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Vids in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
macdude22
Warrior
Member # 8131
 written Monday, May 21 2007 13:14 Profile Homepage #2
The premeir Mac app for recording onscreen action is Snapz Pro. Sometimes there are issues with certain games, couldn't tell you if Spiderweb ones are since I don't have the application any more. I used to use it at my old job to make training videos though, worked great.

http://www.ambrosiasw.com/utilities/snapzprox/
Posts: 145 | Registered: Sunday, February 18 2007 08:00
College, majors, etc. in General
macdude22
Warrior
Member # 8131
 written Friday, May 11 2007 03:21 Profile Homepage #16
I'm just curious, of you college going folk, do you have a major (and for people who already have a career, what did you major in back in college)? Why did you choose that as your major?

I'm not sure why exactly I was compelled to ask this here, but I'd love to hear whatever you have to say.

Well I entered college back in 2001 as a Communications major, emphasis in tv/radio. The program sucked and after a year or so of that I switched to a business major. Well I didn't like business either so then I switched to a major in Social Sciences emphasis in History. Throughout this course of time I took several classes in philosophy as well. I graduated December 2006 (5 and a half years baby) with a degree in Social Sciences Comprehensive emphasis in History. I currently work as a technology support specialist at a small private college in Iowa which I started September 2006 (let me tell you finishing a last semester of college 3 hours a way while starting a full time job, not so fun). Why did I end up as a History Major (Social Science) well the classes I had taken for gen eds, were fun, I enjoyed them. I figured none of this other jazz is working for me why not enjoy my college career. So thats what I did (I also took a smattering of education classes, like halfway to a teaching license If I ever decide to go that route.)

Anyway how did I get into my current career path. In high school at a small rural school I fell into tech support back then and did school to work at the school with the tech coordinator for a couple years. Then after I went to college I still worked there part time for a couple years after that and full time summers. The summer before starting college I started at the campus Radio Station (at the time going into communications major) and over the years I worked in several positions there ranging from productions, news, and I was even assistant program director for a year. This was long after switching to history, but I still enjoyed radio. I also worked for the TV station on campus doing live and prerecorded work (TV is stressful don't do it). My freshman year I was hired as a network consultant for the campus Resnet services. I worked there for several years until getting hired in September at my current place of employment. Was a Lead Network Consultant and Imaging Supervisor at the end of my stint. During my college career a freind and I would enter stuff in the campus film festival as well (usually netting first or second since we'd do some pretty FX laden stuff) Suffusive to say I've done a lot of odd tech and communication work in my short years on this planet.

Summer of 2006 I'm working at ResNet, planning on a May 07 graduation (I was going for a philosophy minor) I decided to toss out a few resumes to local places get a feel for the market and get some resume experience. I ended up sending one to this wicked sweet position at this small college in Iowa, never expecting to get hired. This is like in the beginning of the summer anyway. Well I don't hear from most of the places over the summer, no big, come start of August I get a call from this college, they want to do a phone interview. Ok sure, do a phone interview. They want to set up an onsite interview in a couple weeks. Hmmm ok, I'll do it. End of August went and did that. Next day they call me they want to hire me for quite a reasonable wage. Ok sure. Since the school is so small their tech department is small, while most schools have separate AV and tech departments this one all falls under one, since I had computer and AV experience it set me ahead of the pack. Anyway I had to scramble to see how to graduate, I had completed all my requirements for graduation except 1 400 level credit so I talked to my advisor and got a couple 3 credit independent studies A.K.A. 20 page research papers. Also got married in October. Starting new job, doing 2 research papers, and getting married, thought I was gunna die.

All I can say to the people entering college, do what you want, don't conform to make parents or something happy.

NETWORK, get to know people, get to know business owners, do lots of odd jobs, whatever just get your name to people. You never know who you can call on in the future.

Try to get decent grades, employers will look at your transcript and while the degree doesn't tend to be that important they want to know how you handle things.

Don't be one of those people who says well I only need to get good grades in my major (Engineers and computer science folks tend to be terrible with this), employers look at your transcript and think oh you did good in the classes you liked but terrible in the ones you didn't like, how is this person going to be when I assign them a project they don't like.

Have fun, college is a blast, take extra time if you need, try different things. You never know how it will end up! If someone had asked me last summer where I was gunna be right now I would have said well preparing to graduate, probably prepping for unemployment. Now here I am prepping to deploy 300 new computers to a new science facility.

Man that was long.....
Posts: 145 | Registered: Sunday, February 18 2007 08:00
Ha! It's Done (for now)! in General
macdude22
Warrior
Member # 8131
 written Saturday, May 5 2007 14:51 Profile Homepage #9
I'm so glad I don't have to take tests anymore.....but I do sort of miss the carefree college lifestyle. Before if I tied one on all weekend, meh skip Monday morning class. Now if I tie one on all weekend, *groan* I still have to go to work.
Posts: 145 | Registered: Sunday, February 18 2007 08:00
Blades of in Geneforge Series
macdude22
Warrior
Member # 8131
 written Thursday, May 3 2007 12:49 Profile Homepage #7
I'd buy it, BoA is the best. Sales of BoA must be through the roof by now, I've been pushing it hardcore. And I know dozens of people and one of them bought BoA, using tv ratings logic 1 person = 1 million so 1 million people must have bought BoA.
Posts: 145 | Registered: Sunday, February 18 2007 08:00
Favorite game genres? in General
macdude22
Warrior
Member # 8131
 written Monday, April 30 2007 18:40 Profile Homepage #22
quote:
Originally written by Nemesis.:



EDIT: Oh! Escape Velocity and successors are fun too. And has anyone else played Bolo?

EDIT2: Grammatical blah…
Bolo, was that the tank game? I think I had it on a Mac Cubed disk back in the day.

I play lotsa RPG's, RTS games, the occasional racer, some FPS games usually on xbox.

Final Fantasy I probably still holds as my favorite game of all time.

Almost forgot adventure, I cut my gaming teeth on stuff like the Journyman Project, Myst, Leisure Suit Larry (bad parents let me play that stuff), and those new Sam and Max games are down right fantastic.

[ Monday, April 30, 2007 18:45: Message edited by: macdude22 ]
Posts: 145 | Registered: Sunday, February 18 2007 08:00
Spiderweb, the business in General
macdude22
Warrior
Member # 8131
 written Thursday, April 26 2007 06:24 Profile Homepage #3
It's sad to me that BoA didn't do well. It's likely my favorite game, just for the sheer longevity of the system, It doesn't get much cheaper entertainment than that. I never had the opportinuty to play it originally but now in testing Nethergate I'm really digging it because of the setting. I have a history degree (and tend to like history) so I find the fantasy/reality mesh quite enjoyable. It might take its place as my favorite Spiderweb Game.

[ Thursday, April 26, 2007 06:29: Message edited by: macdude22 ]
Posts: 145 | Registered: Sunday, February 18 2007 08:00
Exile1: I am so lost! This world is huge! in The Exile Trilogy
macdude22
Warrior
Member # 8131
 written Wednesday, April 25 2007 09:12 Profile Homepage #6
quote:
Originally written by Ahbleza:

Aside from the Main Plot(s), doing all the side quests you come upon will garner you experience and, often, special items such as better weapons, armor, potions, etc. This includes searching for secret passages and checking, (look), all the things you find. We all miss things the first time we play a game. Often a game will require that you find a special item before you can accomplish a task.
The games are for enjoyment, so the more you do, the more you enjoy.
Lastly, if you haven't heard it enough times already, save often; keep notes, etc., especially before you enter a new area, or encounter. It's very frustrating to have come a long way, be killed, and have to start over from several earlier stages.
P.S. This is a large game, but they get bigger.
Definatly keep notes, I keep a yeller ledger pad on my desk for this purpose. There is so much going on it's easy to forget quests, items, locations, etc...
Posts: 145 | Registered: Sunday, February 18 2007 08:00
Operating Systems in General
macdude22
Warrior
Member # 8131
 written Thursday, April 19 2007 21:55 Profile Homepage #43
quote:
Originally written by Nemesis.:


It saves money, and it'll run more smoothly. Trust me.[/QB]
I don't know about that, the Boot Camp drivers Apple provides work dang smooth. I've done a lot of Windows installs and Images on a lotta machines, Dells, Gateways, Custom Builts, and the installs and Images I've done on Macs (Imac, MacBook Pro, and Mac Pro) have been the smoothest installs I've ever done. Even if all you wanted to run was Windows, while I'd like to say by all means get a plain jane white box, Apple provides a smoother experience for getting WIndows up and going than any "Windows" Provider I've dealt with. That's sad. I mean really sad. Windows computer manufactures could learn from Apple, a disk with all the drivers I need. Not some link to a webpage, or a partition on my drive, or a disk with 100 spyware apps I don't need. Just install my drivers n be done. Smooth.
Posts: 145 | Registered: Sunday, February 18 2007 08:00
Operating Systems in General
macdude22
Warrior
Member # 8131
 written Thursday, April 19 2007 06:35 Profile Homepage #36
I use Parallels, the 3d support isn't big for me. But it lets me run several OS's with out rebooting which is critical for my Support job. Saves a lot of time.
Posts: 145 | Registered: Sunday, February 18 2007 08:00
Operating Systems in General
macdude22
Warrior
Member # 8131
 written Thursday, April 19 2007 06:31 Profile Homepage #35
Fellas Fellas I think we can all agree that the AmigaOS is the superior Operating System.
Posts: 145 | Registered: Sunday, February 18 2007 08:00
Operating Systems in General
macdude22
Warrior
Member # 8131
 written Wednesday, April 18 2007 05:50 Profile Homepage #28
quote:


Hey! You are the dude from MacConsumers, aren't you? How nice to see you here.
Hmmm, never heard of them. Perhaps there's someone else on the interwebs that masquerades as macdude22?
Posts: 145 | Registered: Sunday, February 18 2007 08:00
What have you been reading lately? in General
macdude22
Warrior
Member # 8131
 written Tuesday, April 17 2007 09:12 Profile Homepage #373
I've been reading the Dresden novels by Jim Butcher. Also slogging through the various books in the DS9 Relaunch.

--------------------
http://www.goozex.com/trading/asp/join.asp?idr=412684821
alexkaltsas.com
Posts: 145 | Registered: Sunday, February 18 2007 08:00
Call for Mac Beta testers in Nethergate
macdude22
Warrior
Member # 8131
 written Monday, April 16 2007 16:27 Profile Homepage #10
Looks like, I got one too. I'll be faxing it in tomorrow.
Posts: 145 | Registered: Sunday, February 18 2007 08:00
Operating Systems in General
macdude22
Warrior
Member # 8131
 written Monday, April 16 2007 11:17 Profile Homepage #17
AppleGeeks nice! This is my work desktop. Nuffin too fancy. Rotates between a folder of about 100 desktop pictures. Also have a second monitor that is running XP, Vista, or Ubuntu full screen at any given time.

Personally I don't care what you use if it works well for you, BeOS, AmigaOne, Windows ME(if you're using this I do care, seek mental help) but if you're family or freinds begging for support all the time I usually cut ya off the support teet at some point and suggest getting a Mac. For most purposes and users I find the Mac OS to be superior, but by all means use WIndows, Linux, whatever, competition is what drives companies and organizations to make better products. I'd hate to live in a world where we only had a lone platform to choose from.

http://homepage.mac.com/macdude22/pics/desk.png

Edit: Do not stretch the page.

[ Monday, April 16, 2007 16:27: Message edited by: Dr. Johann Georg Faust ]
Posts: 145 | Registered: Sunday, February 18 2007 08:00
Call for Mac Beta testers in Nethergate
macdude22
Warrior
Member # 8131
 written Thursday, April 12 2007 13:06 Profile Homepage #5
I plead temporary insanity. I was under the influence of 40 oz. of a very low quality beverage. I'm talkin Bender's Discount orphanarium low. :eek:

In all seriousness I do have significant writing skills, with a Degree in History you have to. I also have significant troubleshooting skills as I have worked in IT since 2000. Odd combination I'm often told but I think I could wrassle down some bug reports.

Ya'll have a good day naw.

[ Thursday, April 12, 2007 13:09: Message edited by: macdude22 ]
Posts: 145 | Registered: Sunday, February 18 2007 08:00
Call for Mac Beta testers in Nethergate
macdude22
Warrior
Member # 8131
 written Thursday, April 12 2007 03:43 Profile Homepage #3
Threw my hat in the ring, be cool if I got in. I think I got the skillz, writing skillz anyway. I'm sure there are many out there who have wicked hot Nethergate skillz.

[ Thursday, April 12, 2007 03:44: Message edited by: macdude22 ]
Posts: 145 | Registered: Sunday, February 18 2007 08:00
The Future of Blades of Avernum in Blades of Avernum Editor
macdude22
Warrior
Member # 8131
 written Tuesday, April 3 2007 10:43 Profile Homepage #99
Unfortunatly that's the mindset of a lot of people. Flashy graphics and nothing more. As a gaming tech geek I've always been on the forfront of console gaming and the such but today's games just seem to not push my buttons anymore much. I play the Spiderweb Games alot of course, but these days I find myself playing less and less of my 360 and more and more of classic games on my Wii or on Gametap. There are sacks of really fun, older RTS games on Gametap that I have just been hammering. A lot of today's games seem to focus too much on graphics and add too much complex behavior that doesn't add much to the gameplay. Maybe I'm getting old(at the ripe age of 24).

Glad to see another BoA purchase. I've been pushing it hard and it's likely my sister will get into it but most are turned off by the graphics. And then there's my super cheap brother, twin no less, who seems to be of the mind set paying for games is some crime against humanity. He must have been adopted, rest of the fam loves games and we sink far to many dollars into the craft.
Posts: 145 | Registered: Sunday, February 18 2007 08:00
Where You At Now? in General
macdude22
Warrior
Member # 8131
 written Friday, March 16 2007 05:10 Profile Homepage #12
Graduation rocks. I graduated in December after 5 and half years with a B.A. in Social Sciences with an emphasis in history no less. During my many years in school I did many things from baling hay, working at teh Waaalllmart, Radio work, Television work, factory work, and computer support. Now I'm employed at a small private college in Iowa as a Technical Support Technician living it up. It is likely I will go back for a masters degree of some sort in a few years as one of my benifits is free classes at the college here. I miss the sudo-carefree college lifestyle sometimes but then I remember now I can afford to buy good beer and I fagetabawtit.
Posts: 145 | Registered: Sunday, February 18 2007 08:00
Jeff, please respond - Magic and Avernum 5 in Avernum 4
macdude22
Warrior
Member # 8131
 written Sunday, March 4 2007 17:45 Profile Homepage #50
Proportedly Realmz OS X will be out by the end of 2007. I found an active yahoo group dealing with the conversion/porthere . It's likely nostalgia but if an OS X version finally gets out I'll pony up for it, especially if the scenario editor is updated as well(again it's supposed to be but who knows).
Posts: 145 | Registered: Sunday, February 18 2007 08:00
Jeff, please respond - Magic and Avernum 5 in Avernum 4
macdude22
Warrior
Member # 8131
 written Wednesday, February 28 2007 10:12 Profile Homepage #40
quote:
Originally written by V. V. W. W.:

Exile 1 and Exile 2 were made by Spiderweb but distributed by Fantasoft. The exact arrangement is unknown. The two companies also have some shared graphics, but that could be either a joint purchase or non-exclusive rights to graphics they got separately.

—Alorael, who also wouldn't put it past Realmz to appropriate graphics underhandedly. While Fantasoft was (and maybe even is) apparently all legal and legitimate, its proofreading and programming raises so many questions that a few graphics accidents wouldn't be terribly surprising.
Off topick but maybe you know, Fantasoft still seems to operate a web store selling Realmz but it hasn't been updated in years I dont think. It states that Micro Enterprises is running it for Fantasoft LLC. Does Tim Philips(that was his name right?) still get any money from that(I don't suspect many purchase it anymore). I'd prolly pay 5 or 10 bucks for an OS X port of it I have such fond memories.
Posts: 145 | Registered: Sunday, February 18 2007 08:00
Jeff, please respond - Magic and Avernum 5 in Avernum 4
macdude22
Warrior
Member # 8131
 written Wednesday, February 28 2007 07:54 Profile Homepage #38
quote:
Originally written by Tyran:

quote:
Originally written by Dark Mage:

Well we are still a quite lucky gaming community, I mean, in what other companies the game designer ask the player for suggestions so directly?? I don't see Bill Gates mailing me for asking how I want AOE4 to be!
You have a good point, but Bill Gates has nothing to do with AoE development. That series has always been made by Ensemble Studios and merely produced by Microsoft. This is much like what Chromite Software and Dragonlore did with Spiderweb, and what Spiderweb did with Fantasoft.
Wait, what did Spiderweb do with Fantasoft? I really miss Realmz. Really bad. So bad I can taste it's sweet juicy nectar.
Posts: 145 | Registered: Sunday, February 18 2007 08:00
The Future of Blades of Avernum in Blades of Avernum Editor
macdude22
Warrior
Member # 8131
 written Tuesday, February 27 2007 19:27 Profile Homepage #95
quote:
Originally written by Ephesos:

quote:
Originally written by macdude22:

I recently posted on my Blog a plea to my 200ish readers to guy buy BoA so Jeff when the mega increased sales come soaring in just send the commission check my way. ;) Seriously I'm hoping it persuades at least a couple people to purchase.
That's actually a really good idea... and it gives me a reason to actually touch the Share feature on Facebook. :P
Cripes you gave me a reason to log onto faceboxtubenet. I think we just started a grassroots campaign to promote BoA.
Posts: 145 | Registered: Sunday, February 18 2007 08:00
The Future of Blades of Avernum in Blades of Avernum Editor
macdude22
Warrior
Member # 8131
 written Tuesday, February 27 2007 18:21 Profile Homepage #93
quote:
Originally written by Excalibur:

If Spidweb ever improves BoA to level we can notice, they should put the demo everywhere. I discovered Spiderweb Software when I tried a demo CD called MacCubed or something like that. It had Exile I and Exile II, but that was a long time ago.
OMG, thats where I got them from. Was like a 7 pack of CDs of shareware MacCubed. I think some of the disks are still in boxes at the old FarmHouse somewhere. I'm pushin BoA hard, I want Jeff to know that its a hot idea and somewhere it just hit a snag in the intergalactic superconductor. My personal goal is to reverse his current decision(which I understand, it's feed his family or support BoA at this point).
Posts: 145 | Registered: Sunday, February 18 2007 08:00
The Future of Blades of Avernum in Blades of Avernum Editor
macdude22
Warrior
Member # 8131
 written Tuesday, February 27 2007 15:12 Profile Homepage #91
quote:
Originally written by Kelandon:

I think we've eventually concluded that the primary reason that BoA hasn't produced as many scenarios as BoE is that it's far harder to make a BoA scenario than a BoE one.
I've milled about getting BoE to see what all the hubbub is about but alas I sent my last production power mac(a mini) off to a family member who was in desperate need of a Mac. I could play it in Windows, but that would make me feel durrrty. Maybe in a couple years when I buy a house and have some room to hook up some of the old macs in storage I'll throw down the old school Exile. I recently posted on my Blog a plea to my 200ish readers to guy buy BoA so Jeff when the mega increased sales come soaring in just send the commission check my way. ;) Seriously I'm hoping it persuades at least a couple people to purchase. The more I play BoA the more it grows on me like someone you love or a brain tumor (or is the cause of love brain tumors?).
Posts: 145 | Registered: Sunday, February 18 2007 08:00
Nethergate: Resurrection in Nethergate
macdude22
Warrior
Member # 8131
 written Tuesday, February 27 2007 15:01 Profile Homepage #31
quote:
Originally written by Spidweb:

It will be a registration code system. You won't have to wait for a CD to be mailed.

- Jeff Vogel
But there will be a CD available right(I'm assuming based on all the other items.) I like getting the CD's for several reasons, makes me feel all warm and fuzzy when they come in the mail, the registration key is all taken care of and I don't have to remember to back it up or email to get it(I'm verrrrrry forgetful my wife will attest). Plus I like to think maybe Jeff gets another penny or two from the purchase of the disk(not likely much seeing that they aren't just run of the mill CD-Rs or something he burns but nice printed disks).

[ Tuesday, February 27, 2007 15:02: Message edited by: macdude22 ]
Posts: 145 | Registered: Sunday, February 18 2007 08:00

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