a crazy speed like they did in the past. 1 album per year I am more than happy. Just don't disband. Please don't.
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Saturday, August 19, 2006
5 Months Of......Intense Gaming
Ahhh...I've played a lot of games during these 5 months. The most important ones being...
Civilization IV - 2005 Game Of The Year and 1 of the most addictive game I've ever played. Never regret picking up this game and I've conquered the world using both the sword and the pen countless times since I brought it. Learnt a lot about the historical leaders of the past and of course the wonders. Quite disappointed with the Warlords expansion as it didn't really add to the gameplay. Biggest regret is my com specs is not good enough to go to the 18 Civlization World War...god, that's gonna be so cool. The best I can go up to now are 8 civilizations without the game lagging to 2 frames per second.
A true story was made by a famous book author, Iain Banks:
"It's all because I became a serial addict of the computer game 'Civilisation'," Banks said at this month's Edinburgh book festival. I played it for three months and then realised I hadn't done any work. In the end, I had to delete all the saved files and smash the CD. It is very unprofessional of me. I had to ask for an extension for the first time, which made me feel just like I was a student again."
Yes...this game is THAT addictive. Don't even go close to it if you don't want to waste your life away. There's even an organization which help free people from "Civ Addiction"...One more turn...one more turn...geez! The videos on the site are super funny...
Suikoden V - What can beat my favourite RPG series of all time. Great story, great characters and...OK gameplay. Attack on Sun Palace is still ringing in my head.
Try a lot of other games as well...
Heroes V - A great game but annoying bugs spell its doom...Limited towns and creatures, annoying 3D world navigation made it difficult to spot treasure. I still ilke Heroes 3 more, but then this game is way better than 4 already.
The Movies - Ahhh...I think I spent more than 1 week playing this none stop. From the moment I woke up till I go to bed. It was damn addictive at the start and I even made 2 movies on my old (and did the voice dubbing) which was damn funny. Sadly, this game faces many issues, especially late games when the micro-management of all the stars became so frustrating...
Warcraft 3 - Ahh...I can never get warcraft 3 completely out of my life. However, the recent "disbanding" (spirtually and physically) of my "OYA" clan (Haiz...and I finally got promoted to Shaman position after 1 year with them) eventually leads to me losing interest in these game. Still, I enjoy watching WC3 replays as much as ever.
- Grubby is still, the undisputed Orc King and 1 of the top 3 warcraft players in the world.
- Moon is still godly and reigning over all with his supreme power of Night Elves. Seriously he is the only one that can beat Grubby.
- The "4 King" clans lead by Grubby and his 4 Kings 4K.Fury, 4K. Tod and 4K. Zeus and 4K. Fov still rule over Warcraft as the number 1 clan.
- SK Clan experts Sky, Deadman,Insomnia and the dreaded Sk.Sweet.....
- SK.Zacard...I still remember the castastrophic battle between him and Grubby at the WCG Finals...He lost in the end but really great battle.
- 天王杀手 Gostop is still slaying the kings but losing to "no name" players...
- IGE.Remind and Lucifier are still battling over who's the King of Undead.
- Unorthodox players like Angry_Korea_Man are still using unorthodox methods.
Haha...nothing have changed in the WC3 scene after all these years, and I still enjoy watching their matches. Some legendary players have really retired...Madfrog (The former Undead King), Tillerman (He's a WC3 legend in 2003 already) and my favourite human play PerfumeWest are gone. Hope to see them play again some day.
Recently AMD Price Slashing - I was really attempted to upgrade my system. I mean...$459 processors dropping to $199?! Are you kidding me. A lot got more than 50% price cuts. Sadly the comments I got was that I shouldn't buy a system since I'm going into the army. I guess they're right...I swear I'm going to play a 18 Civilization World War one day.
Civilization IV - 2005 Game Of The Year and 1 of the most addictive game I've ever played. Never regret picking up this game and I've conquered the world using both the sword and the pen countless times since I brought it. Learnt a lot about the historical leaders of the past and of course the wonders. Quite disappointed with the Warlords expansion as it didn't really add to the gameplay. Biggest regret is my com specs is not good enough to go to the 18 Civlization World War...god, that's gonna be so cool. The best I can go up to now are 8 civilizations without the game lagging to 2 frames per second.
A true story was made by a famous book author, Iain Banks:
"It's all because I became a serial addict of the computer game 'Civilisation'," Banks said at this month's Edinburgh book festival. I played it for three months and then realised I hadn't done any work. In the end, I had to delete all the saved files and smash the CD. It is very unprofessional of me. I had to ask for an extension for the first time, which made me feel just like I was a student again."
Yes...this game is THAT addictive. Don't even go close to it if you don't want to waste your life away. There's even an organization which help free people from "Civ Addiction"...One more turn...one more turn...geez! The videos on the site are super funny...
Suikoden V - What can beat my favourite RPG series of all time. Great story, great characters and...OK gameplay. Attack on Sun Palace is still ringing in my head.
Try a lot of other games as well...
Heroes V - A great game but annoying bugs spell its doom...Limited towns and creatures, annoying 3D world navigation made it difficult to spot treasure. I still ilke Heroes 3 more, but then this game is way better than 4 already.
The Movies - Ahhh...I think I spent more than 1 week playing this none stop. From the moment I woke up till I go to bed. It was damn addictive at the start and I even made 2 movies on my old (and did the voice dubbing) which was damn funny. Sadly, this game faces many issues, especially late games when the micro-management of all the stars became so frustrating...
Warcraft 3 - Ahh...I can never get warcraft 3 completely out of my life. However, the recent "disbanding" (spirtually and physically) of my "OYA" clan (Haiz...and I finally got promoted to Shaman position after 1 year with them) eventually leads to me losing interest in these game. Still, I enjoy watching WC3 replays as much as ever.
- Grubby is still, the undisputed Orc King and 1 of the top 3 warcraft players in the world.
- Moon is still godly and reigning over all with his supreme power of Night Elves. Seriously he is the only one that can beat Grubby.
- The "4 King" clans lead by Grubby and his 4 Kings 4K.Fury, 4K. Tod and 4K. Zeus and 4K. Fov still rule over Warcraft as the number 1 clan.
- SK Clan experts Sky, Deadman,Insomnia and the dreaded Sk.Sweet.....
- SK.Zacard...I still remember the castastrophic battle between him and Grubby at the WCG Finals...He lost in the end but really great battle.
- 天王杀手 Gostop is still slaying the kings but losing to "no name" players...
- IGE.Remind and Lucifier are still battling over who's the King of Undead.
- Unorthodox players like Angry_Korea_Man are still using unorthodox methods.
Haha...nothing have changed in the WC3 scene after all these years, and I still enjoy watching their matches. Some legendary players have really retired...Madfrog (The former Undead King), Tillerman (He's a WC3 legend in 2003 already) and my favourite human play PerfumeWest are gone. Hope to see them play again some day.
Recently AMD Price Slashing - I was really attempted to upgrade my system. I mean...$459 processors dropping to $199?! Are you kidding me. A lot got more than 50% price cuts. Sadly the comments I got was that I shouldn't buy a system since I'm going into the army. I guess they're right...I swear I'm going to play a 18 Civilization World War one day.
Friday, August 18, 2006
5 Months Of......Dilligent Work
Blink of an eye...and 5 months have passed since the internship. Will be enlisting in about 3 weeks. Decide to do a summary of what I did during the past 5 months, to make sure I didn't waste (or at least "completely waste") my time away.
1) The Bluff Game
First "real game" I did on my accord. Game development was stopped twice but still mangaged to complete it in the end. Very happy with the results. Learnt a lot experimenting with the AI and most importantly Java networking. Did this throughout from April all the way to August.
2) The Comedian Zone
Another important work I focus greatly on during July and August. First site I made completely using CSS positioning. Really learnt a lot about CSS and I think it thought me much more than the WWWP module...Thanks to a great collection of jokes and aspiration stories I saw on Hardware-zone and Gamefaqs forum.
3) "Relearning" PHP
More like "Learning from scratch" because IWED have taught me nuts about PHP. Manage to experiment with the Open source "phpBB 2.0". Programmed quite a number of navigation functions that is not found in the built in Dreamweaver behaviours. Now I actually understand what the hell the Dreamweaver code is doing instead of blindly using its function.
4) MySQL...Again.
Picked up a very good book on SQL from the library call "Crash course on SQL". No bullshit stuff like "History of SQL" and the boring crap. Straight to the point, very practical and easy to understand. Didn't manage to use the more complex stuff in the website though.I also learnt about this thing called "URL-encoding" which did a very good job of frustrating me for days...
5) Originalize My Games
Replace all the "Kope from Internet" graphics from my older games and replace them with "Programmer Art" by me...
6) Update my Portfolio
Basically update my portfolio site to be more presentable...
7) Freelance for MOE
Did 4 flash games in total for MOE...probably for the last time...hopefully the last time.
I really could have done more if I hadnt spent so much time slacking, but "all work and no play" sucks...Can't say I have "fully utilize" these 5 months, but I sure didn't waste them all. I learnt some new skills, refresh my older skills so they don't become rusty, and earned some money...Haha.
1) The Bluff Game
First "real game" I did on my accord. Game development was stopped twice but still mangaged to complete it in the end. Very happy with the results. Learnt a lot experimenting with the AI and most importantly Java networking. Did this throughout from April all the way to August.
2) The Comedian Zone
Another important work I focus greatly on during July and August. First site I made completely using CSS positioning. Really learnt a lot about CSS and I think it thought me much more than the WWWP module...Thanks to a great collection of jokes and aspiration stories I saw on Hardware-zone and Gamefaqs forum.
3) "Relearning" PHP
More like "Learning from scratch" because IWED have taught me nuts about PHP. Manage to experiment with the Open source "phpBB 2.0". Programmed quite a number of navigation functions that is not found in the built in Dreamweaver behaviours. Now I actually understand what the hell the Dreamweaver code is doing instead of blindly using its function.
4) MySQL...Again.
Picked up a very good book on SQL from the library call "Crash course on SQL". No bullshit stuff like "History of SQL" and the boring crap. Straight to the point, very practical and easy to understand. Didn't manage to use the more complex stuff in the website though.I also learnt about this thing called "URL-encoding" which did a very good job of frustrating me for days...
5) Originalize My Games
Replace all the "Kope from Internet" graphics from my older games and replace them with "Programmer Art" by me...
6) Update my Portfolio
Basically update my portfolio site to be more presentable...
7) Freelance for MOE
Did 4 flash games in total for MOE...probably for the last time...hopefully the last time.
I really could have done more if I hadnt spent so much time slacking, but "all work and no play" sucks...Can't say I have "fully utilize" these 5 months, but I sure didn't waste them all. I learnt some new skills, refresh my older skills so they don't become rusty, and earned some money...Haha.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Bluff - Multiplayer Version!
I thought the Multiplayer version would never see the daylight. But it did, and I am so glad. Thanks to gamefaqs "Game Design and Programming" forum, their positive comments helped greatly in motivating me to complete the Networking version.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
" Great Presentation. Found the choice of using 1 and a half deck and the ability to call out any value wierd. Guess the local style here is a bit different. I lost bad, but I'll see if I could develop some strategies. " -Grandtrain
" That was a great game, if not a bit easy. My score is 8338 points and my time was 6 mins and 2 seconds (second try). Anyhow, nice job. I'm just getting into programming and would be happy if I could someday create a game half as entertaining as this. ITs a refreshing break from solitaire and hearts :) " -Kram88
" Nice looking game. A little different than the BS I am used to. " -Imperfect Freak
" Great game although a tiny part of the bottom of the screen is cut out for me (can only see top-half of the contact text on main menu). Other than that it's very well done. " -DBZManiax
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
But "motivation" alone is useless when I don't even have the knowledge to do Multiplayer. I posted on the forum again, asking for help related to sending game data.
And gosh...They introduced so many things that I never know in the past. I thought all there is are sending strings but and forth, but god was I wrong. They gave a loads of suggestions like designing a "protocol" to read the data, going "all the way" and use XML or using advanced stuff like RMI (Which I never heard of before posting there).
There's this guy called Sabuat who's very helpful. Really appreciate that he took him time to explain to a newbie like me, and give suggestions like how to send "minimum data" and make the client and server in sync with each other.
Anyway, just very happy that I completed the Multiplayer version, although I didn't use all the "advanced methods" (Which wasn't really necessary since Bluff is a very small game). Hopefully I will get a chance to use them if I do a "big scale" game next time.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
" Great Presentation. Found the choice of using 1 and a half deck and the ability to call out any value wierd. Guess the local style here is a bit different. I lost bad, but I'll see if I could develop some strategies. " -Grandtrain
" That was a great game, if not a bit easy. My score is 8338 points and my time was 6 mins and 2 seconds (second try). Anyhow, nice job. I'm just getting into programming and would be happy if I could someday create a game half as entertaining as this. ITs a refreshing break from solitaire and hearts :) " -Kram88
" Nice looking game. A little different than the BS I am used to. " -Imperfect Freak
" Great game although a tiny part of the bottom of the screen is cut out for me (can only see top-half of the contact text on main menu). Other than that it's very well done. " -DBZManiax
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
But "motivation" alone is useless when I don't even have the knowledge to do Multiplayer. I posted on the forum again, asking for help related to sending game data.
And gosh...They introduced so many things that I never know in the past. I thought all there is are sending strings but and forth, but god was I wrong. They gave a loads of suggestions like designing a "protocol" to read the data, going "all the way" and use XML or using advanced stuff like RMI (Which I never heard of before posting there).
There's this guy called Sabuat who's very helpful. Really appreciate that he took him time to explain to a newbie like me, and give suggestions like how to send "minimum data" and make the client and server in sync with each other.
Anyway, just very happy that I completed the Multiplayer version, although I didn't use all the "advanced methods" (Which wasn't really necessary since Bluff is a very small game). Hopefully I will get a chance to use them if I do a "big scale" game next time.
Monday, August 14, 2006
A day off for myself, and why I don't like to go out
Ahhh~great day. Been a long time since I went out alone, without company. Frankly, I hate going out. I do not understand why people like to go out so often. It's hot, it's tiring and there isnt really much to do. I rather spend the whole day using the computer at home then go out. It's not anti-social, neither is it "no life". To me, going out is more "no-life" than staying at home. Basically, I get more "happiness" from staying at home, so why should I care what other people think?
Anyway, today I felt like going out, alone. Another reason I don't like going out with my friends is because their interests are different from mine. They go out to shop for clothes, look at branded stuff, sport shoes and generally clothings, or the latest phone gadgets etc...I have zero interest in these stuff. They don't appeal to me. I like to frequent book stores, CD-shops, games shops, comic stores and take my time, slowly browsing and basically enjoy the time. Going out with my friends is so darn boring. I basically "stand and 发呆".
Going out alone means I can really spend quality time doing what I want to do. Anyway, I first went to MPH and look around, but nothing caught my interest. Later on I went to Borders (heard there's 30% sales there) and spent almost 2 hours there. Very nice...pick a book and sit down...slowly enjoy. Unfortunately the 30% sales is fake...books too expensive. Went to Kino to shop after that...found the book I want! Woot! Brought it for $25 bucks. Very very nice!
After that went to Yishun to look around. Been a long time since I visited that place and everything has changed...The "Times" bookshop (My favourite hangout place during my Primary School) is gone! Noo~~~Walk around CD shops but spot nothing interesting.
Main purpose was to get a pair of spectacles for my army cause my downstairs ($120) there is quite ex...Then I got this "$50 off if you're a popular member" at "XYZ Optical Shop". I thought I will save a bunch. So I went there. Big mistake. I ask him to give me an estimate how much it would cost and I think he saw me holding the Popular book and asked me if I had a voucher. Then he took out a calculator and anyhow press some stuff. Then he say what "must do this" and "must do that" and turned out to $200. Then he say since I got the voucher he will deduct $50, then he minus $50 again as "extra discount" for me. Full of BS. I look and I know he is a 奸商...
Cause you don't know how they calculate these kind of things. I think he saw me got the $50 voucher, so he just jacked up the price to "eliminate" the discount. I left the shop immediately. I rather pay a little more for good services than let this guy earn. I hope the shop close down. Later went to Spectacles Hut to check the price. Very good service. The lady explained to me in great detail. The left eye is how much and how much because of short-sighted, right eye cost more because of the serious 闪光. Unfortunately the price turned out $165 in the end... Haiz...left the shop again.
Guess I'll just do at my house there. Cheaper and more convenient also. The service is also great. Rather let them earn then let the "evil merchant" earn my money. Heh...
Think it's pretty cool to go out alone once in a while...listen to my favourite songs while strolling the streets or reading a book. Think I'll make it part of my lifestyle. Put some money aside and every few months I'll just do this "ritual". Go out and shop for things I like~
Anyway, today I felt like going out, alone. Another reason I don't like going out with my friends is because their interests are different from mine. They go out to shop for clothes, look at branded stuff, sport shoes and generally clothings, or the latest phone gadgets etc...I have zero interest in these stuff. They don't appeal to me. I like to frequent book stores, CD-shops, games shops, comic stores and take my time, slowly browsing and basically enjoy the time. Going out with my friends is so darn boring. I basically "stand and 发呆".
Going out alone means I can really spend quality time doing what I want to do. Anyway, I first went to MPH and look around, but nothing caught my interest. Later on I went to Borders (heard there's 30% sales there) and spent almost 2 hours there. Very nice...pick a book and sit down...slowly enjoy. Unfortunately the 30% sales is fake...books too expensive. Went to Kino to shop after that...found the book I want! Woot! Brought it for $25 bucks. Very very nice!
After that went to Yishun to look around. Been a long time since I visited that place and everything has changed...The "Times" bookshop (My favourite hangout place during my Primary School) is gone! Noo~~~Walk around CD shops but spot nothing interesting.
Main purpose was to get a pair of spectacles for my army cause my downstairs ($120) there is quite ex...Then I got this "$50 off if you're a popular member" at "XYZ Optical Shop". I thought I will save a bunch. So I went there. Big mistake. I ask him to give me an estimate how much it would cost and I think he saw me holding the Popular book and asked me if I had a voucher. Then he took out a calculator and anyhow press some stuff. Then he say what "must do this" and "must do that" and turned out to $200. Then he say since I got the voucher he will deduct $50, then he minus $50 again as "extra discount" for me. Full of BS. I look and I know he is a 奸商...
Cause you don't know how they calculate these kind of things. I think he saw me got the $50 voucher, so he just jacked up the price to "eliminate" the discount. I left the shop immediately. I rather pay a little more for good services than let this guy earn. I hope the shop close down. Later went to Spectacles Hut to check the price. Very good service. The lady explained to me in great detail. The left eye is how much and how much because of short-sighted, right eye cost more because of the serious 闪光. Unfortunately the price turned out $165 in the end... Haiz...left the shop again.
Guess I'll just do at my house there. Cheaper and more convenient also. The service is also great. Rather let them earn then let the "evil merchant" earn my money. Heh...
Think it's pretty cool to go out alone once in a while...listen to my favourite songs while strolling the streets or reading a book. Think I'll make it part of my lifestyle. Put some money aside and every few months I'll just do this "ritual". Go out and shop for things I like~
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