The Bridge

9:00 PM

@badp clone 'im? I barely knew im!

Wow, when Vint Cerf was asked about AT&T's comment on how an all IP phone network should have less government regulation, the first words he said were

> I'm not allowed to use foul language, right?

user15026

@fbueckert I started. Got ten pages in. Then my reader died.

OrigamiRobot

@GnomeSlice Sorry

fbueckert

@AshleyNunn Oh, right. And you don't have your new one yet, right?

badp

@GraceNote gobarbra.com/hit/new-e10f6903f8857323886dca98cfa1799c

Although it cuts off midway so it kinda doesn't count :(

Ben Brocka

9:01 PM

@AshleyNunn Your books are quietly sabotaging your ereaders because they're lonely and unloved

user15026

@fbueckert not yet. Hopefully soon.

Powerlord

@GraceNote Do I need to start referring to you as "Muttley" ?

user15026

@BenBrocka considering I have gone through 4 devices I would not be surprised if there was some sort of shady plot.

badp

@AshleyNunn Have you tried not putting your readers in the fridge? ("Outside" counts as a fridge at all times in Canada.)

SaintWacko

@Powerlord Good. GOOD!

Ben Brocka

9:03 PM

Pretty sure inside counts as a fridge too

fbueckert

@badp Only from November to April.

StrixVaria

@GraceNote Boo!

Picnic Button

@badp I love gobarbra.

fbueckert

I had a deep freeze die on me a couple winters ago. Glad it was during winter.

Powerlord

At least I think it was Muttley that did that on Wacky Races as opposed to Mumbly doing that on Laugh-a-Lympics

Lazers

9:05 PM

1

Q: Is There Any Way to Remap the Controls?

I picked up Miner Wars: Arena a little while ago, and it's pretty entertaining (although depressingly limited). The split screen multiplayer mode is a good competitive game to play with a friend, but the default keyboard controls for Player 2 are terrible. Worse still, I can't find a way to cus...

miner-wars-arena

0

Q: Can I Back Up My Save Data?

Because of the pretty bad main menu in Mobiloid, I just accidentally deleted my entire game while trying to play some more to see about getting into a secret room I'd found. Is there any way to back up my data to this from happening by accident again? The only other file in the install director...

mobiloid

0

Q: How to find your character's total FPS in torchlight 2?

Many abilities deal damage based on your current FPS, but the problem is I don't know how much my FPS is. In the character's menu your current damage is shown, but to compute FPS I need more data like total attack rate (which I also couldn't find). Do I have to just guess my total FPS or is it wr...

torchlight-2

Picnic Button

@GraceNote I recognize the bit from a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon.

Grace Note

@Powerlord I'm not recalling him ever speaking.

@PicnicButton Yes, that was intentional. The actual relevant part comes right before it, though.

SaintWacko

@Lazers Do you think they mean DPS?

badp

@SaintWacko fractures per second

SaintWacko

@badp Oh

badp

9:07 PM

obviously

SaintWacko

Wait, what?

Picnic Button

@SaintWacko Yeah, I edited it.

SaintWacko

-.-

badp

The amount of times you break your knee under the weight of your load is an important statistic

Picnic Button

Can someone review my edit?

Ben Brocka

9:07 PM

@SaintWacko It's an explicit mod

SaintWacko

@PicnicButton ...you did?

badp

Castlevania Symphony of the Night starting now on marathon.speeddemosarchive.com

SaintWacko

@BenBrocka Haha :D

Picnic Button

@SaintWacko Someone has to approve it.

SaintWacko

@PicnicButton Yeah, just realized that facepalm

OrigamiRobot

9:11 PM

@badp I am not home :(

badp

@OrigamiRobot Right now they're struggling making the Sega Saturn not read the game cd as an audio CD

OrigamiRobot

@badp Sega Saturn? Why?

Picnic Button

I answered it!

badp

@OrigamiRobot ...because that's what they're using for some reason.

Powerlord

@badp They're playing the (non-English) Saturn version?

badp

9:13 PM

@Powerlord yep.

Powerlord

Ew.

badp

also. EXPLOHSIONS.

Powerlord

Konami didn't redo certain graphics effects in the Saturn version.

So, things like transparency don't work in it.

Picnic Button

0

A: How to find your character's total DPS in torchlight 2?

If you press J to bring up the Arcane Statistics panel, you can see all kinds of useful, and detailed information about your character. It contains information on things like your resistances, your hit chance, your calculated damage per hit (not sure about actual 'DPS'), attack speed, your regen...

Ben Brocka

@Powerlord Isn't it a speedrun? Japanese versions are often used for speedruns (less text, less mashing "okay")

Powerlord

9:16 PM

@BenBrocka They could use the Japanese PlayStation version.

The Saturn version has more areas, although they could use the Cursed Prison to get to the lower part of the castle more quickly, I suppose.

Ben Brocka

@Powerlord There may be some other reason for the saturn...that I wouldn't know. I didn't even know it was on the saturn

Because like 99% of gamers the only Sega console I had was the Genesis

fbueckert

@Lazers Isn't this a dupe of:

2

Q: How is "Modified DPS" caculated?

My weapon DPS is 169. Modified DPS is 320. Total damage is 221-357. The Average of this is 289. Attack speed is 0,91 seconds per attack. How is the modified DPS caculated? The closest i get is 289 / 0,91 = 317,58

torchlight-2

OrigamiRobot

@Powerlord I thought the extra areas were unfinished and only accessible through glitches?

Powerlord

@OrigamiRobot Nope, they're full areas in the Saturn version of the game.

Picnic Button

@fbueckert Nope. The one you linked is asking how the DPS is calculated, whereas the other one is asking how to display your DPS.

Powerlord

9:19 PM

Although you could glitch to get to the entrance of what became the Underground Garden in the PS1 version

badp

@Powerlord Apparently they're making up for it by playing as Maria, who was made for the Saturn version

She's got some outrageous attacks.

fbueckert

@PicnicButton Calculated/displayed is a very minor difference.

Powerlord

@badp sigh Except that the plot is different if you play as Richter or Maria.

fbueckert

If the stats don't show it, then you have to calculate it.

Powerlord

In fact, the plot is missing if you do, as well as iirc the entire second half the game

badp

9:20 PM

They're speed running so plot's a secondary concern.

Picnic Button

@fbueckert What? I'm guessing the guy you linked figured out how to see what his DPS is, and he wants to know how it's being calculated by the game to give him the value he sees. The other guy wants to know how to see what his DPS is, doesn't sound like he cares about how it's calculated unless he has to do it himself.

Grace Note

@Powerlord No, they can reach the reverse castle

Picnic Button

@fbueckert Right, but the stats do show it, I think.

Grace Note

At least, Maria can.

They don't get the final boss, though.

OrigamiRobot

@Powerlord There is no Underground Garden in the PS1 version. That's what I was thinking of.

Picnic Button

9:21 PM

@fbueckert Besides which, he still wants to know how to find the information he can use to calculate it, which is on the Arcane Statistics thing.

fbueckert

@PicnicButton If the stats show it, then, yeah, they're different questions.

Picnic Button

@fbueckert Even if they don't, they show the backup information he wants.

But yeah.

fbueckert

But if he wants to know how it's calculated, that's already been asked.

Powerlord

@OrigamiRobot I phrased that badly. You can glitch to the save room in the PS1 version that's located where the entrance to the Underground Garden is in the Saturn version.

OrigamiRobot

@Powerlord Oh right right

5

Q: How do I open this secret room?

Near the beginning of the game, there is a room full of mermen. The completed map shows a secret room connected at the bottom left of this area. I have heard stories about using the wolf/bat and this tunnel to unlock it. Sometimes they say you need to ram the ledge on the wall. How do I gain ...

castlevania-sotn

That room was supposed to go to the Underground Garden I think.

Picnic Button

9:24 PM

@fbueckert He doesn't, that's not what the question is. The answer might be 'you have to calculate it', but he wants to know how to find it. So I think they're okay. :)

Powerlord

@OrigamiRobot Not the area I was talking about. Actually, the save room I was talking about is right below the drawbridge at the beginning of the game.

You can see a stone slab that, in the Saturn version, eventually opens.

(but if you backdash as Alucard, you can glitch into the drawbridge and fall through it... or something)

OrigamiRobot

@Powerlord Oh, yea. I remember now. In the PS1 version you could go back...yea that

Powerlord

@badp The point I was trying to make is that the game was written around playing it as Alucard and the entire game is paced as such. Richter (and Maria) are just a bonus feature that put classic Castlevania mechanics in a game not built for them.

I dunno about the Saturn version, but the PS1 version wouldn't even let you play as Richter without beating the inverted castle's final boss.

Grace Note

Saturn you can play either of them from the get-go.

Powerlord

@GraceNote Which explains why they chose the Saturn version, they're copping out of playing an actual, honest-to-goodness speedrun.

Grace Note

9:29 PM

...at what point did smelting ore involve dancing around in place?

Powerlord

@GraceNote Context?

Ender

@StrixVaria see next message

Grace Note

@Powerlord Red Ore and Blue Ore smelting to make Hard Ore.

Ender

@Fbueckert thanks for all the help guys

Powerlord

@GraceNote Playing Zelda: Oracle of Seasons are we?

Grace Note

9:30 PM

Aye.

OrigamiRobot

I love those games.

Powerlord

Have you gotten the sign-breaker ring yet? :D

Grace Note

I've broken a grand total of 2 signs.

Powerlord

I forgot how many the ring takes.

Did you play Ages first or Seasons first?

Grace Note

It took 1000 monsters for the one ring, so I'd guess at least 100.

Ages. Nayru is cuter.

Powerlord

9:32 PM

Luckily, iirc signs reappear every time you leave a room

@GraceNote always

@GraceNote Oh my.

@Powerlord I think it's more a demonstration than a serious business world record breaking speed run proper. No one's trying to break records here

Powerlord

Still, the game has a lot to offer. And playing as Richter or Maria skips all that.

Grace Note

9:35 PM

@Powerlord They're also immune to status ailments, too, so a lot of the challenge is gone too.

MBraedley

I hate legacy crap code (bangs head against nearest wall)

Powerlord

You literally are watching them play Castlevania in a Metroidvania game. (Or a Metroidvania sans Metroid)

Grace Note

Or, at least, some portion of the challenge is gone.

Ben Brocka

@MBraedley I know that feel...actually I'm several hours into debugging that feel

Powerlord

Hence, I'll just call that "vania" mode. Since it doesn't make sense, it fits perfectly!

MBraedley

9:37 PM

@BenBrocka Why would you ever right a C style program in C++? And then have all these structs that only do one thing and live for one method call?

OrigamiRobot

@Powerlord Oh that's lame. Playing as Richter is missing all the stuff that makes SotN a great game.

Ben Brocka

Arg chat noise why do you keep coming back

Powerlord

@BenBrocka Someone needs to make @Community respond to that.

OrigamiRobot

@BenBrocka This noise?

Ben Brocka

@OrigamiRobot Too slow, already disabled it

Lazers

9:39 PM

0

Q: How do IV stats work?

In at least some Pokemon games there are hidden stats called IVs. What do they do and how do they work? Also, what specific games possess it?

pokemon

0

Q: How do the EV stats work?

One of the hidden stats in Pokémon is called EV. What are these? What do they do? Is it something I need to worry about at all? Does this exist in every Pokémon from the beginning? If not, in what generation did it start?

pokemon

0

Q: How do Natures work?

In at least some Pokemon games there are modifiers called "Natures" which affect pokemon stats. What do they do and how do it work? Also, what specific games possess it?

pokemon

1

Q: What is the actual function of the third torch in the comparator?

I have heard different explanations for what the function of the third torch is in the comparator. But I have never gotten a definite answer for what the use is being able to right click on the comparator and this third torch comes up. What is its actual function?

minecraft minecraft-redstone

Powerlord

How do spreadsheets work?

Ben Brocka

I have no idea where this string to double conversion is happening and I've been using breakpoints for 2 hours. There aren't even any doubles and no decimal magic numbers

Powerlord

@BenBrocka What language?

badp

He's now doing the upside down castle.

Ben Brocka

Ugh visual basic

The debugger tells me jack shit

Powerlord

9:41 PM

@BenBrocka classic?

Wait, doesn't VB have a way to turn on strict conversions?

Grace Note

I never dwelled on the fact that I never had a Legend of Zelda entry in my wall of avatars.

Powerlord

Option Strict or something like that

Ben Brocka

@Powerlord .net

MBraedley

Doesn't it do it for you?

Ben Brocka

The thing is there shouldn't be a conversion. And the error only happens on my PC. I'm trying to debug an apparently unrelated problem

SaintWacko

9:43 PM

Holy shit the FFIV battle music is awesome

Ben Brocka

We have 3 PCs, the app works on one and has compeltely different errors on the other two

I hate developing desktop apps

Powerlord

@BenBrocka You could try adding Option Strict, which I think stops number to character auto-conversions and throws an error instead.

StrixVaria

SO MUCH WRITING ABOUT POKEMON

Ben Brocka

Or more accurately, maintaining people's old ancient ones

Powerlord

pokes chat I edited a link in there, where is it?

Stupid chat, not showing it until I reloaded chat.

MBraedley

9:44 PM

@BenBrocka I know that feeling. We have a bug in our target OS (WinXP) that none of us can reproduce on our dev boxes (Win7)

Decency

@BenBrocka Version control?

OrigamiRobot

@StrixVaria Downvotes them all

Decency

@MBraedley VM's?

Enlighten me. =D

Ben Brocka

@Decency There's VC and it's a remotely updated app, it's not versioning

@Powerlord hm, might have found one (and like a dozen other implicit conversions), thanks

Powerlord

@Decency Pssh, that would make sense!

MBraedley

9:46 PM

@Decency No, but we could try that for the dev boxes. It's an MFC app.

Powerlord

The other thing about VB... isn't & the concatenation operator?

MBraedley

@Decency we have a menu item that is being disabled when it shouldn't be.

Ben Brocka

Ugh was all that seriously because they used + instead of &

Though I now have a different error

Jason Berkan

@BenBrocka Heh. VB without Option Strict is a clusterf***.

Ben Brocka

Oh also I hate ODBCs to death

we use like 10 different ODBCs to connect to a grand total of 3 database servers

Grace Note

9:51 PM

ODBC?

Ben Brocka

Any time I try and install one of these apps on a new machine I find it doesn't have the right ODBC

SaintWacko

@GraceNote database connector

Grace Note

Ah.

StrixVaria

Uh oh I upvoted all 3 of @Ender's Pokemon questions. Am I going to get serial upvote reversed?

Is that a thing?

Ben Brocka

Yes, you filthy upvoting swine

Powerlord

9:51 PM

@StrixVaria I think 3 isn't enough to trigger it.

@BenBrocka You could have to use... JDBC!

Ben Brocka

@JasonBerkan Yeah...but there were enough other problems in this with strict I just let it slide...

Powerlord

Actually, I thought I saw an ODBC JDBC driver for maximum Java confusion.

Jason Berkan

@BenBrocka Yeah - it's almost impossible to add Option Strict to an existing VB project. However, it is one thing you should religiously demand whenever you start a new project, though.

Powerlord

Granted, these days, I just configure the JDBC connection on the app server and look it up by its JNDI name (which is another Java thing)

Ben Brocka

@JasonBerkan I mostly refactor rather than make these new. I do web based stuff mostly

Powerlord

9:54 PM

Option Explicit is another good one to insist upon for a new VB project.

Ben Brocka

Hell it's hard enough to refactor these things without option strict. There's always onion-style layers of problems each fix creates/uncovers

Powerlord

In fact, I think my copy of VS2k10 is already configured to do that.

Ben Brocka

And at least if I screw up a page on our webapps the whole goddamn thing doesn't explode

Jason Berkan

@BenBrocka I quit using VB for web stuff a few years ago. None of the MVC / Razor example code is in VB.

Ben Brocka

@JasonBerkan Oh, these aren't web based, the web stuff is mostly PHP (CakePHP), desktop stuff is mostly VB.Net. There's just one site that's on VB.net

Jason Berkan

9:57 PM

@BenBrocka PHP? You have my sympathies.

Ben Brocka

@JasonBerkan It's really not that bad with Cake, pretty good MVC stuff

Powerlord

Whoops, I said I was leaving early to visit the bookstore before dark. Too late now, rush hour traffic is in full swing.

Ben Brocka

And anything that outputs HTML & CSS is preferable. Desktop app GUI design is a goddamn nightmare on everything forever

Powerlord

The shortest route to said bookstore goes from downtown Lansing through downtown East Lansing (which has lights that I swear are configured to turn red 5-10 seconds after the previous light turned green... just in time to stop traffic)

Jason Berkan

Odd. I found desktop GUI coding easier than web coding - form level variables are remembered between events, and if you put 2 pixels between buttons, it stays that way for everyone.

Powerlord

10:02 PM

Oh, on the .NET side of our programming team, one dev insisted that an issue they were seeing in a lot of their apps was VB's fault and they switched to using C# instead.

(We only do webapps here now)

Ben Brocka

It's fine if all you want are absolutely positioned default styled buttons on an extremely simple form. For pretty much anything else CSS is a godsend

Powerlord

I think said dev was wrong, wrong, wrong, but since I don't do ASP.NET web stuff...

Jason Berkan

@BenBrocka Ah. None of my apps are pretty. Internal business apps are always function first.

Powerlord

Ouch, GameStop reported that earnings were down in the fourth quarter despite the Christmas rush.

I wonder if it's Amazon/other online stores or Steam/PSN/XBLA that's causing that... or both?

Ben Brocka

@JasonBerkan "Function first" leads to lots of unusable apps. Too often people assume form is totally irrelevant and you end up with something that's not only hideous but extremely hard to use

Powerlord

10:05 PM

For that matter, I can't seem to find new copies of Radiant Historia to buy. :|

Jason Berkan

@BenBrocka LOL. Yup. I've worked in the insurance industry. Some of the forms are nightmares.

Ben Brocka

Default styles, fine, but positioning, sizing, relative weight, copywriting...all this crap got ignored and our internal stuff is all a nightmare.

I've done some fixing here and there but I only dare mess with the GUIs if I have some pressing reason to fix an app

Also I keep finding out about apps I never heard of before

I still don't know what half the crap in our SVN repo is honestly, it's so disorganized it's hard to tell what's relevant to my apps and what isn't

Oh wow I fixed it. At least I fixed it so I'm now getting the same bug as the other PC

PROGRESS

Lazers

1

Q: How to open doors?

Yes, actually. So the key bound (I'm playing on PC) is V to open doors. So I tend to stack up alongside the door with my Assault guys and breach. The problem is that the doors only seem to open say 20% of the time. The only reliable way I've found is to mash Q then V repeatedly until the do...

xcom-enemy-unknown

0

Q: What do I need to complete my Mass Effect Trilogy collection?

I got the Mass Effect Trilogy on PS3 (UPC 014633198065) for Christmas. This came with some DLC content included, but it seems there's still a lot I don't have. The remaining DLC is a little bit confusing, as it seems some items can be bought either individually or as part of certain bundles. S...

dlc mass-effect

badp

Pacifist Ninja Gaiden (NES) is on

Powerlord

10:21 PM

@BenBrocka Progress Quest? Do nothing to continue?

Ben Brocka

Well that's enough codes, took a short lunch so it's home time

Powerlord

@BenBrocka No, entertain me for like 7 more minutes! :P

Granted, hardly anyone is here now, so I doubt anyone would notice if I left a few minutes early.

Except the traffic is still decreasing, so...

Blem

@badp GL

badp

@Blem He's in 6-2 now

Powerlord

Why would Razer think their tablet is a good idea?

Blem

10:28 PM

@badp so what are the rules? only attack bosses?

badp

@Blem yeah

Powerlord

It's essentially a regular Windows 7 PC in tablet form factor, but heavier than a standard tablet and missing the buttons and things you'd need to actually play Windows games.

badp

He's spent some time getting hit while facing the wrong side in order to get hit-boosted the right way

Blem

@Powerlord I see it the same way I see gaming laptops, it would be nice to have one for when going out but I rather spend my money on a desktop than paying over price for mobile gaming

Powerlord

@Blem The thing is... the just announced SteamBox is expected to cost around the same price...

Lazers

10:42 PM

0

Q: How can I start a minecart from a dead stop in the middle of a flat track (using redstone)

Creating minecart terminal stations are simple, but building minecart substations are more challenging. When a minecart is stopped either by running out of velocity or through a powered redstone brake, how can the cart be restarted? There are obvious solutions to this such as set a solid block ...

minecraft

Ben Brocka

WTF why would you park half in an ally half in a driveway when there's half a dozen open spots immediately around your car

@Powerlord I read about all these "microconsoles" earlier today. I think it's all doomed to failure

StrixVaria

►

Ben Brocka

It's all the competition of a console war with none of the market

LessPop_MoreFizz

HI CHAT.

Ben Brocka

@StrixVaria It's considerably worse than that

Blocked my garage too, hate parking in the alley

StrixVaria

10:48 PM

@BenBrocka I'm just saying maybe he was the victim of a pig parker. He had to park like a jackass due to a separate jackass in the past who is now gone.

Ben Brocka

Either way, he moved, brb

StrixVaria

Also if he's blocking your garage call the police.

That's a towable offense.

fredley

@LessPop_MoreFizz Hi

StrixVaria

Calling the police for parking violations is fun.

user30

@RonanForman > sneak

user30

10:51 PM

not really.

badp

@Powerlord link?

fbueckert

Ahh. Shovelling complete.

Until it snows again.

StrixVaria

@fbueckert You should build an igloo.

I saw pictures of someone doing that recently and it looked awesome.

kalina

holy crap

there is so much DLC for Mass Effect 2 I haven't played

Ben Brocka

@StrixVaria It was such amazingly bad I knew it had to be temporary, but seriously, he had like 30 feet of lot to park on that wasn't road or blocknig a garage. Right in front of him

StrixVaria

10:55 PM

@BenBrocka I pretty much hate everybody who ever drives or parks.

fbueckert

@StrixVaria Shovelling is bad enough.