i’ve recently been without a decent computer game, so i reinstalled my copy of “WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne.” (i’d like to state for the record that doing so would have been impossible had Blizzard enforced an utterly useless DRM like EA has.)
unfortunately, my HP Pavilion dv2000 series utilizes an NVIDIA GeForce 7150M / nForce 630M card, which, i think, gives the game problems running in a widescreen environment. the problem was that there was a delay between my mouse and the game, causing the mouse to feel slow and difficult to control. i searched for solutions via the net and found a few suggestions:
1. open up 3D settings on the NVidia control panel, open WarCraft III on the programs tab, and force off the Vertical Sync option.
2. set your desktop to a lower resolution
3. create a shortcut, and in the target field, attach “-opengl” to the field (without the quotes.)
option number three is the only option i found to actually work. doing so will lower the video quality of the game, but at least you’ll be able to play again. and on another note, i had problems on a previous laptop where the game would randomly crash mid-game. using the -opengl tag in the target field also fixed that problem as well.
and to close, here are some other things i discovered while searching for a fix. how to run the game in window mode, and how to set the game to widescreen resolutions.
running in widescreen
run regedit and find: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Blizzard Entertainment\Warcraft III\Video
(make sure to edit as a decimal values!)
modify resheight to the desired value
modify reswidth to the desired value
running in windowed mode
create a shortcut another shortcut of the program.
open up the properties, find the target field, and attach “-window” so that it looks something like this:
“C:\Program Files\Warcraft III\Frozen Throne.exe” -window
***update***
Blizzard has announced that whether each game will be full-priced products has yet to even be discussed, and from what i just found out, and am most unhappy about, is that you’ll need to purchase and install the the other campaigns in order to unlock newer units—even in multiplayer. so i guess it IS going to be a gun to the head saying you’ll need to buy all three.
however, from the looks of it, and gathering from what interviews with Blizzard spokesmen have said, each game will be an expansion on the previous spaced by at least a year. it’s completely possible that you could be paying $20 for a full-blown expansion.
the way i see it—now that this newer news has been released—is that the developers simply developed too much, and jumped the gun announcing one game and its expansions as one unit.
“Terrans: Wings of Liberty” will be the first of SC-II to be released. you’ll have access to the same units everyone else online will, but a year or so later, “Zerg: Heart of the Swarm” will have newer additions that will require you to purchase that game, and then “Protoss: Legacy of the Void” will come a year or so after that.
» StarCraft II split into three games!
Blizzard developers have announced that the SC-II project is so massive that they’ve decided to split the single-player campaign into three different games—one for Protoss, one for Zerg, and one for Terran. in the original Starcraft, as i’m sure you all remember, you had 30 missions that would take you through all three races, but with StarCraft II developers realized that there was just so much content that they felt splitting the game into three 36-mission-long campaigns was their best option. it was either that or “drastically scaling back the single-player portion of the game.”
what’s funny is despite the fact that StarCraft II is actually three times longer than the original StarCraft campaign—and more—those rabid know-nothing gamers are already quick to attack Blizzard for the decision. i guess they don’t like that they’ll have to buy each part what’s essentially a trilogy, rather than the three-games-in-one that they were hoping for.
am i happy that i’ll have to pay for three games in order to complete all the SC-II campaigns? no, but i’m understanding of the situation, and it’s not like they’re implementing spore-like DRM.
also, might i add that no one is pointing a gun to these people’s heads and saying, “YOU MUST COMPLETE EACH CAMPAIGN.” god knows that most people will end up downloading whichever copies they don’t own anyway.
(just some links i would rather put here than on my sidebar.)
GAMING
serebii.net (d/p pokedex)
pokemontrading@gamefaqs (pokemon diamond/pearl trading boards)
serenesforest.net (fire emblem in-depth guide)
lifehacker.com (soft modding your Wii for DVD playback!)
espalnds.com (safe spanish site for .NDS direct downloads)
COMPJUNK
w3schools.com (how-to web design by W3Schools)
newegg.com (great place for computer goods)
turnpoint.net (how to build a cantenna)
bittorrent.com (torrent app. because azureus/vuze blows hard)
mininova.org (reliable torrent site with an active community)
pidgin.im (the best multi-protocol messaging program on the internet)
MUSIC
Musicguymics-Room@ebay (amazing ukulele store on ebay)
chindami.com (ちんだみ工芸のブログ)
music.goo.ne.jp (good place for japanese lyrics and such)
LEARN
guidetojapanese.org (good guide to basic Japanese)
simplesanshin.com (A how-to guide to the sanshin)
PHOTOGRAPHY
dpreview.com (best camera review site and forum on the net)
photozone.de (good lens reviews)
cambridgeincolour.com (digital photography tutorials)
(more will be added here overtime and continuously.)
(originally posted at gamefaqs as a quick review, but i figured i’d repost it here for kicks.)
Introduction:
The hit GBA rhythm game has finally hit the shelves in this new DS release. Designed once again by Yoshio Sakamoto, and developed by Nintendo R&D1, the guys who developed WarioWare, the game keeps players preoccupied with over 50 addictive minigames and wonderfully entertaining music by Mitsuo Terada. Known as “Rizumu Tengoku Go-rudo” (Rhythm Heaven Gold) in Japan, the game’s US title will remain “Rhythm Heaven.”
Gameplay:
Taking complete advantage of the touch screen, this DS release requires players to tap, flick, and slide the stylus to the rhythmic tunes of minigames. After successfully completing one minigame, another minigame will be unlocked, and so on and so forth until you reach a fifth called “Remix 1” or 2, or 3, etc… The Remix levels combine the previous four minigames, requiring you to remember how each one was played in order to move on to the next. Therefore, you could consider the Remix stages to be a sort of “boss” level planted every five minigames, but it’s really not as difficult as it might seem.
Which brings us to difficulty. As should be gathered from the game’s title, Rhythm Heaven focuses mostly on musical timing rather than graphics, meaning that there are quite a few stages that you could very well play with your eyes closed. However, this doesn’t make the game easy! Although some levels are easy enough to score a “high level” mark on the first try, others might need to be played several times before moving on. Fortunately, the entertaining music and graphics softens any frustrations and keeps the game going even if you’re having a hard time.
Graphics/Sound:
Being a project developed by the Nintendo R&D1, a lot of the looks and sounds of the game may bear similarities to WarioWare; which, is not a bad thing at all. The look and feel of the game can only be described as fun, and you may find yourself smiling or even laughing at the different minigame illustrations. Combine this with great music developed once again by Mitsuo Terada, also known as Tsunku, and you’ll find yourself unconsciously bobbing your head to the beats and singing/talking out loud to keep yourself with the rhythm of the game. Which is really what this game is all about—musical rhythms. The songs, although short, are amazing enough to wish that there was a CD you could by to play in your car.
Play Time/Replayability:
It might not take long to unlock every minigame, but even after that you’ll find yourself going back to play your favorites, or going back to get a gold frame—received by doing exceedingly well—on certain levels. Doing so will then unlock different options, such as guitar lessons, giving players further incentives to keep playing. The game also randomly offers you chances to get “perfect” frames around minigames that you’ve completed, allowing for other unlocks and more incentives to keep playing, which is good for those “gotta catch ‘em all” gamers such as myself. Aside from that, the Rhythm Tengoku also has a few “endless” minigames that score you on how long you can continue rather than how well you play to the end of the song, but what really keeps players hooked, in my opinion, is the addictive gameplay and rhythm music fun which keeps this game replayable.
Final Recommendation:
If you love music games, then this is a must have. If you love quirky Nintendo games, then this is a must have. If you like anything fun, then please, you must have this in your game arsenal. With addictive music, gameplay, and over 50 minigames—you can’t go wrong. My only warning is that you refrain from playing this game in the public because people will stare at you as you uncontrollably bounce to the rhythmic beats.
Gameplay – 10/10
Graphics/Sounds – 10/10
Play Time/Replayability – 8/10
Originally posted at impsvillage.com [requires user/pass]
*Several people have suggested I tell my story on imps, so I am. I have also checked the rules here, and don’t believe that I am breaking any, but Mods can correct me if I’m wrong. I only mean to be informative.*
Almost a month ago the new Solar server opened. A lot of us were excited to get in on the first week events—two times the experience, daily events, and free gifts to the new players on Solar.
I had one Rushu-dedicated main account, so I created another account and paid the subscription fee so as to take advantage of the first week benefits on Solar.
Problem: my account was not being recognized as a subscriber’s.
So I checked the forum’s problem FAQ and did what it said. I sent a ticket to Dofus support, and four days later, I received a computer generated response listing things that I could check. Whether I’m using the latest client, whether I’ve set my cookies correctly, etc… Already upset about missing out on four days of double XP, I told them to hurry up and fix the problem before time runs out.
I recieved a second response after the Solar event had ended, saying that it’s because I’m not an international user that I haven’t been able to connect. Then they linked me here. Which is funny and ironic because on that forum Kaoly states that “The account has to be created in English to be set in the International Community.” Which is what I did, and what I am. I am an international user and have been for over half a year.
So by then I was obviously upset. After all, I paid for something that I didn’t get.
I made two posts on their forums to express my resentment and shock at how horrible their customer service was. Neither post was out of line or against their posted rules, and neither post was made within the last two weeks. The first post outlined how the people at Dofus Support responded to me, and how it was poor. My second post, made in retaliation for horrible customer service, was on how french law requires that firms must allow customers to “return any purchases within 7 days of delivery,” and suggested to others that they could take action in this way.
But after creating those posts I dropped the whole thing and never looked back. I gave up on resolving the problem, decided to take my lumps on the whole deal, and went along my business. Then today I went to check my e-mail and was surprised to see that I had received two love letters from the beloved Ankama Team.
You do not have anymore access to neither the forum nor the game.
Reason : Behavior detrimental to the good atmosphere forums. Critics of the game, Ankama and other players are welcome, but it is important to put the forms and not disturb other users of the forum.
Your account will be restored on 2008-07-20.
To date, your account has 0 warning and 1 ban
The Ankama Team.
This is two weeks after I had given up arguing with Ankama, and two weeks since the last response they gave my submitted ticket. So after much frustration, finally giving up, and NOW being banned, the last straw has finally been drawn.
- I paid for something I didn’t get.
- I complained in a mannerly fashion, and got banned for it.
- I was never warned or told my behavior was “detrimental.”
- My problem has never been solved or responded to.
I’m not the only one either, which is why my posts received positive responses from the many others in my situation. I know many of you out there love the game, and may find it hard to believe, but Ankama does not treat many of its own subscribing customers with even the slightest decency. A lot of you are lucky to have never had problems, but many of us aren’t, and so I make this post on behalf of the ignored out-casts. I will get my account back very soon, and when I do, I’ll give away all my hard earned goodies and say goodbye to the good times I had at Dofus.
Note:
- The BBB (Better Business Bureau) rates Ankama Games as unsatisfactory because of untimely or failure to respond to customer complaints.
- I had done everything in my power, and nothing against the rules to try and resolve my problem. (I have read the TOS, and forum rules several times.)
- I did complain, and was righteously angry, but i must reiterate that I never broke any rules.
