TheronGuard
2mo ago
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100%
I was specifically recommended AntiX on Hexbear after I asked for distributions suitable for ancient hardware
TheronGuard
2mo ago
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100%
I'm currently in the process of formatting and re-installing AntiX with the Live USB I still had. I guess I should've taken the opportunity to upgrade to AntiX-23 while I was at it, but I can do that later.
Like I said though, the official repos didn't seem to have the most up-to-date versions of the media players I use
TheronGuard
2mo ago
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100%
There's nothing mission critical in there so I'm mostly fine with reinstalling.
I just wanted to update VLC and my other media players so Youtube would work again. The AntiX repos only had outdated versions, which could be due to the fact that AntiX-21 was followed by AntiX-23 last year. Maybe it's no longer kept up to date? I tried grabbing the newest versions direct from their websites/githubs first but it's not as simple as grabbing an .exe and clicking it on Linux so I gave up and just went ham on the repos, assuming they wouldn't let me brick my computer.
Lesson learned, I suppose
So, a few years back I installed AntiX-21 onto a 20+ year old onto an old WinXP laptop both as a fun project and to get some practice with Linux. It worked fine, and I mostly used the resurrected laptop to watch youtube videos and listen to podcasts, which was just a fun novelty to do on such an outdated machine. Obviously I couldn't do Youtube in a browser, but I could take URLs and watch videos with VLC in 360p. At one point VLC video playback stopped working entirely and I could only do audio, I assume because of changes to Youtube. I tried using the AntiX Updater, but even after updates playback wasn't working. Looking at the version numbers of the updated versions of SMPlayer, VLC, etc I noticed they were still not the latest versions available. I went to the repo manager and added a bunch of repos until I saw more up to date versions of VLC and other programs in the package manager, then used AntiX Updater again and said yes to the over 1,200 updates. Things didn't go smoothly. The updates were constantly interrupted by errors but I kept restarting the update process until I had to log off for the night. When I logged back in the following day, the desktop I had been using was missing and I could no longer connect to the Internet because ConnMan was broken. I managed to connect to my Wifi with CENI and kept trying to get the rest of the updates done. I just couldn't get ConnMan to update no matter what so I rebooted the laptop again. This time the bootup process was filled with error messages and I could no longer log in at all. I'd enter my username and password and it'd just loop back to the login screen. I'm pretty sure my AntiX install is bricked now. I assume I should try wiping the Linux partition and reinstall? I just wanted the latest version of VLC 
TheronGuard
3mo ago
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100%
I always forget how the Dreamcast shared games with both the PS1 and PS2.
TheronGuard
3mo ago
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100%
I started with the PlayStation so both the SNES and MD are a bit before my time. I have delved into the SNES catalogue since there's lots of well-known and still talked about games and series for an easy jumping-off point. Streets of Rage isn't actually a bad recommendation at all, it'd probably fit my handheld use case very well. Do you have any favored Mega Drive/Genesis emulator on Android? I assume there's a RetroArch core (or three) for that
TheronGuard
3mo ago
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100%
I have played Vigilante 8: 2nd Offense... but on the PS1. Maybe I should look into PS1 games that I like that got DC ports, though I will say that the Dreamcast having only 2 shoulder buttons is annoying when you're used to a game being able to use more, like with DOA2 where you have two less options for binding button combos 
I upgraded my handheld emulation setup and can now do up to Dreamcast (N64 and PSP too) on the go but I don't really know what to try out. There are a couple of DC games I've played the PS2 versions of like Resident Evil: Code Veronica and Dead Or Alive 2, which I used to test out how well Redream and Flycast worked but beyond that I'm not sure what to grab  It would be fun to give Saturn emulation a shot as well but I'm not sure if it'll even be playable. From what I've read, in terms of emulation on Android devices, Saturn sits somewhere between the DC/N64/PSP tier and the Gamecube/PS2/3DS tier in hardware requirements. I figured I might as well ask for MD/Genesis recommendations to round out the Sega systems.
Pictured: One of Yoko's alternate costumes that I initially took for  cosplay A few days back I made [a post](https://hexbear.net/post/2349107) where I asked if there was interest among Hexbear users to get together to play Resident Evil Outbreak on the Outbreak Resurrection fan server. Turns out there was interest, probably enough to fill two lobbies, in fact. Now I'm just left wondering what the best way to co-ordinate times with other players would be. I guess Discord is the default these days but I imagine many folks here do not either want to use it in general or just don't want to give their usernames out to randos. Feel free to make a suggestion
www.youtube.com
Resident Evil Outbreak File 1 and 2 were the last "classic" style RE games that came out before RE4. They were also multiplayer-focused online co-op games... *on the PS2*. **In 2004**. I said "still playable" in the title but honestly, even for people who were RE fans back then, it's probably more like "actually playable for the first time." The fan server is also definitely not some new thing- I think it's been around for like a decade at this point. If you've ever wondered what it would be like to play an old school survival horror game online with friends, these are the games for you. They're also pretty hard though, even if you're someone who can breeze through every other game in the franchise. The tutorial I linked goes over through this stuff as well, but you'll need the following to play: - An account on the fan server forums (free) - ~~Legitimate American and Japanese copies of both games, ripped to a PC so you can run the required patchers to patch the Japanese isos into English~~ lol just kidding, just grab English-patched Japanese isos off the Internet - Memory Card files with the required online data on them (linked in video description) - PCSX2. As long as your machine can run PCSX2 and has an internet connection, something like a Steam Deck should work fine too (you can also apparently play the game online using an actual PS2) You'll probably also want to wrangle some friends to play the game with you, which in my experience is the hardest part 
After I take the SATA cable out and put it back in: Just kidding I'm fine :) Oh you little rascal you  ::: spoiler spoiler Don't worry, I moved all my data off that drive years ago. Not exactly sure why I keep it in my system  :::
TheronGuard
9mo ago
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100%
I also came across a giant fish skeleton but on land. It was pretty impressive- then I traveled south and found another copy, exact same orientation and even the exact same x co-ordinates : 
TheronGuard
9mo ago
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100%
Yes, it's from When Dungeons Arise. This structure is apparently called Keep Kayra. I don't have a problem with giant elaborate structures, even if this specific one I do think is ludicrously gigantic compared to the other ones. After all, I downloaded the mod myself and had an idea of what I was getting into. What I do have a problem with is that these buildings tend to repeat way too often. While I was mapping out the corner of the continent I started on I ran into several copies of the same exact structures multiple times, and since there is no randomisation when it comes to layout with these, they will always be the exact same structures which takes the fun out of exploring them.
Way south of this enormous tower I found a cool Arabian Nights-themed fantasy palace complex in a desert. It looked great! But literally right next to it was a copy of the same palace rotated 90 degrees which kind of took the impact away 
TheronGuard
9mo ago
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100%
I like caves too but I don't like how infinitely sprawling they are. I get kind of anxious when I think I've mapped out a cave system only to discover an opening leading to another one that's 10 times larger, which leads to 10 other cave systems, which open to 10 more cave systems, etc
TheronGuard
9mo ago
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100%
Fabric Seasons
Oh well. Serene Seasons looks to do similar things though.
TheronGuard
9mo ago
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100%
I believe this one is the one I looked at:
https://www.curseforge.com/minecraft/mc-mods/continents
I tried installing it mid playthrough but you get really harsh borders where the generation changes. I guess I could go edit them in an editor but that would take hours.
TheronGuard
9mo ago
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100%
There seem to be a few mods with "Seasons" in the title, which one do you mean?
This one? https://www.curseforge.com/minecraft/mc-mods/serene-seasons
TheronGuard
9mo ago
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100%
I've been occasionally dipping into Minecraft since 2011 and it's the exploration that keeps me coming back. Despite essentially just being randomly generated noise, I find Minecraft's landscapes really pretty, especially with a nice shader installed and it's always a great feeling when you crest a hill to discover a unique canyon or valley on the other side.
I started a new world in September after not playing the game for at least a year and to keep exploration more interesting and fresh this time around I installed Alex's Mobs, Aquaculture, Exotic Birds and mods that add every losing mob vote mob as well as the mobs from Minecraft Earth to make the world feel more alive. The way Alex's Mobs distributes appropriate animal species to each biome makes a huge difference in immersion, even if I have some issues with some of its more unbalanced monster mobs.
I also installed a couple of mods that added more randomly generated structures and dungeons though I basically had to go in and reduce the rates in which they spawned when it felt like the same graveyard got generated multiple times in one square kilometer. If anyone has more suggestions for more dungeon/ruin/structure mods that aren't too crazy, I'd be happy to hear them
The only regret I have with my current world is that I discovered a mod that changes world generation into continents and islands separated by water as opposed to Minecraft's usual endlessly stretching patchy landmass when I had already played the world for over a month 
TheronGuard
9mo ago
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100%
I've never used it though 
TheronGuard
9mo ago
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100%
This was in Microsoft's Minecraft launcher, so probably whenever that got introduced. I've only got the Java version though.
I hate always online licensing DRM schemes 
TheronGuard
10mo ago
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100%
Back when I played multiplayer games on the Xbox 360 I had my voice chat volume permanently turned down to zero because I didn't see how hearing obscenities yelled into those horribly low quality Xbox microphones added to the experience.
When the Master Chief Collection and Gears of War 5 launched on PC I ended up leaving the voice chat on because I became deeply amused and fascinated by the Xbox players I crossplayed with. People noisily munching Doritos into the void, middle-aged parent gamers talking to their children in between callouts, people who have really loud music blasting in their living room, groups of friends who like to play and chat together but for some godforsaken reason don't just use Xbox parties or Discord.
Naturally, there have also been horribly racist moments, like the one time some 
-brained gamer started being racist to a black person on the same team from the moment he heard his voice, at one point telling him that his ancestors were building aqueducts while the black person's ancestors lived in mud huts 
In response, the black guy just made fun of how nerdy the white guy's voice sounded and how badly he was playing. I kept dying in that match because the absurd banter had me dying in real life
TheronGuard
10mo ago
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100%
I used to have speakers plugged in all the time when I was still living at home and used to play games with siblings and friends in my room, so that checks out.
I hooked up my trusty old Logitech speakers to see if they still worked. They did, so I booted a game and sheepishly turned the volume way down in fear of annoying my neighbors, immediately remembering why I had these stuffed in a closet for almost 10 years. Even if I lived in a soundproof house in the middle of nowhere I'd still be self-conscious enough to just use headphones instead 
TheronGuard
10mo ago
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100%
I've been playing Gears 5's multiplayer since it came out, and I've honestly had more fun with it since they stopped updating the game. No more stress from trying to complete the current Season before the content in it gets vaulted, playing modes I don't want and trying to do specific feats in matches. I just jump in for a few games and shoot people for the pure joy of shooting people, just like multiplayer games used to be 
FOMO is real though, looking back on the game I haven't used 98 percent of the skins, characters, banners, etc I unlocked even once but I still felt compelled to complete every season. Still, at least I wasn't big enough of a chump to spend real money in the store
::: spoiler spoiler Kinda miss playing Horde with friends though :::
TheronGuard
10mo ago
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100%
I don't really feel like reinstalling every program I have and meticulously copying over all my profiles and settings. Already had to go through that several times last year.
I presume the answer is "yes I can" but I just want to make sure I've got the process right. The 240GB SSD I've got my Windows 10 installation on just turned 5 years old, and from what I understand 5-6 years is where they start to reach the end of their lifespan. Also, between my Windows install and modern game sizes 240GB is pretty tiny and I haven't been really been able to put much on it anyway. The motherboard I upgraded to a year ago has two M.2 slots and I'm thinking of getting a 1TB NVMe drive and cloning my OS onto it. In 2022 I had trouble with faulty hardware corrupting Windows several times and during that time I made an AntiX boot device for troubleshooting that I've still got. I assume the process would be - Install M.2 drive - Boot into AntiX - Use the disk manager utility (can't remember what it was called) to clone the contents of the SATA SSD onto the M.2 drive - Open BIOS and change the boot drive to the M.2 - Boot to Windows Would the M.2 drive be recognised as the new C: drive or will Windows get confused and give me trouble?
TheronGuard
10mo ago
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100%
The Switch is very emulatable at this moment, which annoys Nintendo to no end
It's the PS4 that's still very much in its infancy when it comes to emulation, but it'll probably be more and more of a thing in the coming years
 >You can't eat me, I'm HERBERT MOON!!!! John Marston just basically shrugged his shoulders when he got eaten  I'm enjoying Undead Nightmare so far. They didn't even attempt to take the premise seriously and it's essentially just Red Dead Redemption: Halloween Special. The moon's a sickly yellow color and there's black goats and vampire bats in place of normal animals
I completed the Xbox 360 version of Read Dead Redemption on Xenia Canary some months back with the only enhancements being a 60 FPS unlock patch (I don't think my rig ever really hit 60, in empty wilderness scenes I got around 40-55 FPS and in towns and heavy combat I got maybe 22-30) as well as some antialiasing and smoothing filters applied to hide jaggies since I didn't think my RX 6600 could've handled resolution upscaling. I still have Undead Nightmare to beat, but the PS4 and Switch versions got announced while I was getting to the end of the main game, and now that they're out I'm wondering if I should try Switch emulation for the DLC. I did some quick googling and it seems emulating the Switch version on RyujinX has better performance visuals and less graphics glitches than Xbox 360 emulation, but I'm not sure if my Ryzen 5 5600 and RX 6600 are enough to make it a better option than the 720p with unstable FPS and lighting glitches you get on Xenia.
 It's got twice the capacity of the stock battery though! 
You have to love these small Chinese companies and the speed with which they come up with new controllers, emulator handhelds and other gadgets  These are a series of cheap (10-30 bucks depending on the seller and when you get them) Chinese Bluetooth controllers intended for use with phones and other mobile devices. The one I got was the D3 which I believe was the only model that was even available back in May, and it looked like this:  As you can see, it was very heavily inspired by the Switch, and that unfortunately extended to the dpad, or lack thereof. I've used it to play emulators on an Android phone and while it feels **cheap**, I've actually really liked it and my only real issue with it has been the horrible separated dpad. Trying to do any sort of diagonal movements on those tiny little round buttons has just made me map the dpad to the left joystick where applicable and made me avoid 2D platformers. The last 3 models- D6, D7, and D8- have all had a proper dpad instead, with the D8 looking like the best controller design they've done yet. The reviews I found for it seemed to agree so I ended up ordering one from AliExpress' Black Friday sale. Apparently it has Hall Effect joysticks and analog triggers, but all I need is for the dpad to be actually passable this time around. Here's hoping I won't get a lemon🤞 Looking on Reddit it seems like these are all designed by one guy who posts videos on Douyin and he's already teased what the D9 is going to look like. While the D8 looks heavily inspired by Xbox controllers, the D9 looks to be even more heavily inspired by something else that recently came out:  Once again, you gotta love these Chinese companies, no shits given
So at the beginning of summer I repurposed an old Android phone into a dedicated emulator. The phone's old enough it has an honest to god user replaceable battery so I decided to get another one and keep it in my backpack to double my gaming time. A few weeks later I got caught in a thunderstorm and got absolutely drenched head to toe. I got home and found the phone and bluetooth controller were just a bit damp but okay, but I completely forgot the spare battery until the next day when I discovered it still in my backpack and absolutely soaked. I dried it and left it to dry on a shelf, and noticed some bluish corrosion forming at the contacts the next day that I promptly scrubbed off. I noticed more corrosion a few more times in the following days, but it's now sat on that shelf since June and looks normal. How bad of an idea would it be to put it in the phone and see if it still works or holds a charge?
Now, which one of these 999 save state slots was I using in my last session  Is there a way to toggle between save states you have saved or see them in a list instead of just trying different slots until you find the right one? I'm on Android
For the most part I'd heartily recommend Alex's Mobs, since it adds a ton of biome-appropriate animals that fit the Minecraft art style that make the world feel much more alive. I had it installed when I last played Minecraft over a year ago, but I didn't make it far enough to encounter its many overpowered hostile fantasy creatures and now they've been responsible for most of my deaths in my current world. My first encounter with one of them was when I was scoping out an ocean on a boat and was suddenly being killed by a [giant skeletal swordfish in a matter of seconds](https://alexs-mobs-unofficial.fandom.com/wiki/Skelewag). These guys spawn near shipwrecks, have an insanely long aggro distance and can outrun your boat so you're basically screwed the moment you accidentally wander near a shipwreck you can't even see on the bottom of the ocean. Then I built a Nether Portal and realized I hadn't yet even seen the new Nether biomes. I enjoyed the view for about 30 seconds until I was swarmed by [giant mosquitos](https://alexs-mobs-unofficial.fandom.com/wiki/Crimson_Mosquito) that attached to my face and sucked half my healthbar away in one go. I managed to kill a couple but they just kept spawning, instantly making a beeline for me the moment they appeared. Very fun and balanced  After I'd gotten annoyed and just disabled the mosquitos from spawning I was building a bridge across a lava-filled chasm when a [gigantic snake skeleton](https://alexs-mobs-unofficial.fandom.com/wiki/Bone_Serpent) knocked me off and I burned to death. My first warning that they existed was the second one of them leaped up at me from a dozen blocks below. At least they're only limited to lava lakes, I guess. Later, I was back in the Overworld exploring a giant deepslate cave when all of a sudden I was being attacked by a shrieking head floating up from the caverns below. After I once again got killed in a few hits I looked up what the hell even happened and it turns out it was this [Japanese youkai thing](https://alexs-mobs-unofficial.fandom.com/wiki/Murmur) that has an attack range of *50 fucking blocks*. Just now I was surveying another deep cave from a ledge, saw one of these spawn in way below and it just aggroed instantly and murdered me. I mostly like these monster designs but why do they have to be this overly aggressive and powerful? They give you no warning and can outrun you and kill you in seconds- it's just completely out of tune with the way Minecraft's hostile mobs are designed. Even the more dangerous mobs like Ghasts make their presence well known far in advance. I guess they're balanced for players kitted out in enchanted diamond armor but they completely kill exploration for me... until I disable them in the config, but I just wish you could turn their aggro range down instead. The mod also adds several large dangerous animals, like crocodiles and grizzly bears, but you can just avoid those or run away if you too get too close and they feel much closer to how Minecraft usually operates.
I started a new Minecraft world after a long time, the last time being shortly after the update that added the new cave biomes and changed world generation and I'm instantly reminded of how useless copper is. Can't make tools with it, can't light torches with it, can't use it as fuel, and it's all over the depths you'd typically find iron and coal, the two early ores that actually do those things 
That's okay, I'll still keep playing that garbage  ::: spoiler spoiler A bit of context: When Gears 5 released in 2019, it was monetized out the wazoo in all the ways you'd expect a major AAA release to be in a post-Fortnite world, with content seasons, a store, two different ingame currencies (an earnable one and one you had to buy with real cash), buyable emotes, banners, weapon and character skins, etc. They also sold all kinds of even more pointless customisation, like the little marks that show up on enemies when you tag them for your teammates or, the most pointless of all, the blood spray pattern that appears on the ground when you execute an enemy. They must have realized that no one would ever notice or care about the shape of a puddle of blood on the ground in the middle of a multiplayer game so they also made it so the graphic shows up on the screen of the players you kill. Because the Gears fanbase is the Gears fanbase, most people equip the giant middle finger. :::