Avery Davis &
Computers and Computer Gaming
Updated 2008 March 30
I am into computer
gaming. CNET recently published a guide
on how to Get
Into Gaming.
I am in charge of LAN gaming
for the annual SF convention in
On July 26, 2003, I took
some photos of the computer gaming area at HexaCon13 in
For LAN
gaming in
When I installed the game, Star Wars: Battlefront, I had some annoying video problems. Read how I solved them HERE.
For gaming, I use a Belkin Nostromo SpeedPad n52. Read my review HERE. Get my customized profile files HERE
I have greatly enjoyed
playing a flight simulation called "R/C Helicopter Indoor Flight
Simulation" Read my review HERE.
I have felt disappointed
by the helicopter simulation in the Desert Combat modification to the game,
Battlefield 1942. Read my full article HERE.
One of my favorite PC
computer games is Hexen II, which has been around for a few years. The game
engine is an improved version of Quake, almost but not quite Quake II, and the
game is a heroic sword&sorcery fantasy. Closely related game titles are
Heretic, Hexen and Heretic II. I find it to be a great game that provides a
virtual-reality Dungeons & Dragons experience in a first-person-shooter
computer game. Reviews and links may be found at GameSpot.com.
Click on this link for a review of Hexen II
Click on this link for a review of the Hexen II Mission Pack: Portal of
Praevus
One common problem with Hexen II is that the screen can be too dark when using
OpenGL. When using a 3Dfx Voodoo 1 accelerator card (and maybe later 3Dfx
cards), there are some environment settings that will take care of this. I run
Hexen II from a batch file which invokes these settings. A
console setting which might help if the settings don’t is: "R_FULLBRIGHT
1". Finally, for my other computer with a nVidia GeForce accelerator, the
best thing I found is the utility 3Deep: http://www.ecolor.com/. This works great, but the free
demo uninstalls itself after 30 days, and the full version is $49.95.
UPDATE: The latest drivers from nVidia include a nice, simple, Gamma
adjustment on the "Color Correction" page (Display Properties >
Settings > Advanced > [your nVidia adapter] > Color Correction).
A good site with lots of drivers and utilities, some of which claim to provide
gamma settings for dark games, is:
3DChipset - Ammo For The Gamer.
The only one on this site I have tried is UniTuner, which works well with my
GeForce accellerator, but does not seem to have support for 3Dfx earlier than
Voodoo5. It has a lot of features a capability beyond gamma controls, but the
documentation is practically non-existent, so I am a little anxious about using
it. But, it is free. Look for it on 3DChipset’s utilities
page.
Even older than Hexen II, I
used to enjoy the original Castle Wolfenstein, followed by Spear of Destiny,
Doom, Doom II and Hexen. Now, I find that these games have been updated to take
advantage of recent 3D acceleration hardware. Here is one article:
http://www.planetwolfenstein.com/features/articles/backwards_compat/
Here is a web page with articles and files to download:
http://jdoom.newdoom.com/
More Computer
Gaming Links:
Blue's News - All the carnage that's
fit to post!
What's In Your Box? News and forums for computer enthusiasts in
Game
Kraze
in
Gaming Help for Computer Gaming through a WAN
(Cable/DSL) Router or NAT.
Linksys Router Setup Guide is generally useful for most
brands.
Other
Computer Stuff:
Tucson Computer Society can be very helpful.
JoeyPAD
- the personal computer for space colonists.
Handykey – chord keypad homepage.
Link back to my personal home page.
I
use PGP! Click HERE to see my public key.